Tracking Inventory¶

Know exactly what you have, where it is, and where it went — every receipt, issue, transfer, and adjustment in one place.

What You'll Learn¶

• How to record inventory transactions (receipts, issues, transfers, adjustments)
• How to track filament spools and material usage
• How to run cycle counts to reconcile physical stock with system records
• How to read inventory status indicators

Prerequisites¶

• Admin access to FilaOps
• At least one product in your catalog (see Managing Your Product Catalog)
• At least one location set up (see System Settings)

Understanding Transaction Types¶

Every inventory movement in FilaOps is recorded as a transaction. There are six types:

Each transaction type appears as a colored badge throughout the system, making it easy to scan your transaction history at a glance.

The Inventory Transactions Page¶

Navigate to Inventory > Transactions in the sidebar. This is your main page for recording and reviewing all inventory movements.

Recording a Transaction¶

Step 1. Click + New Transaction.

Step 2. Fill in the transaction details:

• Product — Select the item (required). Start typing to search by name or SKU.
• Transaction Type — Choose from the six types above (defaults to Receipt)
• Location — Where this transaction happens (defaults to your primary location)
• Quantity — How many units (supports decimals for weight-based items like filament)
• Cost per Unit — The unit cost for this transaction (optional — used for costing reports)

Step 3. Add optional details:

• Reference Type — Link this transaction to a source document:
  • Purchase Order
  • Production Order
  • Sales Order
  • Adjustment (standalone correction)
• Reference ID — The specific document number (e.g., PO-1234)
• Lot Number — For traceability, if your materials use lot tracking
• Serial Number — For serialized items
• Notes — Free-text notes about why this transaction happened

Step 4. Click Save.

Filtering Transactions¶

Use the filters above the transaction table to find specific records:

• Product — Show transactions for a specific item
• Type — Show only receipts, issues, transfers, etc.
• Location — Show transactions at a specific warehouse or shop

Reading the Transaction Table¶

The transaction table shows these columns:

Material Spools¶

If you work with filament or other spool-based materials, FilaOps tracks individual spools so you know exactly how much material is left on each one.

Navigate to Inventory > Spools in the sidebar.

The Spools Page¶

Each spool in the list shows:

• Spool Number — Your identifier for this physical spool
• Material — The material name and SKU
• Weight — A progress bar showing current weight vs. initial weight, with the exact values displayed
• Status — Active, Empty, Expired, or Damaged
• Location — Where the spool is stored or in use

Weight Progress Bar¶

The weight progress bar is color-coded to give you a quick visual read on remaining material:

Adding a Spool¶

Step 1. Click + Add Spool.

Step 2. Fill in the spool details:

• Spool Number — A unique identifier (required). Use whatever system works for you — sequential numbers, label codes, etc.
• Material — Which material product this spool contains (required). Select from your materials catalog.
• Initial Weight — The starting weight in grams (required). For a standard 1kg spool, enter 1000.
• Current Weight — How much material is currently on the spool in grams (required). For a brand new spool, this matches the initial weight.
• Status — The spool's condition (Active, Empty, Expired, or Damaged)
• Location — Where the spool is stored
• Supplier Lot Number — The manufacturer's lot or batch number (useful for traceability)
• Expiry Date — When the material expires (for hygroscopic materials like nylon)
• Notes — Any additional details

Step 3. Click Save.

Updating Spool Weight¶

As you use material, update the current weight to keep your progress bars accurate:

Step 1. Click Edit on the spool you want to update.

Step 2. Enter the new Current Weight in grams. Weigh the spool on a scale for accuracy.

Step 3. Click Save.

Filtering Spools¶

• Search — Find spools by spool number, SKU, or material name
• Status — Show only active, empty, expired, or damaged spools

Cycle Counts¶

A cycle count is a physical inventory audit — you count what's actually on the shelf, enter those numbers, and FilaOps calculates and records the variances. This keeps your system quantities aligned with reality.

Navigate to Inventory > Cycle Count in the sidebar.

How Cycle Counts Work¶

graph LR
    A[Filter items to count] --> B[Count physical stock]
    B --> C[Enter counted quantities]
    C --> D[Review variances]
    D --> E[Submit count]
    E --> F[System records adjustments]

When you submit a cycle count, FilaOps automatically creates inventory adjustment transactions for every item where the counted quantity differs from the system quantity. These adjustments include the reason you selected and create corresponding accounting entries.

Running a Cycle Count¶

Step 1: Set Up the Count¶

At the top of the page, configure your count session:

• Count Reference — Auto-generated as "Cycle Count YYYY-MM-DD" (today's date). You can edit this to add specifics like "Cycle Count 2026-02-15 — Shelf A".
• Default Reason — Select a reason that will apply to all variances in this count (required). You can override the reason on individual items later. Options include:
  • Physical count variance
  • Damaged/defective — scrapped
  • Found in alternate location
  • Data entry error correction
  • Theft/loss suspected
  • Received but not recorded
  • Shipped but not recorded
  • Sample/testing usage
  • Other — see notes

Step 2: Filter What to Count¶

Narrow down which items to include in this count:

• Location — Select a specific location, or count across all locations
• Category — Filter by product category (e.g., count only filament, or only finished goods)
• Search — Find specific items by SKU or name
• Show zero quantity items — Toggle this on to include items with zero system quantity (useful for finding unrecorded stock)

Step 3: Enter Counted Quantities¶

The inventory table shows every item matching your filters. For each item you physically counted:

Two shortcut buttons help speed up data entry:

• Fill Current Qty — Pre-fills every Counted Qty field with the current System Qty. Then you only need to change the items that differ.
• Clear All — Resets all Counted Qty fields to blank.

Step 4: Review Variances¶

As you enter quantities, FilaOps highlights variances in real time:

• Rows with variances get a yellow background so they stand out
• The Counted Qty input gets a yellow border when it differs from System Qty
• The Variance column shows the difference in green (found more than expected) or red (found less than expected)

For each item with a variance, you can optionally select a per-item reason from the dropdown. If you don't, the default reason from the top of the page is used.

Step 5: Submit the Count¶

When you've finished entering all quantities, click Submit Count.

FilaOps processes the count and shows a results summary:

• Total Items — How many items were included in the count
• Successful (green) — Items processed without errors
• Failed (red) — Items that couldn't be processed (rare, usually a system error)

Below the summary, a variance details table shows every item that had a variance:

Cycle Count Best Practices¶

• Count by area, not all at once — Use the Location and Category filters to count one section at a time. This is faster and more accurate than trying to count your entire inventory in one session.
• Count high-value items more often — Finished goods and expensive materials deserve weekly or monthly counts. Low-value supplies can be counted quarterly.
• Investigate large variances — A variance of 1-2 units might be a normal counting error. A variance of 50 units suggests a process problem (unrecorded shipments, theft, data entry mistakes).
• Use specific reasons — "Physical count variance" is a catch-all, but specific reasons like "Shipped but not recorded" help you find and fix process gaps.
• Count during quiet times — Avoid counting while production is running or orders are being packed. Activity during the count leads to inaccurate results.

Tips & Best Practices¶

• Record transactions in real time — Don't batch up a week's worth of receipts and enter them on Friday. Real-time recording keeps your available quantities accurate for MRP and order fulfillment.
• Always link to a reference — When recording a receipt, link it to the purchase order. When recording an issue, link it to the sales order. This creates a complete audit trail.
• Use lot numbers for traceability — If a customer reports a quality issue, lot numbers let you trace the problem back to a specific supplier batch.
• Monitor the Items page stock colors — The Items page shows stock status colors (red/orange/yellow/green) at a glance. Check it daily for out-of-stock and low-stock alerts.
• Weigh spools, don't estimate — A cheap kitchen scale is your best friend for spool tracking. Guessing leads to mid-print failures.
• Run cycle counts monthly — At minimum, count your top 20% of items (by value) every month. This catches variances before they snowball.

What's Next?¶

With inventory tracking in place, you can automate replenishment and plan ahead:

• Ordering Supplies — create purchase orders when stock runs low
• Material Planning (MRP) — let FilaOps calculate material requirements automatically
• Running Production — track material consumption during manufacturing

Quick Reference¶