Stock rules
Summarize
Summary of Stock rules
Stock rules in ServiceNow Zurich define criteria for managing inventory replenishment in stockrooms. When an asset's inventory falls below a specified threshold, stock rules automatically trigger actions to restock the item either by transferring from another stockroom or ordering from a vendor. This automation helps maintain optimal inventory levels without manual intervention.
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Key Features
- Threshold-Based Triggers: Stock rules monitor inventory counts for specific assets across stockrooms and initiate restocking when thresholds are met.
- Restocking Options:
- Email notifications sent to the stockroom manager, customizable by conditions, recipients, and content.
- Automatic creation of transfer orders to move stock between stockrooms.
- Automatic generation of purchase orders or Service Catalog requests when procurement and hardware asset management plugins are active.
- Creation of tasks for stockroom managers if procurement plugins are not activated, prompting manual restocking actions.
- Stock Rule Runner Job: Runs daily to evaluate stock levels against rules, triggering tasks, orders, or notifications accordingly. It avoids duplicate actions when restocking is in progress by using the
pendingdeliveryflag. - System Property glide.sc.checkout.twostep: Controls whether requests are automatically submitted or require manual submission, impacting the flow of the Stock Rule Runner job.
- Integration with Procurement and Hardware Asset Management: Enables automatic creation of purchase orders and Service Catalog requests when configured, based on the stock rule type (Stockroom, Vendor, or Service Catalog).
- Vendor Catalog Items: Only hardware models published as vendor catalog items can trigger automatic purchase orders from vendors.
Practical Considerations for ServiceNow Customers
- Ensure the
pendingdeliveryflag is properly managed to prevent redundant restocking actions. - Activate the Procurement and Hardware Asset Management plugins to enable full automation of purchase orders and Service Catalog requests.
- Customize email notifications to keep stockroom managers informed and responsive to restocking needs.
- Verify hardware models are published as vendor catalog items to benefit from automated vendor ordering.
- Understand the impact of the
glide.sc.checkout.twostepsystem property on request submission workflow and Stock Rule Runner behavior.
Stock rules are defined criteria stating that when the inventory of a particular asset in a particular stockroom reaches a specified threshold, a certain number should either be transferred from another stockroom or ordered from a vendor.
For example, a specific model of computer keyboard reaches an inventory of 10 in a particular stockroom and, because a stock rule is in place, a transfer order is automatically created to transfer 50 from a different stockroom. Because there can be multiple assets of a model within a stockroom, stock rules enable you to check all assets fitting the criteria and view a total count.
There are two restocking options:
- Email notifications can be sent to the stockroom manager (specified in the Manager field on the stockroom record) through the Asset Restocking email action when the inventory of a
particular asset in the stockroom reaches a specified threshold. You can customize this email notification by updating the details in the following tabs:
- When to send: Set the conditions under which the email should be triggered.
- Who will receive: Specify the recipients of the email.
- What it will contain: Define the content and information included in the email.
- A transfer order can be generated automatically to restock the item from another stockroom.
Stock Rule Runner job
By default, the glide.sc.checkout.twostep system property that's set to false, results in the automatic submission of requests when items are added to the Service Catalog cart. Also, with this setting of the system property, the Stock Rule Runner job triggers the creation of tasks, purchase orders, transfer orders, and Service Catalog requests.
If the value of the glide.sc.checkout.twostep system property is set to true, then the CartJS API adds items to the cart but the requests aren't submitted automatically. Instead, the request submission requires additional actions to be performed, affecting the automatic flow of the Stock Rule Runner job.
The pending_delivery is used to indicate whether a stock rule is awaiting fulfillment or delivery. The pending_delivery can be set to any of the following values:
- When this flag is set to true, the stock rule is in progress, and the system doesn't generate duplicate tasks or orders for the same item.
- When this flag is set to false, the system reprocesses the stock rule and triggers the creation of tasks and orders again.
Based on the Stock rule type and the plugin activated on your ServiceNow instance, the Stock Rule Runner job creates purchase orders, transfer orders, Service Catalog requests, or tasks.
If the Procurement plugin and the Hardware Asset Management application aren't activated, the Stock Rule Runner job creates a task instead of a purchase order or a Service Catalog request. This task prompts the stockroom manager to take the necessary actions to replenish the inventory.
| Stock rule type | Orders/Requests created |
|---|---|
| Stockroom | A transfer order is created automatically when the inventory in a stockroom reaches the threshold set by the stock rule. The transfer order is created to transfer stock from another stockroom to replenish the inventory. Note: If a transfer order is already in progress, then additional transfer orders aren't created. |
| Vendor | When the Procurement plugin (com.snc.procurement) is activated, a purchase order and corresponding purchase order line items are created. Important: The automatic purchase order action works only for hardware models that are published as vendor catalog items. If a model isn't published as a vendor catalog item, the stock rule still triggers
when stock falls below the minimum quantity, but it can't generate a purchase order. To publish a hardware model as a vendor catalog item, see Publish an item to the hardware catalog. Purchase orders and purchase order line items are created when the inventory in a stockroom reaches the defined threshold and needs replenishment directly from the vendor. Note: You must have a procurement_user role to access the purchase order and purchase order line item. |
| Vendor or Service Catalog | When the Hardware Asset Management application is installed and the stock rule is set to Vendor or Service Catalog, then note the following points:
|