Manage Inventories

Introduction

Customers or buyers that have Supplier Managed Inventory (SMI) can assign you as a supplier to manage the inventory levels of an item in a specific warehouse.

When a customer enables a Supplier account in the Coupa Supplier Platform (CSP) as an inventory manager, this grants them access the basic details of their items, the stock amounts at a warehouse, and replenishment details.This results in: 

• Improved service levels, and lower carrying costs.
• Better operational efficiency, reducing labor costs.
• Better anticipation of demand and supply needs, resulting in a more synchronized and efficient supply chain.

How it works

Customers with SMI can enable the feature through the Coupa Portal, setting: 

• Expected minimum and maximum item quantities. 
• A supplier to manage the item.
• A requestor: a person the supplier can contact if suppliers have any questions. 
• A purchase order (PO) number for the supplier to raise invoices for replenishing the item.

Enabling the Inventory permission

Supplier users need to enable the Inventory permission to access inventory-related navigation links and views, such as the Items tab..

To enable the permission follow the next steps: 

1. Log in or register to the CSP. 
2. Select the Setup tab from the top navigation menu. 
   
3. Go to the Admin section
4. Select the Users option from the menu on the left of the screen. 
5. Select the user you want to give the permission to, and click on the Edit link on the right of the row.
6. Make sure the Inventory checkbox is marked. 
7. Select the Save button on the bottom right corner. 

Managing inventories

As a supplier, follow the next steps to manage an inventory: 

1. Check your email inbox for an email from Coupa.
   If you don’t see the request email, check the spam folder. 
2. Follow the instructions and select the link to be redirected to the CSP.
   This will redirect you to the item view in the CSP.  
3. Log in or register to the CSP. 
4.  Select the Items tab from the top navigation menu.
   This displays a data table with all the items in the warehouses you manage. By default each row is an item reference and columns give you addtional details, including:
   • Item number
   • Name
   • Warehouse
   • Quantity On Hand 
   • Reserved Quantity
   • Available to Promise
   • Last Cycle Count Date: 
     Indicates the last date when the warehouse and shelf were manually reviewed to determine the available quantity of items.
     
   • Aisle
   • Bin
   • Level
   • Actions: 
     Hover over the different icons under this column to see a description of the action: 
     
     • Flip to ASN:Selecting this action will redirect you to the Create Advance Ship Notice (ASN) page. 
       For more information, see Create or Edit an ASN.
5. Select a particular item's name.
   This will display the Item 360 view page. 

You can create a custom view by selecting the Views menu on the top left corner of the page.
For more information about creating custom views see Create Custom Views. 

Inventory Item 360 page

The Item 360 page presents information regarding the items in the warehouses trusted to you by your customer. Select each section to expand and see more information about:

• Item basic details, such as: 
  • Item name
  • Description
  • Item number
  • Commodity
  • Inventory Attributes section
  • Sustainability information section
• Warehouses:
  A data table view of the warehouses assigned to you by the customer, including: 
  • Name:
    Select the hyperlink to go to the page of the item in the specific warehouse.  
  • Quantity on Hand
  • Reserved Quantity
  • Available to Promise
  • UOM
  • Stock Value
  • Aisle
  • Bin
  • Level
  • Shortage/Surplus:
    Calculates the shortage or surplus of items. It compares the actual on-hand quantity to the expected quantity. A negative number in red indicates a shortage, while a positive number indicates a surplus.
    
  • Last Cycle Count Date:
    Indicates the last date when the warehouse and shelf were manually reviewed to determine the available quantity of items.
    
  • Open Order Quantity:
    Reflects the quantity of items that are currently on order and expected to be received.
    
  • Open Requisition Quantity:
    Indicates the amount of the item that has been requested by warehouse managers and is pending approval. It provides visibility into the quantity of items that are in the requisition phase before being ordered.
    
  • Reorder/Maximum Quantity

Inventory notifications

When stock levels fall below the minimum threshold, you are notified via email, CSP notifications and through cXML so that you can create an ASN with the particular PO that has been previously issued to, and initiate a delivery.

For more information on ANS, see Create or Edit an ASN.

If the customer has Forecast Planner, you also receive email notifications with forecasts about recommended item levels.