Adding and Editing Inventory Types – LabArchives

Inventory Types are used to organize and group materials by their shared and unique characteristics. LabArchives Inventory includes nine default Inventory Types: Antibody, Bacterial Stock, Cell Line, Chemical, Enzyme-Restriction, General, Oligo, Plasmid and Solution. Each type has its own set of Standard Fields and Custom Fields that appear when users add or edit inventory items. Inventory further supports adding new fields to existing types and creating new Inventory Types.

Only members with the appropriate permissions—such as the Lab Manager role or a custom role with lab management privileges—can access and modify these settings. Refer to the Understanding Inventory Roles and Permissions for more information.

Access the Inventory Types menu from the From the Gear icon and Lab Management menu to begin updating Inventory Types.

Tip: Changes made to Inventory Types will be reflected in the Import Template used when bulk importing Inventory Items. The template will include a tab for each Inventory Type and a column for each Standard and Custom Field. Visit Bulk Import of Items to learn how to perform a Bulk Upload using the Import template.

Editing a Default Inventory Type

LabArchives includes nine default Inventory Types to help you get started and includes Antibody, Bacterial Stock, Cell Line, Chemical, Enzyme-Restriction, General, Oligo, Plasmid and Solution.

You can assign a color to each Inventory Type for easier identification. Click the circle in the Color column to choose a color. The selected color will appear on the Search Inventory screen, Orders page, and Item Details page. This makes it easier to quickly identify different categories of materials.

From the Inventory Type row, you can edit standard or custom fields, remove, or clone a default Inventory Type. When you click the pencil icon or an Inventory Type name, you can view and manage its fields. Default Inventory Types already include commonly used Standard and Custom Fields that are relevant to that type of inventory.

Note: The General and Chemical Inventory Types cannot be deleted nor can the names be edited, they can however be duplicated (see the section below to learn how to duplicate an item). General is a system default type, and Chemical includes built-in integration with PubChem which prohibits its removal.

Standard Fields

Standard fields are included in every default Inventory Type. Lab Managers can decide whether they are displayed or required, but Standard Fields cannot be edited or deleted.

Only selected standard fields will appear when members add or edit items.

The Name and Quantity fields are always required and cannot be hidden. If a required field is left blank when adding or editing an item, members will see an error message and must complete the field before saving.

The table below describes the Standard Fields available for inventory items and the information each field stores.

Standard Field	Description
Name	Name of the inventory item
Quantity / Units	Amount of the item and its measurement unit
Locations	Storage location for the item
Description	Additional details about the item
Vendor	Supplier or manufacturer
Catalog #	Vendor catalog number
Lot #	Lot or batch number
Price	Purchase price
Date Received	Date the item was received
Grant #	Associated grant number
PO #	Purchase order number
Expiration	Expiration date
Safety Sheet	Safety documentation (e.g., SDS)
Notes	Additional comments

Custom Fields

Each Inventory Type has a set of default Custom Fields that are unique to the particular Inventory Type (such as CAS#, Chemical Safety, and Formula for the Chemical Inventory Type or Antigen, Clonality, and Conjugation for Antibodies). Additional Custom Fields can be created to capture information that may not be supported in one of the default fields.

Additional Custom Fields can be created to capture information that may not be supported in one of the default fields. To create custom fields, click + Add Field and enter a field label and select a field format. The field format indicates how the data will be entered such as from a text box, dropdown, checkbox, number or date field.

To manage your newly created custom fields, click the pencil icon to edit a field or the trash can icon to delete it. Custom fields can also be marked as required, which means members must complete them when creating or editing inventory items.

Note: Deleting a custom field will permanently remove that information from all inventory items using the field.

Creating a New Inventory Type

Creating a new Inventory Type allows you to organize materials that do not fit into the default categories and define the standard and custom fields needed to track information specific to that type of inventory.

To create a new Inventory Type, go to the Inventory Types page and click Add New Type. Enter the name of your new Inventory Type, then click Add Inventory Type. After the new Inventory Type is created, you will be able to modify Standard Fields and add Custom Fields.

Standard Fields

Standard Fields are included in every Inventory Type. Lab Managers or other members with Lab Management permissions can choose whether these fields are displayed or required. Standard Fields cannot be edited or deleted. Deselected standard fields will not appear when members add or edit items.

The table below includes a list and description of the Standard Fields.

Standard Field	Description
Name	Name of the inventory item
Quantity / Units	Amount of the item and its measurement unit
Locations	Storage location for the item
Description	Additional details about the item
Vendor	Supplier or manufacturer
Catalog #	Vendor catalog number
Lot #	Lot or batch number
Price	Purchase price
Date Received	Date the item was received
Grant #	Associated grant number
PO #	Purchase order number
Expiration	Expiration date
Safety Sheet	Safety documentation (e.g., SDS)
Notes	Additional comments

Custom Fields

To create custom fields, click + Add Field and enter a field label and select a field format. The field format indicates how the data will be entered such as from a text box, dropdown, checkbox, number or date field. To manage your newly created custom fields, click the pencil icon to edit a field or the trash can icon to delete it. Custom fields can also be marked as required, which means members must complete them when creating or editing inventory items.

Note: Deleting a custom field will permanently remove that information from all inventory items using the field.

The table below includes a list and description of the available field formats.

Format	Description
Text (Single-line)	Allows entry of a single line of text
Text (Multi-line)	Allows multiple lines of text
Dropdown	Select one option from a predefined list
Checkbox	Select multiple options
Radio	Select one option from multiple choices
Date	Choose a date (format depends on location)
Number	Enter numeric values including decimals

For Dropdown, Radio, and Checkbox fields, you can add the selectable options by entering values in the Options field and clicking the plus icon.

When you return to the Inventory Types page, your new Inventory Type will appear in the list. From there you can assign a color for easier identification, modify the fields, delete the Inventory Type, or create a clone.