Set up inventory: warehouses, trucks, min/max templates and barcodes

Overview#

Inventory starts with locations: your warehouses and every truck. Each truck is linked to its technician (or its fleet vehicle and driver) so materials the technician invoices come out of their truck automatically. Min/max templates say what a truck or warehouse should carry, which drives replenishment. Finally you choose which pricebook materials and equipment you track, and add their barcodes.

Before you start#

• Setup needs inventory.manage (Owner, Admin, Dispatcher).

• Only pricebook materials and equipment can be stocked, not services.

• Add vendors first if you want to set preferred vendors.

Steps#

Add locations#

1. Go to Purchasing › Inventory and open the Setup tab.

2. In Locations, under Add a location, type a name (for example "Van 12" or "Main warehouse") and pick the Kind: Truck or Warehouse.

3. For a truck, pick its Vehicle (trucks) and/or Technician (trucks). Linking the vehicle makes its default driver the technician.

4. Choose a Template and click Add.

5. In the table, set Restock from (which warehouse refills the truck; default "First warehouse") and Active, then Save.

Create a min/max template#

1. In Min/max templates, enter the Template name.

2. Add rows: Item, Min, Max. Use Add an item… for more rows, or pick "Remove" on a row to delete it.

3. Click Create template (or Save template). Assign it to locations in the Locations table.

Choose tracked items and barcodes#

1. In Stocked items and barcodes, use Stock another item to add a pricebook material or equipment item.

2. Set Tracked, Serials (for serialized items), Unit, Preferred vendor and Barcodes (scan or type, separated by spaces; up to 20).

3. Click Save.

Settings that change this#

• Settings › Integrations › GPS: vehicles and default drivers, used to link trucks.

• Pricebook › Services & Materials: items and their costs.

Tips#

• Set a preferred vendor on every tracked item. Replenishment can only draft POs for items that have one.

• Start with one template for all service trucks; add specialized ones later.

• A technician moves only their own truck's stock, so link every truck.

Troubleshooting#

• "That vehicle is already the stock location "X"." → each vehicle links to one truck.

• "Only trucks link to a vehicle." / "Only trucks have a technician." → change the kind or clear the field.

• "A location can't change between warehouse and truck." → create a new location instead.

• "Restock comes from a warehouse." / "A location can't restock from itself." → pick a warehouse.

• "Barcode X already belongs to Y." → barcodes must be unique.

• "Barcodes are at least 3 characters" / "…no spaces" → fix the code.

• "Max must be at least min" / "Each item appears once in a template." → fix the template rows.

• "Only materials and equipment can be stocked." → services aren't stocked.

FAQ#

Which truck counts as a technician's? A truck assigned to them directly wins; otherwise the truck whose vehicle they drive by default.

Can I delete a location? Untick Active.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

• Same: warehouses and trucks as inventory locations, min/max per location, preferred vendors.

• Different: min/max lives in reusable templates. Trucks link to fleet vehicles to find the technician.

• Where it lived: ServiceTitan Settings › Inventory; Purchasing › Inventory › Setup in TradesWork.