Stock rules
Summarize
Summary of Stock rules
Stock rules define criteria for inventory management by specifying thresholds for assets in stockrooms. When inventory reaches a set threshold, the system automatically initiates restocking actions, either by transferring stock from another stockroom or ordering from a vendor. This helps maintain optimal inventory levels and ensures timely replenishment.
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Key Features
- Threshold-based restocking: Automatically triggers transfer orders or purchase orders when inventory falls to specified levels.
- Two restocking methods:
- Email notifications to the stockroom manager, customizable by timing, recipients, and content.
- Automatic creation of tasks, purchase orders, or transfer orders depending on system settings and activated plugins.
- Stock Rule Runner job: Runs daily to evaluate stock levels against rules, generate notifications, and create necessary replenishment actions without duplicating orders or emails if restocking is ongoing.
- System property glide.sc.checkout.twostep: Controls whether requests are auto-submitted when items are added to the Service Catalog cart, influencing the automation flow of the Stock Rule Runner job.
- pendingdelivery flag: Tracks if a stock rule is currently being fulfilled to prevent duplicate tasks or orders; must be reset after processing to allow new replenishment actions.
- Integration with plugins:
- With Procurement plugin active, purchase orders and line items are created automatically.
- With Hardware Asset Management installed and vendor or Service Catalog stock rules, Service Catalog requests are submitted automatically for approval.
- If neither Procurement nor Hardware Asset Management is active, tasks prompt manual restocking actions.
Stock Rule Runner Job Behavior
The job's actions depend on the stock rule type and activated plugins:
- Stockroom rule: Auto-creates transfer orders from other stockrooms unless one is already in progress.
- Vendor rule with Procurement plugin: Creates purchase orders and purchase order line items; requires procurementuser role to access.
- Vendor or Service Catalog rule with Hardware Asset Management: Submits Service Catalog requests for stock replenishment, which are tracked using the pendingdelivery flag to avoid duplication.
- Without Procurement or Hardware Asset Management: Creates tasks for stockroom managers to manually replenish stock.
Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers
Implementing stock rules streamlines inventory management by automating restocking workflows, reducing manual oversight, and ensuring stock availability. Customers can customize notifications, leverage integration with Procurement and Hardware Asset Management for seamless purchase processing, and maintain control over stockroom operations with clear tracking of replenishment status. This leads to efficient inventory control, timely restocking, and improved asset availability.
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. 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:
|