Inventory Management - Introduction
Welcome to the GrowPoint Inventory Management Module. The Inventory Module provides the ability to set up and maintain vital inventory information needed in today’s competitive business environment. GrowPoint is designed to track inventory details for a wholesale nursery operation, however because of the ability to set up virtually any type of inventory tracking system, GrowPoint is also used by other industries to manage inventory.
To effectively manage inventory in a nursery operation, you need the ability to track plants using a number of different criteria. Plants are identified scientifically by organizing them into horticultural categories: Genus, Species and Cultivated Variety (cultivar).
Once a plant is categorized according to botanical identification, a nursery sells each plant variety in a number of different sizes, shapes and types. Typically, these sizes are different for each plant type. Some varieties are sold by container size while others are sold according to height, width or caliper. In many cases, plant varieties are sold using a combination of both container and grade (or size). Also, the ability to track a plant by form, grade, color and type may be required.
The ability to track growing locations or individual crops is also essential to successful nursery management. Because nursery stock is typically grown in several locations and growing stages, tracking plants by location lets you see where a crop is located and when the crop is available for sale.
The GrowPoint Inventory Module was designed with the complex needs of the nursery in mind. From creating detailed botanical groups to tracking plants by size, form, grade, color or location, GrowPoint contains powerful features needed to simplify and control your inventory.
Three Levels Of Inventory Control
In GrowPoint, there are three levels of inventory to introduce: Product, Item, and Location. These levels are discussed in detail in the following sections.
Product
The Product level identifies a plant within its horticultural classification. Genus, Species, and Variety are the classifications that can be defined in GrowPoint according to your requirements.
The Product level is the highest level in GrowPoint. When you look for a plant or print a report in GrowPoint, you typically start looking for a plant by Latin or Genus name. Here are some examples of a Product:
- Acer Palmatum ‘Bloodgood’
- Acer Palmatum ‘Crimson King’
- Azalea exbury ‘Avocet’
- Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’
| Code 1=Genus | Code 2=Species | Code 3=Variety |
|---|---|---|
ACR | PLM | BLD |
ACR | PLM | CRK |
AZL | EXB | AVC |
CRN | SRC | CRD |
The Code1 group is the highest level, followed by Code2 and Code3. Codes defined at the Code2 level are directly related to a Code1 group and codes defined at the Code3 level are related to a Code2 group.
For example, the ACR code in Code1 represents the Genus Acer. A genus may have many species defined in its botanical family. Since species codes are defined in the Code2 group, the code PLM represents Palmatum, which is a species of Acer. Just as a genus has many species, a species may have many varieties. In Code3, the codes BLD and CRK represent ‘Bloodgood’ and Crimson King’ respectively.
Use of this hierarchical method of coding makes it easier to identify a plant in your inventory structure. However, you are not required to use all code groups at the Product level. For example, you may choose to combine the Species and Variety together in a code group. Depending on the level of management you need for reporting, combining the Species and Variety codes together seems to be a simpler way of identifying inventory.
One negative aspect of combining codes is the complexity of creating unique codes for Species and Variety combinations. Because codes are limited to three alphanumeric characters (both letters and numbers are accepted), setting up codes without duplication becomes a challenge. One method of code creation involves LabelView; removing vowels from a word to create a code. For example, the ACR code removes the vowels from Acer and PLM removes the vowels from Palmatum.
Your inventory may also have non-plant material. Fertilizers, chemicals and other hard goods are examples of non-plant inventory. To add these types of inventory to your system, set up the same type of hierarchical coding system you created for plants. Code1 could be defined as the type of product - chemicals, fertilizers, etc. Code2 could be the name of the fertilizer or chemical, like ‘Roundup’ or ‘Dursban.’ You may not need to use Code3 to define non-plant inventory.
Item
In the GrowPoint Inventory Module, the Item level is directly related to the Product level because products typically have many items. Items are the sizes, grades, types, or container types of a product that are grown and sold to customers. Think of an item as the size or type of product. Within each product, there may be several sizes or forms. Here are some examples of Items:
- Acer Palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ 2”
- Acer Palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ 2 ½”
- Acer Palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ 3”
- Azalea exbury ‘Avocet’ 1 gallon
- Azalea exbury ‘Avocet’ 3 gallon
- Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’ 2-3’
- Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’ 3-4’>/
Notice that Products are further defined by their Items. Acer Palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ is the Product, but 2”, 2 ½”, 3” are the Items of that Product.
The Item level is also made up of three code groups. Similar to the Product level, the Item code groups are called Item Code 1, Code 2 and Code 3. The Item code groups identify the unique parts of the item. Usually the Item codes are used to identify size, root form, grade, etc. Think of the Item codes as further identifying the Product to which they belong. When a specific plant variety is sold, the plant (Product) may have many sizes (Items). You may only need to use 1 or 2 of the codes. For instance, you may just have 2” or 4” containers. In this case, you would only use Code 1 for size.
Code 1 =Size | Code 2 =Root | Form Code 3 =Grade |
|---|---|---|
015 = 12-15” | CT = Container | |
015 = 12-15” | BR = Bare Root | |
100 = 1” | ||
100 = 1” | PRK = Park | |
175 = 1 ¾” |
Notice in the above example you can combine the Item level codes together to form the identity of the items sold to customers. For example, in the Code 1 column, the code 015 is defined to represent plants 12-15” wide. In the Code 2 column, the code CT identifies that it is grown in a container, and PRK in Code 3 represents a grade.
Location
The GrowPoint section on Location breaks down an item by location, crop or status. Think of Location as further breaking down the items by quantity. The easiest example of an item location is when an item is grown in two separate places - locations - on the nursery. Each of these locations has a different quantity of items kept there. For example, a 2” Acer Palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ may grow in both the West Location and East Location.
Description | Item On-Hand | Location | Location On-Hand |
|---|---|---|---|
Acer Palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ 2” | 450 | West | 200 |
East | 250 | ||
Acer Palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ 2 ½” | 700 | West | 550 |
East | 150 |
Notice the item has an Item On-Hand quantity equal to the sum of the Location On-Hand quantities. The 2” Bloodgood with an Item On-Hand of 450 has two locations: West’s onhand is 200 and East’s on-hand is 250.
Although we use the term Location to break down an item quantity, it doesn’t have to mean a physical growing location. An item Location simply breaks down the item into different quantities. Each location can also have a status code to further identify the quantities. This concept is discussed in detail in the Set Up Item Locations section.