Chat Transcript - November 2007
Chat Transcript – Physical Inventory Counts
Chat Topic: Physical Inventory Counts
Date: Thursday, November 1, 2007
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Q: Any best practices documentation with regards to Year End physical inventory process.
A:Knowledge Base article 835955 (login required) - How to create a physical inventory by using the Physical Inventory feature in Microsoft Business Solutions Retail Management System 1.2, Store Operations
Knowledge Base article 836442 (login required) - How to import Physical Inventory files that you received from a hand-held device in Store Operations Manager
This article discusses how to update Store Operations Manager with physical inventory files from a handheld device.
A: I would also encourage you to review the Store Operations Manager Online Help.
A: Also, we've just published an article about physical inventory counts in our ongoing Inventory Management Series. It contains best practices and step-by-step instructions. You can view that article and the other articles in the series from the Using Microsoft Dynamics RMS site at www.microsoft.com/msrms/customer.
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Q: What is the best way to reconcile inventory discrepancies - is it using the Item Movement History report. (Where can I get a list of TYPE’s found in the above mentioned report?)
A: The Item Movement History report would be the best way do this; and the list of types is within the report in the following case statement:
CASE Type WHEN 1 THEN 'PO/Inventory Transfer' WHEN 2 THEN 'Return to Off-Line' WHEN 3 THEN 'Transfer Out' WHEN 4 THEN 'Main/Off-Line' WHEN 5 THEN 'Manual Adjustment' WHEN 6 THEN 'QuickAssist' WHEN 7 THEN 'Physical Inventory Adjustment' WHEN 8 THEN 'HQ Adjustment' WHEN 9 THEN 'Parent Child Adjustment' WHEN 10 THEN 'Kit Component Transfer' WHEN 99 THEN 'Sales/Return' ELSE 'Unknown' END
Q: Great but what is 6 / 'QuickAssist' ?
A: On the Item Movement History report the movement type of 6/"QuickAssist" refers to changes from the Inventory Wizard feature. QuickAssist was the name for that feature in earlier versions of RMS.
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Q: I am a Microsoft partner and need general information about RMS and demo download if there is one. The only thing I could find on the MSDN was the POS download.
A: A number of product demos are available here:
http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/rms/product/overviewdemo.mspx
Let us know if that's not the kind of thing you were looking for.
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Q: How can I get an Excel export of all the items and price and count?
A: You can run the Item Price List report. By default this report hides the Quantity column, so click the 'Show/Hide columns' button in the toolbar and select the 'Qty' column to add the current item count/quantity.
To export, click the 'Export' button on the report toolbar, select Destination = 'File' and File Format = 'CSV' or 'Tab delimited', and save the file. You can now open the file with Excel.
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Q: Don't have handheld devices so can multiple laptops with SO Manager loaded on them be used to do physical inventory counts at the same time, if the commits are done sequentially?
A: We do not recommend or support connecting to a Store Operations database via a wireless network. I would definitely not recommend that you try to commit any inventory changes to the database.
What I would recommend is exporting the item file to an Excel spreadsheet on your laptops. Then scan/enter your items into the spreadsheet. Then import the spreadsheet into the Physical Inventory. You can reference the Knowledge Base articles that I provided in [the first question] for assistance with importing from a flat file into the Physical Inventory.
Q: What is the reason for not using wireless for connecting to the database?
A: Wireless networks do not provide the stability that RMS requires to maintain database integrity.
Q: Do you have a list of supported handheld devices?
A: I do not believe that we have had any manufacturers certify their handheld devices at this point. However, most any handheld scanner that has the ability to scan the items and then export the file to a comma-separated or tab-delimited text file should work.
Q: What about via wired connection?
A: Yes, you should be able to work on multiple Physical Inventories at the same. However, I would not try to work on the same Physical inventories on more than one machine at a time.
Oftentimes customers will create separate Physical Inventories for each of their departments or sections in the store.
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Q: Other than chats like this, are there live meeting sessions that would actually show how a physical inventory is done manually, using a handheld device, physical inventory reporting that could be done at HQ, variance reports, etc?
A: This is a good suggestion. Unfortunately, nothing like that is available right now. The new PI article does contain screenshots and step-by-step instructions. Keep watching the Using site for upcoming HQ information. If you have a question about a specific aspect of HQ counts, feel free to post a new question.
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Q: Best way to get the following - so I can determine amount of items lost/stolen? A) Inventory count start of year, B) Amount of items sold for year per month C) Physical inventory count end of year (preferably in one report).
A: This would not be possible since RMS does not store the counts as of a specific date; but there may be 3rd party products available that could do this.
Please take a look in the Solution Finder. The link is as follows; and you will want to filter on Works With - Retail Management System:
http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/solutionfinder.mspx
As far as a report that shows sales per month this should be possible through a report customization; and if you are interested in this please contact Technical Support to open a support request:
https://mbs.microsoft.com/support/newstart.aspx (login required)
or by calling MBS support at: 1-888-477-7877.
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Q: After an outage what do you need to do to the offline database running on the lane 2 after the master database is back up to sync the inventory count?
A: After your connection is restored, you should shut down Store Operations POS and restart. You will then be prompted to sync your offline database to the live database and open Store Operations POS in Live mode.
I have also pasted the link to the Terminal Offline Mode setup and usage Knowledge Base articles below for your reference:
Knowledge Base article 836403 (login required) - How to use the Terminal Offline Mode feature of Retail Management System Store Operations
This article describes how to use the Terminal Offline Mode feature that is included with Store Operations. With this feature, you can continue transactions if the network connection to the database is lost or if a workstation is taken off site.
Knowledge Base article 862215 (login required) - Terminal Offline Mode: POS features and restrictions
This document describes the limitations and features that are available while the POS is in Terminal Offline Mode.
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Q: Assume >> HQ quantity for item x is 10. >> Store quantity for item x is 8. >> Physical inventory count for item x is 9. What would a Worksheet #307 run at HQ for item x and adjustment of +1 do to both store and HQ quantities?
A: HQ count would change to 11, store count would change to 9, and when the Physical Inventory Count is committed it will state that there is no discrepancy since the store now shows 9 as the quantity in the database for this item.
Once this information uploads to HQ, the Inventory Wizard Task 190 (Perform full item count reconciliation) should be run; and this will show a discrepancy between what is showing at HQ (11) and what is showing at the store (9). Committing this will change the quantity at HQ to 9 so both HQ and the store will then match.
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Q: Anywhere I can download a trial version? Or do you know when it will be available on the MSDN site for download?
A: At this time, there are no plans to make the trial version available on MSDN. As a partner, you can talk to your Regional Sales Manager to receive a copy of the software.
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Q: Any changes in the physical inventory process from 1.3 to 2.0?
A: No, there have not been any changes to the Physical Inventory from 1.3 to 2.0.
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Q: In Store Operations, when doing a complete store physical inventory - what is the recommended way of creating the physical inventory file - filter for all items so that the item list shows all items, regardless of current quantity?
A: If you are doing a complete inventory of your store you would want to add all items to ensure that the inventory is updated for all items. This will then catch items that show they have a quantity in stock; but are not counted during the inventory.
There is no need to filter. You would want to simply select ‘Generate for all items in the selected Group’ and then select ‘All items’.
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Q: With HQ, is it more effective to first run and commit the physical at the store, then do a 501 worksheet, and after the 501 uploads to HQ run the task 190 in the inventory wizard?
A: You should not have to complete a WS501 and Task 190 to get the changes up to Headquarters. These quantity adjustments should be sent to Headquarters through the next Style 401: Request Data Upload worksheet.
Q: But if there was a discrepancy between HQ and store, where hq = 5 and store = 3, store does PI and updates count to 4, will the new qty of 4 upload to HQ and replace the "5" tracked in itemdynamic table?
A: There are 2 quantities in the ItemDynamic table: Quantity and SnapShotQuantity.
The Quantity is the quantity at HQ; and the SnapShotQuantity is the quantity from the store.
In the scenario you describe the value in the ItemDynamic table for the SnapShotQuantity would change to 4; but the Quantity would still be 5.
You would want to run Task 190 in the Inventory Wizard to correct the value at HQ.
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Q: When we receive inventory we can "over" receive (i.e., 5 ordered but 7 received), but we cannot under-receive and close the PO, because when we do it sets the QTY ordered equal to the QTY received, and by doing so we lose our paper trail (ordered vs. received).
A: Yes, when the PO is closed, the Qty Ordered is set to equal the Qty Received, so the PO would no longer show the amount under-received. Unfortunately that is the designed behavior, and a limitation of the application. Please feel free to submit a product suggestion for future versions.
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Q: If wireless is not supported then does are the handhelds supported like the symbol mc50 that use wifi? or are they supported?
A: There are several 3rd party products that support wireless physical inventory counts. Many of them support the Symbol MC50. You can browse those inventory counting solutions in the Solution Finder. The link is as follows; and you will want to filter on Works With - Retail Management System:
http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/solutionfinder.mspx
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Q: Any new service packs or hot fixes coming out soon?
A: Service Pack 1 was released in July. That is available here to customers on a service plan (login required). Hotfix 7 will be available soon. It is a cumulative hotfix, which means it contains all previous hotfixes. For more information, go to this page on CustomerSource (login required).
Q: Aren't all RMS hotfixes cumulative? I was told by MS that I could install hotfix 5 without installing SP1 first is that incorrect?
A: Yes, all RMS hotfixes are cumulative. You are correct in that this will also install Service Pack 1. So, you can open a support incident and request Hotfix #7 and you can install that on top of any RMS Build except for Hotfix #6.
We have identified a problem when users try to upgrade from Hotfix #6 to Hotfix #7. To successfully install Hotfix #7 when Hotfix #6 is installed, you would first have to uninstall Hotfix #6, and then install Hotfix #7. You can install Hotfix #7 over the top of any other 2.0 build without any problem and this will include all fixes released for version 2.0.
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Q: Is there a report available that would list all items received via PO's for a period. Could I use Item Movement History with Type = 1 or is their a better way?
A: Yes, Item Movement History with a filter of [Type = "PO/Inventory Transfer"] and the date range will give you what you need.
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Q: The POS hangs for a few seconds during a transaction but not all the time. Can this be due to multiple computers connecting to the local database on the pc with POS? Any fixes?
A: This could be caused by a number of reasons. Some of them would include:
1. This typically should not happen, unless your database is housed on a server that does not have adequate system resources.
2. If you are using MSDE 2000 with more than 5 concurrent SQL connections.
3. There is a problem with your network connection.
This is not an issue that we have determined to be a problem with RMS at this time and therefore there are no hotfixes that have been released to fix this type of problem.
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Q: After we receive and commit inventory/PO we sometimes need to go back and correct discrepancies in regards to the item PO costs and the actual cost. How do we correct/handle this to reflect proper item cost? Transfer out and back in?
A: There is an option under Store Manager: File -->Configuration-->Options Tab-->Purchase Order options that will enable the edit of closed purchase orders. If you have an integration between RMS and your accounting system, you need to be careful not to edit PO's that are part of batches that have been sent to accounting as it can cause issues with the integration.
Q: If we update the item cost on a closed PO will this update the weighted average cost for that particular item?
A: Unfortunately, no. Weighted Cost and Last Cost are only updated when a PO is received, so changing the cost after the PO is closed will not affect the Item Cost.
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Q: If I used CSV for PI import and I have the Item Lookup Code twice in the file - once with qty 5 and another with qty 6 - will the end result be 11?
A: Yes, in testing this showed as 11 after importing from a file that showed 5 of the item on one line and 6 of the item on another line.
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Q: Why is it not uncommon that HQ quantities don't match store quantities? What is the difference between the two? Is store qty calculated at store directly and HQ calculated again at HQ based on worksheet 401 data?
A: If someone changes the quantity on the store tab at HQ this is not sent to the stores and will be wrong until a 501 / 190 is run.
If an item is sold at the store, the quantity for that item at HQ will be decreased by 1 (or whatever the sold quantity is) when that information comes up on a 401; and this is tracked in the Quantity column in the ItemDynamic table. The store's quantity is tracked in the SnapShotQuantity column.
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Q: Can more advance notice be given about the chats?
A: The chats happen the first Thursday of every month. The topics are announced ahead of time on the Using site. That will be your best source of chat info.
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Q: This is my first RMS chat so I'm not sure as to the rules - but, I thought the chat was about physical inventory and I see questions regarding SPs, receiving, purchasing, trial versions, etc. Is chat open to all issues? Can PI get priority on the chat?
A: We will get to all of the questions which were asked around Physical Inventory before 11:00am PST. Since we have experts available who are able to answer the questions, we see no reason why we cannot help others.
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Q: I have multiple SQL database files just for test. When I was installing RMS, I made test databases to connect. How do I delete them so they do not take up any space in the database?
A: Every database has its own maximum size. So if you are using MSDE 2000, each database would have a 2GB limit and every SQL Server Express 2005 database would have its own 4GB limit. Therefore, the only space issue would be your hard-drive space.
However, you can delete databases in the Store Operations Administrator by connecting to the database that you want to delete and then going to Database > Delete.
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Q: When we do a full PI count for the entire store we break the store up in about 150 sections and get 150 CSV files from our handhelds that each needs to be audited in the order each was scanned. Since RMS groups all same items together we can not do this?
A: Does the same item appear in more than one .csv file? If not, you can import each .csv file into a separate count sheet in RMS, and then commit the count sheets in the correct order.
Q: We never know ahead of time, but even in the same CSV file we may have the same item on several different lines, but they all get grouped/tallied together when you do a printout, so we cannot audit using the same order as the original count.
Q: Also, how do I combine my previously mentioned 150 CSVs after printing, auditing, and correcting each one into a "master" count file?
Editor’s note: This questioner’s issues were too complex for the chat environment, so our experts followed up with him outside of the chat. Here are the results:
Because Microsoft Dynamics RMS is designed to combine like items in the count sheet into a single line, it was determined that all of his audit operations need to be completed outside of Microsoft Dynamics RMS, such as in Microsoft Excel.
Combining the count sheets can be done by copying and pasting in Excel, where like items are not combined, or by importing each count sheet into a single Physical Inventory in Microsoft Dynamics RMS, where like items are combined. For more information about importing counts into Microsoft Dynamics RMS, see Counting physical inventory.
