Symptom

Two warehouses are both managed by the same 3PL/WMS (for example, Extensiv), but the product stock list shows different on-hand for the same SKU. One warehouse matches the WMS and the other doesn't. In the other warehouse, on-hand may sit at a number that looks like Luminous's own count. A warehouse that does match may also move up and down even though the WMS shows no matching shipments or receipts.

Why it happens

A warehouse and a warehouse group are different things in Luminous:

  • A warehouse is the place stock is held. This is the name you see on the product stock list.
  • A warehouse group is the setting that says how stock is managed. It records whether the group is Externally Managed, which integration account and which external warehouse it pulls from, and which of your Luminous warehouses it belongs to.

When an externally managed group pulls stock, the WMS quantity is written to the group's Default Picking Warehouse. A group can share a warehouse's name and still point at a different warehouse. If a group's Default Picking Warehouse is set to the wrong warehouse, the result is:

  • The warehouse that is named for the group receives no WMS stock. It has no externally managed group writing to it, so it keeps showing Luminous's own ledger quantity.
  • If two externally managed groups write to the same warehouse, that warehouse gets updated by both pulls. Its on-hand can swing between values even though the WMS itself hasn't changed.

Example: groups "1880" and "Extensiv 3PL Central" both pulled the same Extensiv warehouse. Both wrote into the "Extensiv 3PL Central" warehouse. Warehouse "1880" kept its own ledger (2,672) while "Extensiv 3PL Central" showed 172. After the 1880 group was pointed at the 1880 warehouse, both showed 460 after the next pull.

When a group is correctly set up, each pull sets on-hand to the quantity the WMS reports. It does not add or subtract from it.

How to resolve

  1. Go to the Warehouse Groups screen under your location/warehouse settings.
  2. For each group tied to the 3PL, open it and check Warehouses and Default Picking Warehouse. Make sure the default warehouse is the warehouse that group is named for, and that no two externally managed groups use the same warehouse.
  3. Check that Externally Managed is on for each group whose warehouse should follow the WMS. If the warehouse that disagrees with the WMS has no externally managed group pointing at it, set up or edit a group so that it does.
  4. Click Submit.
  5. Wait for the next stock pull from the WMS, then check the product stock list again. On-hand for each warehouse should now reflect the quantity the WMS reports.

Note: Luminous does not allow one external warehouse (integration location) to be attached to more than one externally managed group. If you see an error saying it is already managed by another group, unmap it from that group first.

When to contact support

  • On-hand still differs after a full stock pull, and the groups and their default warehouses look correct.
  • You can't save the group because of an "already managed" error and don't know which group holds it.
  • Several groups were already pointing at one warehouse, and you want help cleaning up the earlier on-hand history.