Storage and stock

A parts catalog only becomes useful in the field when a technician can answer where is it? and how many are left? Storage spots connect each part to a real location and a current quantity.

Think like the technician holding the work order

A useful inventory record should let someone walk to the right room, shelf, cabinet, bin, or drawer without asking another person where the part is kept.

Open a part record

The part detail page brings together:

Section	What it tells you
Stock	Total on hand, reorder point, and restock information
Details	Part number, category, unit cost, manufacturer, and preferred vendor
Storage	Every place the part is kept and the quantity at each spot
Work order history	Jobs where the part was used

This is the best place to compare the system record with what is actually on the shelf.

Add a storage spot

Select + Storage spot and enter:

1. Storage location — the room where the part is kept.
2. Spot — the shelf, bin, cabinet, cage, or other exact position when helpful.
3. Quantity — how many units are currently there.

A part can have several storage spots. MaintenanceOps adds those quantities together to calculate total on hand.

Use Spot for the last few feet

Maintenance Shop gets someone to the room. Shelf 3B or Cabinet 2, Bin 4 gets them to the part.

If a storage location is missing

Storage locations come from your organization’s location tree. A room must be marked as a Storage location before it appears in the storage picker.

See The location tree if the room you need is unavailable.

What happens when a part is used

When a technician adds a stock part to a work order, MaintenanceOps draws the quantity down automatically. The system uses the storage spot with the most stock on hand, and the total quantity changes immediately.

Inventory accuracy depends on work-order usage

If technicians install stocked parts but do not record them on the work order, the system quantity will drift away from the shelf count. Part usage and inventory accuracy are the same workflow.

See Tracking time, parts, and purchases for the work-order side of that process.

Keep quantities trustworthy

A practical inventory routine is:

1. Receive — update quantity when new stock arrives.
2. Use — let work orders reduce stock as technicians consume parts.
3. Count — correct quantities when a physical check finds a difference.
4. Review — act on low-stock items before they become out of stock.

The goal is not perfect warehouse accounting. It is dependable enough information that technicians can plan work without discovering halfway through a job that the required part is missing.

Understand low stock

The reorder point belongs to the part itself. MaintenanceOps compares total quantity across all storage spots to that threshold.

Condition	Meaning
Above reorder point	Normal stock
At or below reorder point	Low stock — time to review or reorder
Zero total quantity	Out of stock

Editing and removing parts

Use Edit to change catalog details. Use Delete when the part should no longer appear in active inventory. Historical work orders that previously used the part keep their record.

Next step

Use Reports to review low-stock items and usage trends once technicians are consistently recording parts on work orders.