Background: I’m designing a V1 inventory tracker in Salesforce to replace an informal spreadsheet system. We need to track physical hardware across multiple warehouses (e.g., US, International).
The Core Challenge: I need to support a Soft vs. Hard Inventory model:
- Soft: Quantity-level tracking at the Warehouse/Opportunity level for forecasting.
- Hard: Serialized tracking (Hardware Rev, Software Version) required only at the point of fulfillment.
Key Requirements:
- Inventory must decrement automatically when an Opportunity is committed.
- Device state (Serial #, Software Version) must be "locked" once delivered to ensure Support/Engineering has a clean audit trail.
- Ability to track specific versions (Rev A vs. Rev B per customer.
Current Thinking: I’m debating between a fully custom object schema (Warehouses __c, Inventory_Items __c) versus trying to leverage standard Products/Assets.
My Questions for the Group:
- Has anyone built a similar "checkout" system? Did you use standard Assets for the "Hard Inventory" or a custom object?
- What is your preferred logic for the "Soft-to-Hard" transition (moving from a quantity count on an Opp to a specific serial number at shipping)?
- Any "gotchas" regarding record locking once a device is marked as delivered?
Appreciate any insights or "lessons learned" from those who have tackled hardware fulfillment!
1 answer
I would be very cautious with the duplication of the data.
I do not see a strong reason for use custom objects.
