Categories (Manage Item Groups)

Categories are used to organize inventory items into logical groups (e.g., Food Products, Medical Supplies, Spare Parts). This improves search, reporting, filtering, and day-to-day navigation. Categories also support hierarchy (Primary category and Subcategory) and can be enabled/disabled to control availability.

Where you find it
Master data → Inventory → Categories (Categories view)

What you see on this page
Left panel (filters & controls)

• Search categories: quickly find a category by name.

• Status tabs:

  • Active: shows categories currently enabled and usable in item forms.

  • Disabled: shows categories that are turned off (not available for selection).

• Pagination: e.g., “10 per page”

• Reset: clears filters.

Categories table (main area)

• Category: Category name, with a colored indicator dot (visual identity).

• Primary category: Shows whether the row is a Primary category or a Subcategory.

• Code: System-generated unique category code (useful for exports and references).

• Items: Count of items assigned to this category.

• On hand: Total on-hand quantity across items in the category (aggregated).

• Status: Active/Disabled.

• Actions: Context actions (edit/disable/view) depending on your permissions and configuration.

Primary action

• Add category: opens the category creation form (name, parent category, color, etc.).

How categories work (conceptually)

• Primary category: Top-level category (e.g., “Spare Parts”).

• Subcategory: Category nested under a primary category (e.g., “Automotive Parts” under “Spare Parts”).

• Disabling a category: Typically used when you no longer want it available for new items while keeping historical records intact.

Typical workflow

1. Create primary categories for your main departments.

2. Add subcategories for finer grouping (optional).

3. Assign each item to a category during item creation/editing.

4. Use category-based views to monitor stock and identify low/out-of-stock items.