Location mapping

Most shops rolling out Stockly already record where things are — usually in a product custom field, sometimes in the manufacturer number. Location mapping turns those values into bin locations and places stock on them.

Two different runs

This distinction decides what happens, so it should be understood before the mapper is started.

In the wizard, on the first run — Stockly creates bin locations from the field’s values, links the catalogue and places products on their locations. It is the only moment locations are created automatically.

From a warehouse card, later — Stockly → Warehouses → warehouse → the warehouse card → Map locations to bins. Here nothing is created: stock is only assigned to locations that already exist. The Finalize step says it outright: “Nothing is created”.

Tip

The layout of the warehouse, its floors, racks and aisles, is drawn in the floor plan. Codes in a product field carry no spatial information, so the module does not attempt to derive it: the map is drawn manually, and mapping only puts goods on it.

Step by step

Run from a warehouse card, the mapper has five steps: Location field, Bin code format, Preview, Finalize, Open orders.

Location field

This step names where the location code is held. Source type picks the kind of source: Product field or Custom field. For a product field the options are Product number, EAN and Manufacturer number; for a custom field a Custom field set is chosen first, then the Custom field itself. If the field is not on the list, My field is not on the list accepts its technical name.

Underneath, the wizard immediately shows how many distinct values it found and across how many products, which is the fastest way to confirm that the correct field was selected.

The heading These locations will be mapped to bins of: states which warehouse the mapping targets. That is the one building the codes describe.

Bin code format

A field value rarely looks exactly like a bin code. This step sets the separator and casing so that a label such as 0F / E4 comes out as 0F-E4. The preview updates with every keystroke.

This is also where the most common rollout problem is solved: Only map codes matching (optional). If one field holds the locations of two buildings, the mapping is run once per warehouse, each time limited to that building’s codes, for example SHOP-*. * matches any string, ? exactly one character. An empty field means “map everything”.

Preview

The preview is where the decision is made; it is not a formality. It shows:

• Bins to create — how many locations will be created (and how many already exist),
• Products with a location — how many products have a readable value,
• Values matching existing bins — how many values hit existing locations,
• No matching bin — values with no counterpart,
• Left out by the code filter — how many the code filter excluded,
• Placeholder values (skipped) — values such as null, n/a, -, which are not locations; no bin is created for them, and the field on those products is worth clearing.

If several products share the same location, the preview warns that some bins will hold more than one product. A warehouse set to the “one product per bin” strategy is switched to the shared one on finishing, so those bins stay editable.

Finalize

Map stock to bins starts the work in the background. Progress is shown in place.

Caution

Leave the admin tab open until All done., because the mapping runs in the background through the admin process.

Open orders

The last step adopts orders open before the start, described in A shop that already sells. On a repeat mapping there is usually nothing left to adopt, and the step says so.

What mapping deliberately skips

• Products that already have stock in Stockly. Mapping never adds goods twice: a product booked earlier, including in another warehouse, is skipped. That is why running the mapper after creating a second warehouse does not double the stock.
• Values with no matching bin, when the mapper runs from a warehouse card: it creates nothing, so there is nowhere to assign them. Draw the missing locations in the floor plan and run the mapping again.
• Values excluded by the code filter — deliberately; that is what the filter is for.

When to run it again

Mapping is safe to repeat. It is worth doing when locations in the product field changed, when the missing locations have been drawn, or when a second building with a different code pattern is being mapped.

If the second building has no codes of its own in the product field, the right tool is not mapping but an opening count.