Materials

Formbird FLEET includes a built-in process for managing workshop store inventory — from creating and maintaining a materials list, to ordering and restocking, to capturing material costs against Work Orders.

Parts / Materials

The Parts / Materials page is the central place to manage your store inventory. From here you can:

• Create new materials and manage existing stock levels
• Create and manage Material Orders
• Review materials used across Work Orders, including a graphical usage summary
• Create and manage Material Location Tags

Note: To reach Parts / Materials, open the Works Management dropdown from the Administrator homepage and select Parts / Materials. This path will be updated once the new workshop dashboard has been finalised.

Managing Materials

Each material in the store has its own record. To create a new material, select New Material on the Parts / Materials page and complete the material details.

Materials marked as Active appear in the materials list on Work Orders, where Technicians can select them and record quantities used. Materials that are inactive are hidden from this list.

The Materials panel on the Parts / Materials page shows all materials in the store. Use the column search fields to find specific materials. You can filter the list to show only materials whose quantity available is below their reorder threshold — useful when reviewing what needs to be ordered.

Ordering Materials

Material Orders track the reorder process from initial order through to delivery and restocking. They update the material's quantity and price once goods are received.

Creating Orders for Existing Materials

To create orders for one or more materials already in the store:

1. On the Parts / Materials page, select the rows in the Materials table for the materials you want to order. Avoid selecting the link in the Name column — select elsewhere in the row.
2. To focus on materials that need restocking, select the Qty Available < Reorder Threshold filter button.
3. Expand the Create Orders For Selected Materials panel.
4. The selected materials appear in the Selected Materials table. Work through each one using the Material To Order table and fields below it.
5. Choose a Group Orders By Work Order option:

1. Complete the required fields and any additional fields as needed.
2. If you selected Existing, choose the Work Order to link to.
3. If you selected Create New, complete the new Work Order fields.
4. Select Order Material. A new Material Order is created for that material, and the next material in the list appears in the Material To Order table.
5. Repeat steps 6–9 for each remaining material.

[SCREENSHOT: Parts/Materials page showing the Create Orders For Selected Materials panel]

Creating Orders for New Materials

To create an order for a material not yet in the store, expand the Create An Order For A New Material panel on the Parts / Materials page and complete the order details.

Managing Existing Orders

Existing Material Orders can be viewed and managed in the Material Orders panel on the Parts / Materials page. This panel lets you search for past orders and bulk update multiple orders at once — useful for progressing a batch of orders through the workflow without opening each one individually.

Note: Material Orders can also be used to record stock received directly from invoices. To do this, create the Material Order with a status of Restocked — this immediately adds the quantity to the store without needing to progress through the full order workflow.

Material Location Tags

Material Location Tags identify where a material is stored within a workshop or store. Once assigned to a material, the tag is shown on Work Orders so Technicians can quickly locate the item.

Each material has a Location field (the workshop or store it belongs to) and a Location Description Tag field where one or more tags can be selected. Tags are reusable across multiple materials.

To set up Material Location Tags:

1. Navigate to the Parts / Materials page.
2. Scroll to the Material Location Tags section.
3. Create new tags or manage existing ones.
4. Open each material and select the appropriate tags in the Location Description Tag field.

Tags can be as broad or as specific as suits your store layout — for example, a single tag per row/bin combination (e.g. "Row A – Bin 41") or separate tags for each dimension (e.g. "Row A" and "Bin 41") that are combined on the material.

[SCREENSHOT: Material record showing the Location Description Tag field with tags selected]

Using Materials on Work Orders

When a Technician opens a Work Order, active materials from the store appear in the Materials section. The Technician selects the material being used and enters the quantity. This creates a Used Material record against the Work Order, captures the cost, and deducts the quantity from store inventory automatically.

[SCREENSHOT: Materials section on a Work Order showing material selection]

Additional Materials

If a required material is not in the store list — or shows no quantity available — Technicians can add an Additional Material instead. Additional Materials are for one-off items or costs not held in the store, such as:

• A part ordered especially for the job
• External costs or subcontracted work
• A fallback when the store list is not yet up to date

Service Materials

Service Materials are the expected materials required to complete a particular type of service. Defining them on a Service Schedule means they appear automatically on the Service Work Order when a service is carried out, giving Technicians a ready reference of what parts are needed and enabling expected vs actual cost comparisons once the job is complete.

Service Materials are managed from the PM Service Schedules page, not from Parts / Materials.

Creating a Service Material

1. Navigate to the PM Service Schedules page.
2. In the Service Materials panel, select New Material.
3. Enter the expected Quantity.
4. Select Service Item from the Material Type dropdown.
5. Select the Location where the material is stored.
6. Enter the Name, Category, Part Number, and Unit Value.
7. Select the save tick to save.

Editing a Service Material

1. Navigate to the PM Service Schedules page.
2. In the Service Materials panel, select the material's name in the table.
3. Make the required changes.
4. Select the save tick to save.

Note: Changes to a Service Material apply to all Service Definitions that use it.

Learn more about Service Schedules.

Reporting

Used Materials

A full listing of materials used across all Work Orders is available in the Used Materials panel on the Parts / Materials page. This shows every instance of a material being recorded against a Work Order, including the quantity used and the associated cost.

The Materials Analysis panel sits alongside this and presents the same data as a graphical summary, making it easier to identify patterns in material consumption over time.

Both views are also available as standalone reports accessible from the Works Management dropdown.

[VERIFY] Confirm the names of the standalone Used Materials and Materials Analysis report pages in the menu.

Material Costs on Work Orders

Material costs recorded by Technicians contribute to the overall cost captured on each Work Order. This allows for a full picture of what a job cost — labour, materials, and any additional items — to be reviewed directly on the Work Order record.

For service work, Service Materials defined on a Service Schedule appear on the Service Work Order when it is carried out. Recording the actual materials used against the Work Order allows expected vs actual cost comparisons for that service. See Service Materials above.

Published: May 2026 · Formbird FLEET 4.2.8