Setting up a central warehouse stock
Let location-locked store staff see and pick from a central warehouse stock: the Central Warehouse flag, the role permission, what locked users can and cannot do, and how parts move to the store.
Written by Annukka Matilainen
Updated at September 25th, 2026
Audience: Administrators of multi-location businesses that hold parts in a central warehouse. Your locations' default and DOA stocks should already exist; see Setting up your stocks.
Who this is for
You keep the bulk of your parts in one warehouse or hub, and your store or service-point staff are locked to their own location so they only see local orders and local stock. Without extra setup those staff cannot see the warehouse's inventory at all. The Central Warehouse setup opens a read-only window onto that one stock, so a technician can pick a part from the warehouse when it is not on hand locally.
You do not need this if your staff are not location-locked. Unlocked users, admins and managers already see every stock at every location. It also does nothing on its own for a single-location business.
How it works
Two settings have to agree before a locked user can see the warehouse:
- The stock is ticked Central Warehouse.
- Every role the user holds has Can see Central Warehouse stocks ticked.
Either one alone does nothing. The exception is for stock only and is read-only: it never widens what the user sees of orders, tasks or alarms at the warehouse location, and it never lets them edit the warehouse stock.
Before you begin
- The warehouse exists as a Location under System Settings → Locations & Stores.
- Each store location already has its default Regular stock and DOA stock.
- Your store roles have Locked to default location and store ticked. If they do not, staff already see all stocks and you only need Step 1.
- You have the Create stock / Edit stock permissions and can edit roles.
Step 1 – Flag the warehouse stock
- Go to Stocks → Stock management. Open the warehouse location's stock, or select New Stock to create it.
- Enter a Name, for example Central warehouse.
- Select the warehouse's own Location. The stock keeps its real location; the flag only changes who can see it.
- Select the Sold-to if the warehouse holds parts ordered through a specific OEM account.
- Tick Default stock if this is the warehouse location's main stock.
- Tick Central Warehouse.
- Set Stock type to Regular stock.
- Select Save.
You can flag more than one stock, for example one warehouse stock per OEM account. Every flagged stock becomes visible to the roles you grant in Step 2. Give the warehouse location its own DOA stock too, so faulty parts found there are quarantined like everywhere else.
Step 2 – Grant the role permission
- Go to System Settings → Security → Roles & Permissions and open a role used by store staff.
- Confirm Locked to default location and store is ticked.
- Directly under it, tick Can see Central Warehouse stocks.
- Save, and repeat for every role that should reach the warehouse.
All roles must agree. If a user holds two roles and only one has the grant, the warehouse stays hidden for them. A user with no role at all never sees it.
Step 3 – Check each user's location
Open each store user under Users and confirm their Default service location (and any Secondary locations). What they see is then their own location's stocks plus the flagged warehouse stock(s), and nothing else.
What locked staff can and cannot do with the warehouse stock
| Allowed | Not allowed |
|---|---|
|
|
How parts get from the warehouse to the store
When a technician picks a part from the warehouse stock, the order line reserves that quantity in the warehouse, so it cannot be promised to another repair. Moving the physical part is your normal logistics step:
- Stock transfer – the warehouse team transfers the part to the store's stock, optionally with a transfer shipment and tracking. See How do I transfer Stock?.
- Part Requests (Fixably Depot) – the technician's request appears in the parts room, is allocated from the warehouse stock, and is collected by the technician. See Part Requests Detailed Overview.
Example layout
| Location | Stock | Type | Flags |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warehouse | Central warehouse | Regular stock | Default, Central Warehouse |
| Warehouse | Warehouse – DOA | Stock for DOA parts | |
| Austin store | Austin – Main | Regular stock | Default |
| Austin store | Austin – DOA | Stock for DOA parts | |
| Dallas store | Dallas – Main | Regular stock | Default |
| Dallas store | Dallas – DOA | Stock for DOA parts |
Store roles: Locked to default location and store and Can see Central Warehouse stocks both ticked.
Verify it worked
- Sign in as a location-locked store user.
- Stocks → Stock management lists their own location's stocks plus the Central warehouse stock.
- On an order at their location, Bring to order offers the warehouse stock and shows its quantities.
- Opening the warehouse stock's edit page is refused. This is expected.
Troubleshooting
- A locked technician cannot see the warehouse stock – both halves must be on: Central Warehouse on the stock, and Can see Central Warehouse stocks on every role the user holds. A user with no role never sees it.
- One colleague sees the warehouse and another at the same location does not – compare their roles. One role without the grant is enough to hide it. Also check that neither is an admin or manager, who see everything anyway.
- The warehouse stock is listed but opening it says "no access" – expected. The exception is read-only; edit, delete and inventory count are refused.
- The API returns no warehouse stock for a locked user – expected for the stock and stock-quantity endpoints. Only the product availability endpoint follows the exception.
- Staff can see the warehouse stock but also see other stores' stock – their roles are not locked. Tick Locked to default location and store on each role.