Inventory and capacity setup

Track materials, purchasing signals, tools, and physical stock

Give recipes dependable inputs and give Orders an honest answer about what can be built now.

14 minute guide Inventory staff, buyers, and production leads

After this guide

Material availability, supplier context, reorder attention, and reusable equipment are visible before production is released.

1. Create a material

Material setup uses three steps so identity, stock policy, and purchasing information can be reviewed independently.

1
Choose manual or reference URL
Create manually when you know the input. Use Import from URL to submit a supplier reference that can prefill identity and purchasing metadata.
Create material
2
Define identity and unit
Enter the name, SKU, category, and consumption unit. Recipes will use this unit when calculating required quantities.
3
Set opening stock and reorder point
Opening stock establishes the current balance. Reorder at defines when the material needs attention.
4
Add supplier and tracking details
Record preferred supplier, supplier URL, unit cost, storage location, and whether the material needs lot tracking.
5
Review or save a draft
Confirm inventory value and purchasing metadata, or save the draft until the supplier and stock facts are known.

Use the page that matches the physical event so the inventory history explains why a balance changed.

1
Receive purchased stock
Use Receiving when material arrives. Record the quantity, location, supplier context, and lot information rather than editing on-hand totals directly.
Open Receiving
2
Count what is physically present
Use Counts for scheduled or spot checks. A variance should create an explainable adjustment.
Open Counts
3
Move stock between locations
Use Transfers so the organization knows both where stock left and where it arrived.
Open Transfers
4
Correct with a reason
Use Adjustments for damage, waste, corrections, or other non-receiving changes. Add the operational reason.
Open Adjustments
5
Trace controlled inputs
Use Lots when material batches require supplier, date, quality, or downstream build traceability.
Open Lots

Low stock is an exception queue; reorders are the purchasing response.

1
Review low stock
Start with materials at or below their policy point and identify the builds or catalog items they put at risk.
Review low stock
2
Choose the response
Reorder from the preferred supplier, choose an approved alternate, adjust the build plan, or investigate an incorrect balance.
3
Create and follow the reorder
Move the purchasing decision to Reorders so it can be tracked separately from the production work it protects.
Open Reorders
4
Receive against the purchase
When material arrives, record the receipt. That stock change can unblock Orders and Builds.

A reusable tool and its scheduled availability answer two different questions.

1
Register the tool
Use Tools to record equipment identity, condition, status, location, and assignment.
Open Tools
2
Reference it from recipes
Add the tool and occupation duration to each recipe that requires it.
3
Review capacity conflicts
Use Resource capacity to see live load and overlapping use across approved builds.
Open Resource capacity
4
Resolve before release
Move work, use an approved alternate resource, or update the plan before marking the build ready.

Receive, transfer, count, and adjust through their dedicated flows so inventory history remains trustworthy.

MakerDesk calculates build readiness from recipe consumption and current availability. A supplier record alone does not make stock available.

Products & recipes

Build a catalog record that can be sold now and completed operationally over time without publishing incomplete production assumptions.