CSI is used for inventory that you store for a specific customer. Inventory is tracked via what we call control records. A control record is loaded in the window below.
1. Since inventory is managed for a particular location, the unique key for a control record is the item in combination with the location from which it is shipped or to which it is shipped. Transactions occur between control records. For a CSI transaction to take place, you must have a source control record and a destination control record. Normally, one of your warehouse locations for a product would act as the source control record, and one of your customer's locations for the same product would act as the destination control record.
2. Each control record in CSI ties to one of your customers.
The Receipt History/Balances window for a control record shows the current balance for the item at a location as well as a list of receipts that have a balance remaining. The list of receipts shows the original quantity received as well as other information about the lot received. You could have multiple lots available but in this example there is only one. You can purchase CSI inventory for a control record using a job in much the same way that you can purchase general inventory for your warehouse using a job. Alternatively, you can enter a receipt into CSI manually without using a job.
When you're ready to release product to a customer, the first step is to select the source location (normally your warehouse), the destination location (normally one of your customer's locations), and the requisition # or PO#.
Continuing with the release...
1. First you pick the source control record where the product is currently stored.
2. You pick the destination control record where the product is going.
3. You enter the quantity that the customer requested. In this example, the customer requested 25 but there were only 24 available.
4. In this case, Xebra will release all 24 that are available, and record a backorder transaction for one.
5. The list of available lots could have more than one lot available, but in this example there is only one. If multiple lots did exists, Xebra would use the oldest lot first by default when you enter the requested quantity, but you would also have the flexibility to change which lot is used.
The Warehouse Release Edit window allows you to find, view, and modify releases that you have made.
The Actions menu of the CSI Warehouse Release Edit window allows you to carry out actions on a release such as printing the release document and confirming the release for billing.
The Confirmation Options window is used to mark a release as complete after you are done with it.
1. You can confirm a release to mark it as complete without billing anything for it.
2. You can create a new job to invoice the release. This might be used to invoice for a bill as shipped product or a customer owned product where the only thing billed might be freight.
3. Summary billing allows you to flag the release for later billing. This is commonly used if a customer requires multiple releases within a short period of time and wants one invoice to cover many releases.
4. The Add to Existing Job option is similar to Create Billing Job but rather than creating a new job, the items on the release are added to an existing job that might already contain line items for other things.
Xebra CSI contains various features for tracking usage, estimating reorder dates, and generating reports useful to both you and your customers.
