Setting up Products
Before you can bring stock into CartonCloud you must first create Products. Products in CartonCloud are not the stock itself but more like an SKU or Product Master. In simple terms, a "Product" is a template which stores in the system all the characteristics and rules associated with a particular item which you keep in your warehouse.
Products are also Customer-specific, meaning that when you create them, they will only belong within the records of the particular Customer selected. Before you add any products for a new Customer, make sure you have created the Customer first.
Products are highly customisable, so depending on someone's operation and a Customer's requirements, they can be set up differently. How they are set up drives much of the logic within CartonCloud surrounding Warehouse Allocation, Stock Picking, Pricing and Consignment allocation.
Adding a single product
To set up your first product, follow the guided video below.
Bulk Importing Products (Export / Import CSV)
After creating your first product you can now import the remaining products for each of your Customers in bulk. Once again, follow the guided video below on how to do this.
Using the Excel Template
The below tables explain what each field in the template is for, what can be entered into each field and if that field is required for the import to be successful.
Import File Field Descriptions
Field | Description | Options | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer | The customer of the products | Yes | |
| Id | The products Id, leave blank to create a new product. If not blank, CartonCloud will update an existing product with that Id. | ||
| Active | Whether or not the product is Active | Yes, No | Yes |
| Name | The Product Name | Yes | |
| Code | The Product Code | Yes | |
| Product Description | Additional description about the product. | ||
| Type | The products type, for example, Chilled, Frozen, Ambient etc. | Refer to your Product Types | Yes |
| Storage Charge Method | How the storage should be charged. | Per Location Per Pallet Volume Based Weight Based Per Item | Yes |
| Per Item Storage Charge | Amount to charge per item if Per Item Storage Charge Method is selected | ||
| Volume (cubic meters) | The Volume of the Product in m3, ie: 0.0025 | ||
| Weight (kilograms) | The Weight of the Product in KG, ie: 6.25 (for 6.25kg) | ||
| Measurement Category | The measurement category for the Base Measurement, normally this is Count | Count | Yes |
| Base Measurement | The Code for the Base Unit Of Measure | Refer to your Products Units of Measure | Yes |
| Random Weight | Whether the product is a Random Weight Product or not. For example, Fillets of Fish come in many sizes and are therefore random weight. | 0, 1 | |
| Stock Selection Method | When assigning Sale Order Products, this determines the automatic stock selection algorithm used to calculate the best stock to assign. Options are:
| FEFO FIFO LIFO Location Efficiency | Yes |
| Warning Threshold | The number of days prior to expiration that the Expiration Warning Email is sent | ||
| Expiry Threshold | The number of days prior to expiration that the product will no longer be able to be sent | ||
| Low Stock Notifications | Are Low Stock Notifications (emails) enabled with this product? | Yes, No | |
| Low Stock Threshold | The low stock amount that should trigger an email, ie: 80, will trigger when the stock drops below 80. | ||
| Product Group | The Product Group the Product Belongs to | ||
| POP Initial Status | When assigning stock to a Purchase Order, this value sets the Product Status of that stock. For example, if you selected "Quarantine", then all stocks created would default to Quarantine Status. | OK, Quarantine (see Product Statuses for full list) | Yes |
| POP Expiry Date Required? | Whether the product requires an expiry date to be entered. | No | Yes |
| POP Custom Field [ x ] Required? | Whether or not a particular Custom Field is required to be recorded for this product. | [ blank ] - Use the Customers setting, see Purchase Order Products Settings (Warehouse Management Tab) No Incoming and Outgoing Outgoing | |
| Custom Field [ x ] | What to insert into each of the Custom Fields defined within the Products themselves. |
Product Unit of Measure
The Product Unit of Measure tells the system what unit type a Product is being stored in, as well as how many units convert to another type. For example, you may have a Product which fits 50 cartons to a pallet.
By setting these up unit conversions you can simplify warehouse processes, for example, you can then bring in 2 pallets of a Product on a Purchase Order (without having to know the exact number of cartons for each Product). Then, when sending that same product back out you can pick less than the full pallet (a carton) and the system will update stock levels accordingly.
This topic is covered briefly in the videos above but for further details please see the article Products Units of Measure.
Product Unit of Measure Conversions within the Excel Template
If your products contain Conversions, then they work as follows. Note that you can have as many conversions as required by simply adding the same 4 columns multiple times.
Product Conversions allow you to convert between units of measure, for example from Cartons to Pallets.
When populating the file, the first Conversion Measurement (1) uses the date for the BASE UNIT OF MEASURE.
Field | Description | Options | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conversion Measurement | The Products Units of Measure for the conversion qty. For example, if your products base unit of measure is Cartons, and there are 48 cartons per pallet, then you would put PLT here | Yes | |
| Qty Per Base | To use the example above, converting from CTN to PLT you would enter the number 48 into this field so the system knows you have 48 cartons per pallet. | Yes | |
| Description | The product name which is displayed on Pick Slips. Often used if the Product Description of a specific Unit Of Measure differs significantly from the Product Name | ||
| Code | The product code for the Conversion Measurement | Yes | |
| Barcode | The barcode for the unit of measure, allowing for Scan Picking. Typically each unit of measure will have its own Unit Of Measure, allowing Cartons to be scanned independently of Units etc. |