What a steel yard needs its stock system to answer
Three questions come up a hundred times a day in a trading yard: how much of this size do we actually have here, how much of it is already spoken for, and how much is on its way from the mill. Generic inventory software answers the first and stops. SteelERP keeps all three figures on every size in every yard, and keeps them consistent with the dispatches and unloadings that change them.
| Figure | What it means | What changes it |
|---|---|---|
| Stock | The kilograms (or pieces) physically in the yard right now | A challan going out, a purchase advice unloaded, a transfer, an adjustment, an import |
| Available | Stock minus what confirmed sales orders have reserved but not yet dispatched | Confirming an order reserves; dispatching or cancelling releases |
| Expected | Stock plus what confirmed purchase orders will bring in | Confirming a purchase order adds; unloading its advices converts it into stock |
| Minimum | The re-order level you set for that size in that yard | The low-stock report lists every size that has fallen below it |
One Balance Per Size Per Yard
A size stocked in three yards has three balances and three minimum levels. Nothing is averaged across yards, and a product with no row in a yard is not read as zero — it is not there.
Yard-Scoped Users
Every role except Super Admin sees only the yards assigned to it. A supervisor at one yard cannot view, adjust or import stock into another, and the same rule applies to reports and exports.
Coil-by-Coil Ledger
Turn coil tracking on for a size and each coil is its own record with batch, original and remaining weight and length, colour, supplier reference and received date. The yard’s balance always equals the sum of its coils.
Transfers & Adjustments
Move a quantity between yards in one step, or correct a balance with a reason. Both are written to the audit log with the before and after figures, the user and the time.
Excel Opening Stock
One row per product per yard sets the closing balance; coil sizes take one row per coil. The whole file is checked before anything is written, and a bad row stops it with the line number named.
Movement & Low-Stock Reports
Stock movement by product and sub-category with drill-down and Excel export, a low-stock report against your minimums, and a product-by-yard pivot for the whole catalogue.
How stock moves through a day
A mill lorry arrives against a purchase advice on your purchase order. At unloading the supervisor records what came off — for a coil size, each coil with its tag and weight — and the yard’s stock rises by that figure while its expected figure falls by the same amount. Partial shipments against one purchase order stay separate advices, so a PO that arrives over three weeks is three unloadings, not one guess.
A sales order is confirmed and its lines reserve stock in the yard it is sourced from, so the next quotation sees the lower available figure. When the order is split into lorries and loaded, the actual loaded weight of each item — not the ordered weight — is what leaves stock and what the delivery challan bills. Cancel a lorry before it leaves and its weight goes straight back; for a coil size, back onto the same coil it came from.
Every one of those movements is a row in the inventory audit log: what changed, from what to what, why, who, and when. The daily reconciliation report reads the same rows and lists any size in any yard where the ledger and the balance disagree, so a keying error surfaces the next morning rather than at a year-end count.
Getting an existing yard onto it
The opening-stock import is built for the day you switch over. Download the template, fill one row per product per yard with the closing balance from your last count, and upload it. Coil-tracked sizes take one row per coil instead, with batch number, weight and length. The importer matches products by alias and yards by name, ignoring case, and refuses anything it cannot match unambiguously rather than guessing.
It is all-or-nothing on purpose. A stock file is one statement of what the yard holds, and a file that is 300 rows written and 40 refused leaves a position nobody can reason about. So a mistyped column header, a negative quantity, a figure too large for the column, a coil batch listed twice, a date that is not a date, or a product that does not exist stops the whole file with the row named — and nothing is written until every row passes. Dates are read day-first, as they are written in India, and re-running the same file sets the same balances rather than doubling them.
What it does not do
SteelERP does not connect to a weighbridge, a barcode scanner or an RFID gate; weights are entered by your supervisors and every entry is tied to a person, a lorry and a time. It does not compute stock valuation for your accounts — FIFO or weighted average is a decision for you and your CA, and there is a guide to that choice on the blog. Your books stay in Tally; SteelERP is the operations layer that feeds them.
See your stock the way the yard sees it
Try the live sandbox with multi-yard, coil-style data — no credit card — then load your own opening stock from Excel. Plans from Rs 10,000/month.
Try Live Sandbox Get a QuoteGST (18%) & one-time setup charged separately. No lock-in · Full data export on exit.
Steel inventory software — FAQs
Does SteelERP keep stock separately for each warehouse?
Yes. Every size has its own balance in every yard it is stocked in, with its own minimum level. A user sees only the yards assigned to them, so a supervisor at one yard cannot see or change another yard’s stock. Transfers move a quantity from one yard to another in a single step and are recorded in the audit log.
What is the difference between stock, available and expected in SteelERP?
Stock is what is physically in the yard. Available is stock minus the quantity already reserved by confirmed sales orders that have not yet been dispatched. Expected is stock plus what is on confirmed purchase orders and not yet unloaded. A sales team quoting from available rather than stock does not sell the same material twice.
Can I load my opening stock from Excel?
Yes. One row per product per yard sets the closing balance, and coil-tracked products take one row per coil with batch number, weight and length. The file is checked in full before anything is written: a mistyped column header, a negative figure, a duplicate coil batch or a product that does not exist stops the whole file with the row number named, so a half-loaded stock position cannot happen.
How does coil-level inventory work?
Switch coil tracking on for a size and its stock is held coil by coil: each coil keeps its batch number, original and remaining weight and length, colour, supplier reference and received date. Issues reduce the remaining weight of the coil they came from, coils can be held against an order before dispatch, and a daily reconciliation report shows any yard where the balance and the sum of its coils disagree.
Is every stock change recorded?
Yes. Every change to a balance — a dispatch, an unloading, a transfer, an adjustment, an import, a correction — is written to the inventory audit log with the before and after figures, the reason, the user and the time. Admins can review the log for any product in any yard.
How much does steel inventory software from SteelERP cost?
Inventory is part of every SteelERP plan, not a separate module. Plans start at Rs 10,000/month for up to 10 users and 1 stockyard. Growth and Enterprise plans for more users and yards are on a custom quote. GST (18%) and a one-time setup charge apply separately.