How do you track fabric inventory across multiple warehouses?

Each roll is assigned to a warehouse as well as a rack location, and available-to-sell is calculated per warehouse rather than only company-wide. Moves between buildings are recorded as transfers with an in-transit state so goods on a truck are not double-counted.

Can Textile Wizard handle a third-party logistics warehouse?

Yes. A warehouse can be flagged as third-party with its own account reference. It works the same way as your own building, though the discipline matters more because you cannot walk out and count it yourself.

What happens to stock while it is in transit between warehouses?

It sits in an in-transit state, belonging to neither building’s available stock until it is received. That prevents the common error of counting the same yardage at both ends of the journey.

The problem

Running fabric inventory across more than one warehouse

One warehouse is a list. Two warehouses is a routing problem — and the moment a salesperson quotes from the total rather than the building, you have promised goods that are three days away.

Why a single total becomes misleading

Say you hold 600 yards of a style. If 400 are in Los Angeles and 200 are in New Jersey, you cannot fill a 500-yard order from either building. The total says yes and the reality says no.

It compounds with dye lots. Now the question is not just how many yards are in this building, but how many yards of one lot are in this building — the only figure that will actually ship.

What has to be tracked

Every roll needs to know its warehouse as well as its rack. Available-to-sell has to be answerable per warehouse, not only company-wide. And moving stock between buildings has to be a recorded transfer with an in-transit state, because goods on a truck are in neither building and belong to neither count.

Third-party warehouses need the same treatment with one difference: you cannot walk out and look. That makes the system’s number the only number, which raises the bar on getting receipts and shipments recorded promptly.

The questions the system should answer

Can this order ship complete from one building? If not, which two, and what does the freight cost of splitting it look like? Where is the nearest stock to this customer? What is in transit right now and when does it land?

None of those are answerable from a spreadsheet with a single yardage column, which is why the second warehouse is usually the point at which a fabric business finally outgrows spreadsheets.

Questions

How do you track fabric inventory across multiple warehouses?: Each roll is assigned to a warehouse as well as a rack location, and available-to-sell is calculated per warehouse rather than only company-wide. Moves between buildings are recorded as transfers with an in-transit state so goods on a truck are not double-counted.
Can Textile Wizard handle a third-party logistics warehouse?: Yes. A warehouse can be flagged as third-party with its own account reference. It works the same way as your own building, though the discipline matters more because you cannot walk out and count it yourself.
What happens to stock while it is in transit between warehouses?: It sits in an in-transit state, belonging to neither building’s available stock until it is received. That prevents the common error of counting the same yardage at both ends of the journey.