SoStocked Maintenance Checklist (SOP)

PLEASE HAVE EVERYONE ON YOUR TEAM WHO DEALS WITH INVENTORY STUDY THIS COURSE.

We also highly encourage you to book your one-on-one onboarding call WITH YOUR TEAM so everybody is trained. :) Schedule an onboarding

PURPOSE

The purpose of this document is to outline the basic tasks to maintain and operate your forecasting, POs, FBA shipments and inventory using your SoStocked account. In order to keep this as simple and easy to understand as possible, we have distilled this SOP into the most basic action-item checklist with links to individual tutorials for each step. Save this document and its corresponding graphics where you and your team can reference them easily.

You can also download our SOP checklist here and share it with your team!

Go to SOP Google Doc
Bookmark that page so you always have the most up-to-date version
Save your own version by clicking Save > Make a Copy to your local computer

GETTING STARTED

If you are new to SoStocked and you have not done full onboarding, please schedule your free one-on-one onboarding call here.

Make sure you and your team have gone through the onboarding start-up tutorials here. These modules cover 90% of the basic use of our tools in the proper sequence.
Download and save the following onboarding checklist. Keep track of your setup here! Make notes and go over this with your Onboarding Specialist on the call.

If you need to invite additional team members to your account, or if you need to link multiple accounts together, go here.

WEEKLY ACTIONS

Check your Command Center key metrics and warnings here. Important: Each widget has its own tutorial linked in the “?” symbol.
Reconcile any FBA shipments pulled in from Amazon here.

Place your new inventory orders (POs) as needed here.
Place your FBA transfers from existing 3PL inventory here.

Make sure shipments are not being double-counted as inbound here.
Reconcile AWD STAR shipments here.

Disable Amazon Removal orders from your forecasts (if you have MFN sales enabled) here.

Deduct FBM (MFN) inventory from your 3PLs as needed here.

Make any necessary changes to products or inventory in bulk here.

For new products: Start on the Inventory Page and use the “First Seen” filter to find products that have been recently added. Make sure their forecasts are set up correctly here. Make sure new products are assigned to the correct suppliers, have the correct lead times, regional settings etc.

Check your Forecasted vs. Actual report and make any changes to your forecast settings here.

MONTHLY ACTIONS

Verify, edit or adjust your 3PL inventory levels here.

Follow up on POs and Work Orders that are in progress with your vendors here.
Do monthly housekeeping on your Forecast Settings here.
If you are using our advanced Seasonality tools, verify, edit or adjust your settings for accurate forecasting for new products here (2nd video).

Check for upcoming Overstock and Long-Term Storage fees (aged inventory) and work out plans to either sell this inventory quickly or liquidate it as needed to avoid fees here.

QUARTERLY ACTIONS

Verify, edit, re-evaluate and adjust your forecast settings here.

Verify your seasonality settings here. Adjust velocity as needed. Video.

Verify, edit or adjust your lead times based on past performance here.

Export your Projected Forecast Model and review it with your marketing teams and vendors to coordinate on bulk discounts, promotional campaigns, etc. here.
Export your Past Stockouts report and review it with your teams to ensure you are resolving why these products are stocking out here.

Export your Slow Sellers report and/or Liquidation Report (Inventory Page dashboards) to determine which products should be discontinued and archived here.
Review your marketing plans and ensure these future sales, Lightning Deals, campaigns and promotions are properly represented in your forecasts here.