Katana's location management feature allows businesses to track and manage inventory across multiple locations, such as warehouses or stores. This function helps in organizing stock efficiently, ensuring accurate tracking of inventory levels, and facilitating smooth transfers between locations.
Note: Katana's Starter plan only allows for 1 location, but each additional plan has a different amount of locations: Standard (3), Professional (10), and Professional Plus (unlimited). Find out more.
Locations are different places where you store stock, make products, and/or fulfill customer orders.
Locations are typically used if you have multiple warehouses, use any fulfillment centers, store stock at your own retail outlet or at resellers' shops or warehouses, or produce at multiple locations.
The multiple manufacturing sites feature is also valuable for companies using outsourced manufacturing partners. It enables you to generate independent production schedules and manage ingredient availabilities at each location, as well as transfer stock from one location to another.
Locations are typically located at different geographical spots, although you can create them for different parts of the same warehouse if it makes sense for you.
Don't confuse locations in Katana with bin locations. These typically refer to the exact location of a certain item in your warehouse (shelf number and the spot on the shelf).
What you should know about locations
Adding multiple locations enables you to track stock quantities at different places in addition to seeing the total inventory list combining all your locations. For example, you can identify when the stock is getting low at fulfillment centers or resellers' shops, and send more if needed.
For each location, you can select whether you Sell, Make, and/or Buy items there. Based on the selection, that specific location will or will not display or in the location selector for sales orders (SO), manufacturing orders (MO), and purchase orders (PO).
Define the address of each location. This will be displayed on a PO printout, indicating the ship to address to suppliers.
Define the storage bins for each location, which can be linked to variants.
Transfer stock between locations with a stock transfer. Read more about creating a stock transfer.
Store products and materials at any location.
Assign SOs to different locations either for single SOs or in bulk (read more). In this case, the sales items availability for items on the order will check the stock availability from the assigned location, not from all locations. Define a default sales location for all new SOs by default. Read more
Assign MOs to different Locations. Each location has an independent production schedule and MOs. In this case, the ingredients availability for the order will check stock availability from the assigned location, not from all locations. Define a default manufacturing location for all new MOs (unless you are creating a Make to Order for a specific SO, see more in the next bullet).
A Make-to-Order (MTO) MO always has the same location as the underlying SO. The location for such an SO or MO cannot be changed without deleting the MO, changing the location for the SO, and creating a new MTO at the other location.
Assign POs to different locations. Each location has an independent list of POs. When a PO is Received, items on the PO will be added to the assigned location. Define a default purchases location for all new POs.
Assign outsourced purchase orders (OPOs) to different locations. Each location has an independent list of OPOs. If a OPO is received, ingredients on the OPO will be processed from the assigned track ingredients in location, and purchase items will be added to the assigned ship to location. Define a default purchases location for all new OPOs.
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