Release stock
Releasing is how stock leaves the stockroom. A release code decides what kind of departure it is, where the stock lands, and who has to approve it.
Find the part in the inventory list, open the row menu, and select Release.
The release code decides everything else
Every release starts by picking a code. The code is not a label — it drives the rest of the form and everything that happens afterwards.
| The code sets | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Disposition | Whether the stock is consumed, borrowed or transferred |
| Destination | Whether you are asked for a project, a person, a work order or a shipment |
| Returnable | Whether an estimated return date is required, and whether it can come back |
| Approval | Whether it waits for someone to approve it, or goes straight through |
| Serial selection | Whether you must name the exact units leaving |
| Where it lands | The location the stock moves into once issued |
So the same dialog asks for a project on one code and a person on another. If a field you expected is missing, the code you picked does not use it.
Your company's codes are configured for you. A typical set covers consuming against a project, lending to an engineer, issuing to a work order, scrapping during a build, shipping out, and destructive testing.
The steps
The dialog has up to three steps, shown across the top.
- Details — the code, quantity, destination, purpose and dates.
- Pick — which lots and locations the stock comes out of. The totals have to match the quantity you asked for.
- Serials — only appears when the part is serialised and the code requires it.
The fields
| Field | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Release code | What kind of release this is. Everything below follows from it. |
| Quantity | How many units. |
| Project / Release to | The destination. Which one you see depends on the code. |
| Needed by | When it has to be in hand. |
| Estimated return date | Only for returnable codes, and required there. |
| Purpose | What it is actually for, in words. |
What happens next
A release moves through a lifecycle rather than completing on submit.
draft → submitted → approved → allocated → issued → closed
Submitting sends it to Approve → Release Request, where someone with the right role approves or rejects it. A code that does not require approval skips straight past that gate.
Once approved it appears under Fulfill → Release Request, waiting to be picked. When the stock is issued it moves out of available and the movement is written to the inventory ledger.
A rejected or cancelled request stops there and never touches stock.
Approval and issue are separate on purpose
Approving says the release is allowed. Issuing says the material physically left. Only the second one moves stock, which is why an approved request can still be cancelled without any accounting to unwind.
What happens to the stock
Issued stock is never destroyed, only moved. It goes into the location the code names — released, borrowed, work in progress, in transit or scrap — and drops out of available stock while staying on your books.
That is why the inventory list separates what you own from what you can use today. The total counts everything; availability excludes anything already issued or held.
Released is not the same as consumed
A borrow is a loan with an expected return. A consume is gone for good. A transfer is still yours, just elsewhere. The code's disposition is what tells the difference, and it is worth picking deliberately.
Getting it back
Only returnable codes can come back. Returning is done from the Borrowed dialog rather than from here — see Borrowed stock.
If material is genuinely used up or ruined rather than returned, that is scrapping.
Estimated return date
Worth filling in properly. Later on it is the only thing separating stock that is out for a two day test from stock that has quietly been missing for a quarter. The Borrowed view is read against it.