What's New in Zoho Inventory - October 2018

What's New in Zoho Inventory - October 2018

After a splendid month, we're back with more value-added features and usability improvements that will elevate your experience with Zoho Inventory. Let's check out what's new!

1) Viewing the Transaction History of a Batch Number

How'd you like it if all transactions involving a particular batch are displayed in one place? Wouldn't that make it a lot easier to track the activities related to that batch?

For instance, a particular batch of tools that were sold turned out to be faulty and needed immediate replacements. Typically, you'd have to dig through a pile of sales records and make a list of all the customers to whom the items from that batch were sold. In Zoho Inventory, we have made this task easier for you by ten folds.

By clicking on a Batch Reference Number, the entire history of that batch is displayed. You can also click on the Manufacturer Batch Number (within the Batch Details report) to view the transaction summary of the batch numbers with the same manufacturer batch number.

Batch Transaction Summary Report



Batch Transaction History from Items



2) Vendor Payment Terms

You can now set payment terms for your vendor contact. By doing so,  the payment due date will be generated in the bill upon selecting the particular vendor.

You can also set your payment terms in the bill creation page.
 


3) Advanced Search for Composite Items and Transfer Orders

Advanced search is now available for composite items and transfer orders. You can now refine your search by setting several search parameters for these modules.

Go to Search --> Click on Advanced Search --> Select the module to search.

Composite Items Advanced Search



Transfer Orders Advanced Search



4) Searching for Inventory Adjustments with Item Name

You can now look up inventory adjustments by item name under the advanced search for Item Adjustments. The search will list out all the adjustments done for the said item.


 
5) Filtering Transfer Orders

In this update, we've added the filter menu for the transfer orders module. You can apply these filters to view your transfer orders categorically.


 
6) Autogenerating Bundle Numbers and Transfer Order Numbers

You can now choose to auto-generate bundle numbers in composite items as well as transfer order numbers.


 
7) Cloning Items and Items from Groups

In addition to cloning contacts and transactions, we've now provided the option to clone items and item variants from groups. The cloning feature makes it easy to create items within Zoho Inventory. It comes in handy when you want to:
  • Create a new item with properties similar to an existing item.
  • Deactivate an item and create a new replacement item.



Learn in-depth on how you can clone an item and item from a group in Zoho Inventory.
 
8) Reorder Point Calculator - Free Online Tool

We have launched a free online tool to calculate the reorder point for your inventory items. Based on the historical demand and safety stock, this tool calculates the ideal reorder point, so you don't end up overstocking or run out of stock at any point.

In Zoho Inventory, you can set a reorder point for your item and promptly get notified whenever it falls into the low stock zone.

You can access the reorder point calculator here.


9) API Usage Report

We have introduced the API Usage Report under Activity Logs where you can track:
  • The API call limit for your organization,
  • The number of API calls used and the number of calls remaining,
  • The username, email address and the IP address from which the API calls were passed,
  • Also, the total API calls passed by each user.


This report is generated automatically on a daily basis, and on each day, the total API count gets reset to the maximum limit for your organization.

10) Zoho Inventory iOS App Updates

We have released the following product features in the Zoho Inventory iOS app version 2.0:

- We've added the much-awaited 'Contacts' module. You can now create new customer and vendor contacts directly from your iOS device. 
- Purchase Orders, Bills and Delivery Challans modules are added. 
- You can now perform an item search using barcode scanning. 
- The addition of Advanced Inventory Tracking allows you to track your items by serial numbers or batch numbers. 
- You can create composite items and bundles. 

Version 2.0 also comes with an array of iOS features:

- All the feedback messages can now be felt. We have added the haptic feedback. 
- You can receive all Zoho Inventory app notifications on your mobile. 
- You can drag and drop contacts & items to create transactions. Force touch a transaction list to view its information. 
- You can search for items and contacts in Spotlight. 
- You can send Invoices and Sales orders to your customers instantly through iMessage. 
- You will be able to view the name of your contacts in the incoming call screen with the help of CallKit. 
- With iOS 12, we now support Siri shortcuts. This allows you to execute actions such as creating invoices or viewing low stock items with voice commands. 

Do let us know your thoughts on these features in the comments. Until next time.

Cheers,
Lakshmi
Zoho Inventory Team