Hello all, longtime lurker here, I can usually find the answers to my questions by doing a quick search here but this one has me stumped.

I

Blazer:

I'm sure someone here has already done this, so I will no doubt get superseded, but here's my five cents.

If you've got a limited number of locations, you could add another database, called Inventory Locations, which would have a separate line-item for each product and location. In your example, you've got three locations (Warehouse, Floor, Hold) - let's say those are the only possibilities. So, to continue your example, the line-items for Widgets would go:

(Item, Inventory, Location)

Widgets, 7, Floor

Widgets, 10, Warehouse,

Widgets, 3, Hold

(and so on, for all your other products)

When items get added to an order (put on hold) you could pick where they come from (Warehouse or Floor), and do the math automatically there. When an order finally goes out, it could deduct one from the Hold line-item. To keep track of your total inventory, you'd be doing a calculation based on those related fields above... When items are added to inventory, you'd have to indicate where they were going, and you'd actually be adding to these line-items...

It's just a guess, but it does indeed sound simple.

-Stanley