Packs are a product type in Beacon allowing you to manage an item while also tracking its contents, such as a sterile-packed item with multiple components. Think of a package of 5 devices; Packs allow you to manage the package as well as the 5 devices it contains.
Isn't that what a container is for?
Containers do allow you to manage groups of inventory, but they are not sellable. Packs are sellable items. This also enables more flexibility accommodate construct pricing, whereby one price may be charged when a group of devices is being sold.
Additionally, packs are created at the same time as the inventory inside them, they cannot be built using existing inventory, because these are considered finished good packaged items.
Packs are unique in that they:
Have a product type of "Pack" in their Catalog Record
Are defined as having a "Pack Bill of Materials" associated to their Catalog Record, delineating what belongs inside it
Are sellable items, as opposed to containers which are unsellable
Are created at the same time as the devices contained within them
Create your Pack in the Catalog
Navigate to the Catalog as an Admin in Beacon
Click "New Catalog Item"
Select "Pack" for the product type using the dropdown menu
Enter the Unique Catalog # for this type of Pack
Enter the Manufacturer
Associate Product Lines with the Catalog record, You may select as many as are relevant.
Click "Next"
Fill out any Additional Information for this Pack, then click "Create".
Create the Pack Bill of Materials
To be actionable, Packs must have a special type of Bill Materials assigned to them. This defines what combination of devices comprises the pack; in other words, what must the Pack contain in order to be considered complete?
Navigate to the Bills of Materials section
Click "New BOM"
Change the Type to "Pack" using the dropdown menu
Create a Name for this BOM to help identify it in the future and distinguish it from other BOMs
Select the Catalog # you created for this Pack from the search menu
In the last field in the popup, search for items to add to the BOM. Repeat until you've added all of the required items to the BOM.
Modify the quantities for each item until you have all of the contents of the Pack represented.
Click "Create".
Create your Pack Inventory
Now that you've created the Catalog and BOM for these Packs, it's time to create your inventory. When creating pack inventory, the component items must be created at the same time, you cannot pull from existing inventory and they will not be counted as regular inventory (they are part of the pack).
Navigate to the Bill of Materials screen and locate the BOM for that Pack Catalog you created in the last section. Click on it to open its detail screen.
Click "Create Packs" to add new pack inventory.
There are two other locations in Beacon where you may add pack inventory:
You may also create packs by clicking "+New Inventory" on the All Inventory page.
Or by clicking the Quick Action on the Pack's Catalog record screen.
Click "Create Packs"
Fill out the relevant product information for this pack:
Custody
Pack Description
Notes
Tags
Next, fill in the Lot numbers for the items contained within the pack. These items will be created along with the pack, you may not pull from existing inventory to create the pack.
You may enter multiple lots by clicking on the "Split/Add Lot #" button
Then enter the additional lots that may be included in the pack.
Then enter a quantity of how many Packs to create.
If you must consume existing inventory in this pack, then create it through the normal Pack creation workflow and remove the items later via Stock Adjustment and leave notes for context.
In the next screen enter any other production information for the pack, such as Price, Cost, UDI, Expiration date, etc.
Click "Create" and your Packs will be created.