Combined Items Setup

Overview:

If you plan to build recipes, and if you have multiple inventory items in your database that are used interchangeably as an ingredient in recipes (we refer to these as "Common Inventory Items"), then you can create a combined item to use as the ingredient for recipe items.

The reason to create a Combined Item is to ensure accurate recipe costs and theoretical inventory usage regardless of which common inventory item is currently being purchased and used in recipes.

For example, you have three inventory items in your database for flour. Two come from Costco (one in a 25 Lb Pack, and the other in a 50 Lb Pack). The third flour item comes from Sysco in a 25 Lb Pack. You also use whichever flour you have in stock for recipes.

In the above example, if you want to ensure the most accurate recipe costs and theoretical inventory usage for flour, then a flour combined item should be set up and then be used as the ingredient for recipes that use flour.

When the flour combined item is set up, the three common flour inventory items should be assigned to the new combined item for Flour. Then, the flour combined item should be used as the ingredient in recipes that use flour.

Using the flour combined item in recipes, versus one of the common inventory items that you may or may not be purchasing, will ensure that your recipe cost and theoretical inventory usage will be accurate regardless of which flour common inventory item you are currently purchasing or using.

Things to know!

This feature will only be available to users who are given access.
A combined item can be set up when you have multiple inventory items in your database that are used interchangeably as an ingredient in recipes. We refer to them as "Common Inventory Items".
The common inventory items should each be assigned to the combined item.
The combined item should then be used as the ingredient when you set up recipe items.
By using a combined item as an ingredient, it will not matter which common inventory item you have most recently purchased or are currently using in recipe items.
Combined items ensure that your theoretical cost for the recipes will always be correct. When the recipes are sold, your theoretical inventory usage will also be correct.
Combined items can, optionally, be flagged to be "counted" when you record inventory counts. A counted combined item will show up on the inventory count worksheet, the count entry display, your inventory extension, and your inventory usage report.
If a combined item is counted, then the common inventory items that are assigned to the combined item, will not show up on the inventory count worksheet, the count entry display, your inventory extension, and your inventory usage report.
Unless you plan to transfer or produce a combined item, we recommend that you do not select to count combined items.
A Combined Item can be ordered in the Order by Item feature. If it is flagged to be counted, then it can also be given a Par Level.
Added measure classes and recipe units can be configured for combined items. For more information, please see this article on Recipe Unit Configuration for Added Measure Classes.
If a common inventory item is used in a recipe item, and then later assigned to a combined item, the combined item will automatically replace the common inventory item in the recipe item(s).
If you are in a hurry to build recipe items and don't have time to create combined items, the above bullet creates the potential to build recipes now using one of the common ingredients and then create the combined items later.
If a combined item that is used in a recipe item(s) is deleted, then you will be prompted to select an ingredient to replace the combined item with.

Add or Edit Combined Items:

To add, view, edit, or delete combined items, navigate to Inventory>Setup>Combined Items via the Main Menu, or Manage Combined Items>Combined Items via the Process Menu. Upon selection, a "Find Grid" will display a listing of your combined items.

Find Grid Definitions:

+ Add, Export, and Search Options:

The blue "+ Add" button is used to add a new transaction.
The "XLSX" button will export the information on the grid to a spreadsheet.
The search option can find any part of a word or date on the grid. Type in your search criteria to initiate the search.

Edit/Clone: Click the Edit or Clone button to the right on the row of the Item that you wish to edit or clone. Selecting Clone will duplicate the item and then allow you to make edits to the cloned item.

Special Find Grid Search, Filter, and Sort Tools:

Magnifying Glass Icon: The magnifying glass at the top of each column in the above grid has a search function that enables you to search within that field. If you hover your mouse over the magnifying class you will see options to use to refine your search.
Magnifying Glass and Calendar Icon: If a column has a magnifying glass and a calendar at the top of the column, the calendar can be used to select a date, and if you hover over the magnifying glass after you select a date, you will have options to refine the filter (such as equal to or greater than the selected date).
(All) Incon: Columns that display "All" have a drop-down arrow on the right that is used to select and filter for a specific status. For example, the Active column can be filtered for "Yes" items only.

The Find Grid includes more tools to help you find, filter, or sort the information on the grid according to your requirements. Some of these tools are intuitive, but other helpful tools can easily be overlooked. Please click this link for more information on Find Grid Tools - FAQs.

Add a Combined item:

To add a new combined item, select the Add button at the top of the grid. To view or edit an existing combined item, click the "Edit" button in the row of the combined item name you wish to edit. To delete a combined item, click the "Delete" button in the row of the combined item name that you wish to delete.

Let's add a new combined item for the flour example we reviewed in the overview. As a reminder, we have three inventory items for flour. Two of the items come from Costco in a 25 Lb and 50 Lb Pack Size. The other one comes from Sysco in a 50 Lb Pack Size. Select the blue + Add button to add a new combined item.

Select the First Inventory Item:

The first screen that appears is a search feature for the first inventory item we want to assign to this new combined item. This first selection will also provide default info for the new Combined Item. In the example below we have searched using the words "flour".

Combined Item Tab:

After selecting our first inventory item, we will see the Combined Item tab configuration display. This tab is used to configure the base information for a combined item. In the below example, we selected the 50LB Flour from Costco as our first inventory item that will be assigned to this new combined item and many of the fields are already filled:

Item Name: For a combined item, we want a name that will apply to all of the inventory items that will be assigned to it. The name should, therefore, not reflect who the vendor is or the pack size. We will, therefore, change the name to Flour so it is more generic.

Primary Measure Class: The Primary Measure Class will default to be the same as the first inventory item we assigned. There are three, industry standard options for a Measure Class - Weight, Volume, or Count. We recommend that you do not change the primary measure class.

Default Recipe Unit: The default recipe unit will be the same as the initial inventory item selected. The default should represent the recipe unit you most commonly use in recipes with flour as an ingredient. The drop-down selection provides a list of alternative default recipe units that are within the primary measure class.

Please note that you do not have to use the default recipe unit when you set up recipe items. The default exists just to potentially save time.

Also Use By: If you configured the first inventory item you assigned to a combined item for additional recipe units, then the added recipe units will be checked in the also used by fields.

If you are viewing a combined item that has already been set up, then the also-used by fields will be checked if any of the assigned inventory items have been configured for added recipe units. Please see the discussion about the assigned items configurations tab below for more information.

Count When: By using the Count When drop-down, you have the option to count a Combined Item (versus the common inventory items that are assigned to it) when you enter inventory counts. If you select to count a combined item it will show up on the Count Worksheet, Count Entry Display, and on the Inventory Extension and Usage reports.

Rather than count a combined item, we think it is more effective if your end-users enter a zero count for any common inventory items that are not in stock to make them temporarily inactive until you buy them again. We, therefore, recommend the Count Never option be used for a combined item.

The above said, If you plan to transfer or produce a combined item, then you should select Count When Active.

If You Want to Count the Combined Item: If you want to count a combined item, then use the drop-down in the Count When field to select "Count when Active". Upon selection, added fields will display count-related information as shown in the below example:

Change Pack Size: The pack size will default to be the same as the first assigned inventory item. If you want to change the pack size then you can delete the current 50 Lbs pack size and start typing the name of your desired pack size.

For example, if we want to change the pack size in this example to pound, then we can type in pound and select it from the standard packaging library. An example is shown below:

If you select a new pack size such as "Pound" from the library, the recipe units and count units will automatically be reconfigured.

Count Unit: In addition to Pack Size, you can also enter quantities for counts, transfers, or production for a combined item using Count Units. The drop-down selection provides a list of Count Unit descriptions to select from.

For this example, we are not going to change the pack size or count units for the flour combined item because we can enter quantities for flour by count unit ( a pound), in addition to 50-pound packs.

Inventory Category: The category will default to be the same as the first inventory item assigned. Normally, there is no need to change this. Categories are used to summarize the value of inventory counts and the cost of inventory usage.

Active: A new combined item will default to an active status. You can uncheck the box to make a combined item inactive.

Item Can Be Ordered: This field will only display if ordering is enabled in your company settings. It will default to the setting for the first assigned inventory item. Combined items can only be ordered via the Order by Item feature. Typically, Combined Items are not flagged to be ordered.

Completed Combined Item Tab: Below is an example of our completed Combined Items Tab for Flour. It is now time to assign the other two flour inventory items to this new combined item:

Item Assignment Tab:

Use the Item Assignment tab to assign additional inventory items to a combined item. Staying with the Flour example we used above, there are two other flour inventory items that we want to assign. We will select the Item Assignment tab.

Use the standard dual list box to select additional items to assign. In the example above, we have searched for "flour" in the available dual list box. We double-clicked on the two flour items we wanted to also assign to the Flour combined item to move them from the available to the selected column:

Assigned Item Configurations Tab:

After selecting the added item assignments, there is no need to save them yet. Instead, select the Assigned Items Configurations tab to make sure there are no Assigned Item Configuration requirements. Configurations are only required if one or more of the assigned items do not share the same Measure Class (Weight, Volume, or Count) as the first inventory item that was selected.

Common Measure Classes: In our Flour combined item example that is shown above, all three inventory items share a configuration for the Weight Measure Class. So no added configurations are required. Since we do not see any red "Required" messages on the display, we can move on to the Inventory Item Groups tab.

No Common Measure Class: If you assign an inventory item to a combined item that does not have the same measure class as the combined item, you will need to add a Measure Class and Recipe Unit configuration to the item.

For example, if the combined item has only one measure class configured and it is for Count, and you assign an inventory item that has a measure class configured for Weight, then you will be asked on the Assigned Items Configurations tab to configure the new item for the Count measure class. An example of this requirement is shown below using a Combined item for Tomatoes:

If you have a red "Required" notification for an Assigned Item, please click this link to an article we have dedicated to Assigned Item Configurations - FAQs. The article provides detailed examples and information for adding a new assigned item configuration.

Inventory Item Groups Assignment Tab:

When the assigned item configuration is complete, you will be returned to the assigned items configuration grid. An example for Tomatoes is shown below:

As shown on the grid above, there are no additional item configurations required for the new tomatoes combined item. We are now ready to move to the next tab for Inventory Item Groups.

The inventory item groups tab will only display if you have previously set up inventory groups. Use the Inventory Item Groups tab to assign an Inventory Group to a Combined Item.

If we select this tab, we are taken to a dual list box that shows available groups in one column and selected groups in the other. In the below example, we selected the group for Dry Goods from the available column to be assigned to the new Basil combined item:

Recipe Items Tab:

The Recipe Items tab enables you to add, view, edit, or delete the recipes that a Combined Item is used as an ingredient in. Below we have selected the Recipe Items tab for the new Basil combined item:

In the above example, the Recipe Items tab has been selected. It displays every Recipe Item that the combined item of sesame oil is used in along with the recipe unit and quantity (portion size). To add another recipe, use the plus "+" button. To delete a recipe, use the "X" button.

The reason we are already seeing recipe items for a new combined item is that one of the basil inventory items we assigned to this combined item was already being used as an ingredient in a recipe item. COGS-Well will automatically replace that inventory item with the new combined item when you save the new combined item.

Assigned to Sites Tab:

The Assigned to Sites tab enables you to select, view, or deselect the Sites that will utilize the combined item. Please note that this Tab will only display if you are logged into your Company versus a Site, and you have more than one Site. The default selection will be all Sites are selected.

Available and Selected: Listed under the Available column are all the Sites that are available to be assigned to this Item, but have not been assigned. Listed under the Selected column are all the Sites that have been assigned to this Item. To move a Site from one selection to another, check the box by the Site or Sites you want to move and then hit the arrow direction you want to move them to.

Summary:

This completes this article for setting up combined items. Assigned item configurations can seem complicated at first, but they get much easier after you do a few configurations.

Save, Delete, and Exit

At the bottom of the screen are the Save, Delete, and Exit buttons.

Save - Saves the entry or entries without exiting.

Delete - Deletes the Item. You will be asked, "Are you sure"?

Exit - Exits without saving any new entries or edits.