Inventory Dashboard
Overview
The Inventory Dashboard is your daily control centre for stock health. It gives you an at-a-glance picture of how much inventory you hold, which items are running low, how well your warehouses are performing, and what transactions happened recently — all without opening a single report.
The dashboard is organised into four tabs covering different angles of your inventory:
| Tab | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Operational Overview | Headline KPIs: value, fill rate, stockouts, and low stock |
| Stock Alerts & Reordering | Items that need attention or replenishment |
| Analytics & Valuation | Inventory value breakdown by category and ABC classification |
| Aging & Production | How long items have been sitting, and assembly output |
This page covers the Operational Overview tab. The other tabs are explained in their own dedicated sections.
Selecting a Location Scope
Before diving into the numbers, there is one concept that shapes everything on the dashboard: the location filter.
In the top-right corner of the dashboard you will see a Storage Location picker. By default it reads All strategic locations, which means the dashboard reflects your entire operation. But you can narrow the scope to any single location — and the system does something important when you do.
How the location scope works
When you pick a location, the dashboard does not just show data for that location. It includes that location and every location beneath it in the hierarchy — all the way down.
Al Baraka Trading has a Headquarters Warehouse that contains three sub-locations: General Storage, Receiving Dock, and Shipping Bay.
If you select Headquarters Warehouse in the filter, the dashboard KPIs combine data from General Storage plus Receiving Dock plus Shipping Bay — not just the parent warehouse record alone.
This means a manager can see the full picture for their warehouse, while a team leader can zoom in to just their zone.
The As of timestamp in the top-right corner shows when the data was last loaded. Use the refresh button next to it to pull the latest figures.
The KPI Cards
The top row of the Operational Overview tab shows seven key metrics at a glance.
Inventory Value
What it shows: The total monetary value of all goods currently on hand within the selected location scope.
How it is calculated: The system values each item according to its inventory costing method, which is set on the item's model group. Different methods produce different unit costs:
| Costing method | How the unit cost is determined |
|---|---|
| FIFO (First In, First Out) | Each purchase batch keeps its original receipt price. Older batches are consumed first, so remaining stock reflects the cost of more recent receipts. |
| LIFO (Last In, First Out) | Same as FIFO, but newer batches are consumed first. Remaining stock reflects the cost of older receipts. |
| Weighted Average (WA) | A single Moving Average Price (MAP) is maintained per item across the whole company. Every new purchase recalculates this average. The value of any unit of this item — regardless of when or where it was received — is Quantity × MAP. |
| Standard Cost | A fixed cost set in Cost Accounting. All units of the item are always valued at this rate, regardless of what was actually paid for them. Any variance between the purchase price and the standard cost is posted to a variance account. |
Total Value = Σ (Quantity at location × Effective unit cost per costing method) across all records in scope
Al Baraka Trading holds the following stock across five locations:
| Location | Items | Value |
|---|---|---|
| General Storage | 48 items | AED 260,300 |
| Receiving Dock | 6 items | AED 17,200 |
| Sales Van 01 | 4 items | AED 12,700 |
| Sales Van 02 | 3 items | AED 4,100 |
| Shipping Bay | 2 items | AED 1,900 |
| Total | AED 296,200 |
The dashboard shows AED 296.3K as the total inventory value.
Why it matters: Inventory value is capital tied up on your shelves. A rising value without rising sales can signal over-buying. A falling value without rising sales can signal a stock shortage.
Fill Rate
What it shows: The percentage of your active stockable items that currently have any stock on hand anywhere in the company.
Fill Rate is always calculated company-wide and does not change when you filter by location. When a specific location is selected in the scope picker, this card shows N/A — the metric only makes sense at the company level, where it answers: "what share of our full catalogue is available somewhere right now?"
How it is calculated:
Fill Rate = (ItemsInStock company-wide) ÷ (TotalActiveItems) × 100
Al Baraka tracks 54 active stockable items in the system. Of those, 49 have at least some stock sitting somewhere in the company.
Fill Rate = 49 ÷ 54 × 100 = 90.7%
The dashboard shows a HEALTHY badge when the fill rate is strong. Think of it like a traffic light — green means most of your catalogue is available, red means many items have run dry.
Why it matters: If a customer asks for any item in your catalogue, the fill rate tells you roughly how likely it is that the item is in stock somewhere. A 90.7% fill rate means roughly 9 out of every 10 items can be fulfilled right now.
Stockouts
What it shows: The number of active stockable items that have zero stock at every location in the company — not just low, but completely gone everywhere.
Stockout count is always company-wide and does not change when you filter by location. An item is only a stockout if it has no stock anywhere in the company, regardless of which location you are viewing.
No minimum threshold is required — any stockable item with zero stock everywhere is counted.
How it is calculated:
Stockouts = TotalActiveItems − (distinct items with at least one inventory record anywhere)
Because the system automatically deletes inventory records when their quantity reaches zero, an item with no remaining records has no stock at any location.
Al Baraka has 54 active stockable items. If 49 of them have at least one inventory record somewhere in the system, then:
Stockouts = 54 − 49 = 5
Those 5 items have been completely depleted across every warehouse, van, and storage zone. No matter where you look, there is nothing on the shelf.
Why it matters: Stockouts are the most urgent alert. Zero stock company-wide means you cannot fulfil any order for that item until a purchase arrives — there is no other location to transfer from.
Low Stock
What it shows: The number of inventory records within the selected scope where the current quantity is below the configured minimum threshold. These items still have some quantity, but not enough — they need to be reordered.
How it is calculated: The system converts the current quantity into the same unit as the threshold before comparing. Records with no minimum threshold configured are excluded entirely.
Al Baraka's cleaning supplies threshold is set to 50 units. The current stock is 12 units.
12 units < 50 units → this record adds 1 to the Low Stock count.
The dashboard shows 20 items in this situation — still available, but running low across various locations.
Why it matters: Low stock is your early-warning system. You still have time to place a purchase order before hitting a complete stockout. Think of it as a yellow light before the red.
Active Items
What it shows: The total number of active, stockable items registered in the system — items that can physically be held in inventory.
This number is always company-wide and does not change when you filter by location. Items belong to the company, not to any specific warehouse.
What makes an item stockable? Each item is linked to an Inventory Model Group that has a Stocked Product setting. If that setting is enabled, the item is stockable and is counted here. Items with no model group assigned fall back to the system-wide default (SystemDefaults.DefaultStockedProduct). Non-stockable items — such as services or intangible items — are excluded.
Al Baraka has 54 active stockable items in the system. This is the size of their physical product catalogue — 54 distinct SKUs they buy, store, sell, or use in production.
Any item that has been archived (discontinued or retired), or that is marked as non-stockable, is excluded from this count.
Active Locations
What it shows: The number of operational storage locations within the selected scope.
When "All strategic locations" is selected, Al Baraka has 8 operational locations in the system. When you filter down to just the Headquarters Warehouse, the count changes to reflect only the locations in that branch of the hierarchy (e.g. 3 sub-locations).
Items in Stock
What it shows: How many of the active stockable items have stock on hand somewhere within the selected scope.
The system automatically deletes inventory records when their quantity reaches zero — there are no zero-quantity records sitting in the database. This means that if a record exists for an item at a location, that item has stock there. Items in Stock is therefore simply the count of distinct items that have at least one inventory record within the selected scope.
Al Baraka has 54 active stockable items, but only 49 of them have inventory records within the selected scope. The remaining 5 have no records — their stock has been fully consumed and the records removed.
Items in Stock is the raw count that feeds the Fill Rate calculation. Both numbers appear on the dashboard so you can see the ratio at a glance.
Inventory by Location
Below the KPI cards, the Inventory by Location section shows a card for each location within the selected scope, ordered from highest to lowest total value.
Each location card shows:
| Element | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Location code | The short code for the location (e.g. STORE, RCV, SHIP) |
| Location name | The full descriptive name |
| Total value | Sum of all stock value stored at that location |
| Item count | Number of distinct items held there |
| Alert badge | Appears when one or more items at that location are in stockout or low-stock status |
Reading the alert colours
- Normal card — all item-location records within this location are above their thresholds (or have no threshold set).
- Red card with alert badge — at least one item at this location is either at zero stock (with a threshold) or below its minimum threshold. The badge shows how many such alerts exist.
In Al Baraka's dashboard:
- General Storage shows a red card with 1 alert — one item there is below its threshold.
- Shipping shows a red card with 2 alerts — two item records there need attention.
- All other locations show normal cards — stock is healthy at those locations.
At the bottom of this section you see the Total Value and total count of locations as a summary row.
Recent Activity
The Recent Activity panel on the right side of the dashboard gives you a live feed of what has been happening.
Today's transaction counts
At the top of the panel, four counters show how many transactions of each type have been posted today:
| Counter | What it counts |
|---|---|
| Movements | Stock transfers between locations today |
| Sales | Sales shipment transactions posted today |
| Assemblies | Assembly (production) transactions completed today |
| Adjustments | Manual inventory adjustments posted today |
A count of zero simply means that transaction type has not been used yet today.
The transaction feed
Below the counters, a scrollable list shows your most recent transactions from the current month, newest first. Each entry shows:
- Transaction type — colour-coded label (PURCHASE, SALE, MOVEMENT, ASSEMBLY, ADJUSTMENT)
- Route or location — for movements: Source → Destination; for others: the relevant location
- Date and reference — when it happened and the linked document number (e.g. purchase invoice number)
- Description — the reason or notes recorded on the transaction
- Item count — how many distinct SKUs were included (shown as N SKUs)
A recent activity feed for Al Baraka might show:
- PURCHASE · Supplier → General Storage · 16 Jul 2026 · PI-00000022 · Labels and accessories procurement · 3 SKUs
- SALE · INV-2026-0051 · Ship from Shipping · 10 Jul 2026 · E-commerce fulfilment · 2 SKUs
- PURCHASE · Supplier → Receiving · 10 Jul 2026 · Spring production raw materials · 4 SKUs
This gives a warehouse manager a quick sense of daily rhythm — what came in, what went out, and whether the numbers look right without opening each transaction individually.
Putting It All Together
Here is how an inventory manager might read the dashboard in a typical morning:
Al Baraka's warehouse manager opens the dashboard at 8 am:
- Fill Rate 90.7% — HEALTHY → most of the catalogue is available.
- Stockouts: 0 → nothing is completely empty. Good.
- Low Stock: 20 → 20 item-location records are below threshold. She clicks through to the Stock Alerts tab to see which items need purchase orders today.
- General Storage has 1 alert, Shipping has 2 → she notes these as priority locations to check.
- Recent Activity shows 6 purchases this month → all appear linked to known purchase invoices. Nothing unusual.
In under two minutes she has a clear picture of the warehouse state and knows exactly what needs attention.
Tab 2: Stock Alerts & Reordering
This tab is your action list. While the Operational Overview tells you how many items need attention, this tab tells you which items they are, how urgent each one is, and exactly how much to reorder.
The Three Alert Cards
At the top, three cards summarise the health of your stock by severity:
| Card | What it counts | Severity |
|---|---|---|
| Negative Stock | Item-location records where quantity has gone below zero | Critical |
| Out of Stock | Item-location records where quantity = 0 (regardless of threshold) | Warning |
| Below Threshold | Item-location records where quantity > 0 but below the minimum threshold | Low |
Negative stock can occur if an item is configured to allow negative quantities. It means more stock was recorded as consumed or shipped than was ever recorded as received — a data accuracy problem that needs immediate investigation.
Al Baraka's cards show: Negative Stock: 0 · Out of Stock: 0 · Below Threshold: 20
No items are completely empty or in negative territory. However, 20 item-location records are running below their safety levels and need purchase orders.
The Reorder Report
Below the three cards, the Reorder Report lists every at-risk item with all the information needed to decide what to order and how quickly.
Reading the columns
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Item | The item code and full name |
| Location | The storage location where the shortage exists |
| Current Qty | The quantity on hand right now, in the item's display unit |
| Threshold | The configured minimum safety stock level |
| Avg Daily | The average daily consumption calculated from recent outbound transactions |
| Days Left | Estimated number of days before the item runs out at current consumption rate |
| Reorder Qty | The suggested quantity to order |
| Severity | Warning (zero stock) or Low (below threshold) |
How Days Left is estimated
The system looks at all outbound transactions (sales, assembly, and negative adjustments) over a recent lookback period and calculates the average daily consumption:
Avg Daily = Total outbound quantity over lookback period ÷ Number of days in period
Days Left = Current Quantity ÷ Avg Daily
If there have been no outbound transactions in the lookback period, Avg Daily shows 0.0/day and Days Left shows d (unknown). This means the system cannot estimate when the item will run out — you must use your own knowledge of expected demand.
PERF-LUX-002 · Golden Amber Eau de Parfum 100ml · Shipping location
- Current: 5 pcs · Threshold: 15 pcs · Avg Daily: 1.3/day
- Days Left: 5 ÷ 1.3 = ~3 days before it runs out
- Reorder Qty: 25 pcs
This is the most urgent item on the list. If no stock arrives within 3 days, it will hit zero and become a stockout.
PERF-DES-001 · Parisian Elegance Eau de Parfum 50ml · General Storage
- Current: 100 pcs · Threshold: 120 pcs · Avg Daily: 0.0/day
- Days Left: unknown (no recent sales)
- Reorder Qty: 140 pcs
This item is below threshold, but since there is no recorded consumption, the system cannot estimate urgency. A buyer would review expected demand before placing an order.
How Reorder Quantity is suggested
Suggested Reorder = (Threshold × 2) − Current Quantity
The formula targets bringing stock to double the safety threshold — giving a comfortable buffer above the minimum after the order arrives.
Sorting options
Use the By urgency and By quantity buttons in the top-right of the table to change the sort order:
- By urgency (default): Warning-severity items (zero stock) appear first. Within each severity level, items with the fewest Days Left appear at the top — the most critical items are always visible first.
- By quantity: Sorts by current quantity, useful for spotting items with very little stock regardless of their threshold.
Tab 3: Analytics & Valuation
This tab provides deeper financial and strategic analysis of your inventory. It answers questions like: Which product categories hold most of our money? Which items drive our sales? Are we sitting on slow-moving stock that ties up capital?
Inventory Valuation by Category
The pie chart and table on the left break down your total inventory value by product category, showing only items with positive stock.
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Category name | The item category (e.g. Finished Perfumes, Raw Materials) |
| % of total | What share of total inventory value this category represents |
| Value | The monetary value of all stock in this category |
Categories are ordered from highest to lowest value.
Al Baraka's inventory is distributed as:
| Category | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Finished Perfumes | 66.1% | AED 195.9K |
| Raw Materials & Ingredients | 24.5% | AED 72.7K |
| Packaging & Components | 8.8% | AED 26.0K |
| Lab Equipment | 0.6% | AED 1.7K |
| Total | AED 296.3K |
Two-thirds of Al Baraka's capital is tied up in finished goods ready to sell. Only a quarter sits in raw materials — meaning they mostly hold completed product rather than ingredients.
ABC Classification
ABC analysis is a classic inventory management technique based on the Pareto principle: a small number of items typically drive the vast majority of sales value. The system classifies every item that has been sold into one of three classes based on its share of total annual sales (COGS):
| Class | Cumulative value threshold | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| A | 0% → 80% | Your most valuable items. Few in number, huge in impact. Prioritise for stock availability and frequent review. |
| B | 80% → 95% | Important supporting items. Monitor regularly. |
| C | 95% → 100% | Low-value, slow-moving items. Minimal stock needed; infrequent review. |
The table shows each item's Annual Value (COGS from sales over the lookback period), its Cumulative % (running total as you move down the ranked list), and its Class.
Al Baraka has 11 items with sales history, classified as:
- Class A — 6 items (76.2% of sales value): Led by PERF-LUX-002 (Golden Amber 100ml) at AED 5.9K annual COGS, representing 29% of total sales value alone.
- Class B — 3 items (16.3%): Important but not critical.
- Class C — 2 items (7.5%): Low-impact items.
Practical meaning: Al Baraka should ensure Class A items (the 6 perfumes driving 76% of revenue) are always in stock. Running out of one of them has a far bigger business impact than running out of a Class C item.
Inventory Turnover
Turnover tells you how fast your inventory is moving. An item with high turnover sells quickly and rarely sits on the shelf. An item with low turnover sits for months or years, tying up capital.
Key metrics:
| Metric | Formula | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover Ratio | Annual COGS ÷ Current inventory value | How many times your stock "turned over" in the period |
| Days of Supply | Period days ÷ Turnover Ratio | At the current sales rate, how many days your current stock would last |
Al Baraka's overall turnover ratio is 0.1× with 5,143 days of supply.
This means at their current sales rate, their stock would last over 14 years — a very low turnover typical of a company that is still building sales or holding significant stock relative to sales volume. The item table confirms this: PERF-ASSM-001 has the highest ratio at 0.25×, meaning it turns over roughly once every four years.
For comparison, a fast-moving consumer goods company might target 6-12× turnover (stock replaced every 1-2 months).
The per-item table shows each item's ratio and Days of Supply, with a Velocity bar indicating relative speed — longer bar = faster mover.
Dead / Slow Stock
Dead stock is inventory that has been sitting without any transaction activity for an extended period. It represents capital that is not generating returns and may eventually become obsolete or expire.
How it is identified: The system finds the most recent transaction date for each item across all transaction types (purchases, sales, movements, adjustments, assemblies). If no transaction has touched an item within the idle threshold, it qualifies as dead stock.
Risk levels are based on idle days:
| Risk | Idle days |
|---|---|
| High | More than 180 days (6+ months) since last transaction |
| Medium | 91 to 180 days since last transaction |
| Low | Below 91 days but above the idle threshold |
The table shows: item, location, current value on hand, number of idle days, and risk level. Items are sorted by most idle first — the most neglected stock appears at the top.
Al Baraka has 19 High-risk, 0 Medium, 0 Low dead stock items worth a combined AED 42.8K.
The worst offenders are essential oil bottles sitting in General Storage:
- EO-WOODY-003 (Patchouli Essential Oil): 547 days idle · AED 2.4K — nearly 1.5 years without a transaction.
- EO-FLORAL-004 (Lavender Essential Oil): 543 days idle · AED 4.7K — most valuable piece of dead stock.
These items should be reviewed for potential write-off, sale at discount, or use in production.
Tab 4: Aging & Production
This tab addresses two different operational concerns: how old your inventory is (and the financial risk of holding old stock), and what has been manufactured through the assembly process.
Stock Aging — The Four Buckets
The system examines every inventory layer — each time stock is received, a new layer is created with the purchase date and unit cost. The age of each layer is measured from its purchase date to today, and its value (quantity × unit cost) is placed in the appropriate bucket:
| Bucket | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Current (0-30d) | Recently received stock — fresh and unlikely to be a problem |
| 31-60 Days | Stock from last month — normal for standard reorder cycles |
| 61-90 Days | Starting to age — worth monitoring if it is not moving |
| Over 90 Days | Old stock — should be investigated for slow movement or obsolescence risk |
Al Baraka's aging summary:
| Bucket | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Current (0-30d) | AED 980 | 0.3% |
| 31-60 Days | AED 0 | 0.0% |
| 61-90 Days | AED 0 | 0.0% |
| Over 90 Days | AED 295.3K | 99.7% |
Nearly all of Al Baraka's inventory value is in stock older than 90 days. For a perfume and essential oils business where products have long shelf lives, this may be acceptable. For a food business, this would be a critical alert.
Stock Aging by Item
The visual chart shows each item as a coloured bar, where the colour represents its aging bucket. Items with mostly old stock appear dark; items with fresh stock appear in a lighter shade.
Use the Top 5 / Top 10 / Top 15 toggle to focus on the most valuable items.
The table below the chart shows a full breakdown for each item:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Item | Item code and name |
| Category | Item category |
| Total Value | Total current value of all stock for this item |
| Current (0-30d) | Value of layers received in the last 30 days |
| 31-60D | Value of layers aged 31-60 days |
| 61-90D | Value of layers aged 61-90 days |
| 90+ Days | Value of layers older than 90 days |
Items are ordered by their over-90-days value descending — the highest-value old stock appears first.
Assembly & Production
The lower section of this tab tracks assembly transactions — the process of combining raw materials and components into finished products.
Summary cards
| Card | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Total Runs | Number of assembly transactions posted in the lookback period |
| Units Produced | Total quantity of finished goods produced across all runs |
| Production Cost | Total COGS of components consumed across all assembly runs |
| Distinct Items | Number of different finished goods that were produced |
Weekly Production Cost chart
A bar chart showing production cost week by week over the lookback period. Weeks with no assembly activity are not shown. This makes it easy to spot production rhythms — for example, if production happens in batches every two weeks.
Per-item production table
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Item | The finished good that was produced |
| Qty Produced | Total quantity produced across all runs in the period |
| Total Cost | Total component cost consumed to produce this item |
| Avg Unit Cost | Total Cost ÷ Total Quantity = average cost per unit produced |
| Runs | How many separate assembly transactions produced this item |
Items are ordered by quantity produced descending.
Al Baraka ran 4 assembly transactions in the lookback period, producing 55 units of a single finished product:
- PERF-ASSM-001 (Lyon's Pride Signature Scent 100ml): 55 pcs produced · 4 runs · Production Cost: AED 0.00
The AED 0.00 production cost indicates that component COGS values are not yet configured on the Bill of Materials lines, or the components had a zero unit cost at the time of assembly.