Odyssey Academy: Understanding Outside Inventory

Outside inventory allows you to manage products, gauges, and tools that are at an outside supplier's location rather than within the company's premises. This system is crucial for businesses that rely on external vendors for certain production processes or services. Let us look at how easy Odyssey helps you manage and maintain your outside inventory. Odyssey also makes it easy to send a part to a supplier and receive it back in as a different product number. For example, a part that goes out but comes back in as a different part number after painting. We will focus on the product inventory for this article.

Viewing Outside Inventory

To view a list of all products, gauges, or tools at an outside supplier, you must access the Outside Inventory screen. This screen provides crucial details such as the supplier's name, product number, description, and the quantity of each item at the supplier's location. On this screen you have the choice to do Several different things as illustrated. We will touch on a few.

Processing Outside Inventory Receipts 

When receiving outside inventory from a supplier, it is important to process the receipts correctly:

1. Select the product to receive.
2. Click on the Receive button.
3. Enter the supplier’s packing slip number and verify the quantity received.
4. If you enter the packing slip that was sent to the supplier. This will help track on-time delivery from your suppliers.
5. The receive screen can allow you to do more than receive your product back into your inventory.
   1. You can create the PO receipt.
   2. Create the production transaction to move the product to the next stage.
   3. You can enter a scrap transaction.
6. The transactions button allows you to see all transactions for the item you highlight.

The system will update the production entry files and trigger the necessary updates in production history. 

Transferring Outside Inventory

Outside inventory transfers occur when materials move from one supplier to another. This process is straightforward:

1. Select the supplier and product for transfer.
2. Click on the Transfer button.
3. Enter the original packing slip number and the quantity to transfer.
4. Enter the receiving supplier’s details.

 if the product number changes between suppliers, this can lead to inventory discrepancies.

Adjusting Outside Inventory

Adjustments to outside inventory quantities can be made directly:

1. Choose the supplier and product.
2. Click on the Adjust button.
3. Enter the new quantity, routing sequence, and operation information.

This will update the total inventory quantity, the quantity at the supplier's location, and the outside inventory quantity.

Importance of Accurate Accounting

Accurately accounting for outside inventory is essential for maintaining correct financial records. At month-end, outside inventory will be valued at either work-in-progress (WIP) cost or finished goods (FG) cost, depending on system configuration. The standard cost or frozen standard cost is used to determine the inventory value through different routing sequences.

Adjustments and transactions—categorized as standard, manual, or cycle count—impact how your inventory will be valued. Ensuring all transactions are correctly entered and processed helps maintain the integrity of financial statements.

Conclusion

Managing outside inventory requires attention to detail in tracking, receiving, transferring, and adjusting inventory records. Odyssey streamlines the process and makes it easy. With Odyssey you can ensure accurate and efficient management of inventory at external suppliers.