Orou Sabi manages logistics for Groupe Gbaguidi in Parakou. The group has a company in Cotonou, one in Parakou and one in Natitingou, and goods travel north by truck. Until now each company kept its own list of locations and vehicles in a spreadsheet, and nobody could say which truck was free or which location another company could use for a transfer. This page follows Orou as he describes the group’s sites once, in the organization, and decides which companies may use them. The same steps apply to any business with several shops, warehouses or delivery vehicles.

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Group the locations

Orou starts with the way the group thinks about locations. The Parakou companies have two locations that count as “Parakou hub”. He creates the group with Create a location group. Later he renames it with Rename a location group, and he browses the groups, with the number of locations each one holds, with List location groups and View a location group. Groups matter because the steps of a stock transfer point to a group, not to one location. See Plan and run stock transfers. When a group is no longer needed, he removes it with Delete a location group. A group still holding locations, or still used by a transfer or a trip, is refused.

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Register locations and vehicles

Orou registers the Parakou location with Create a location or vehicle, choosing the type “location” and its group. He registers the 20-tonne truck driven by Gildas Akpovi the same way, with the type “vehicle”. A vehicle has no group. He can share the new site with some companies right away, or later. He then adds details with Set location or vehicle details: for a location its address, city and volumes, for a truck its plate number, driver, load volume and weight, insurance expiry date and fuel type. To find a site again he uses List locations and vehicles and View a location or vehicle. When the truck is sold or the location closes, Delete a location or vehicle removes it, along with its sharing and its details. Edit a location or vehicle renames it, or moves a location to another group.

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Share a site with companies

The Natitingou company needs to receive goods at the Parakou hub. Orou opens the location and shares it with that company using Share a site with companies. From then on, the company sees the location and can use it, for example as a transfer step. List companies sharing a site shows who has access. If the agreement ends, Stop sharing a site cuts the access. Stock and transfers that already refer to the site are not touched.

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The rules

  • A location must belong to a location group of the organization. A vehicle must not have one. A location cannot be moved out of its group: it must always keep one.
  • A site name must be unique in the organization. The name of a deleted site cannot be reused.
  • A location group name must be unique in the organization. A deleted group is gone for good.
  • A location group cannot be deleted while it holds a location (deleted ones included), while a transfer step refers to it, or while a trip stop points to it.
  • A location cannot join a group, leave a group or be deleted while the group is used by a step of a running transfer.
  • Sharing, and sharing again: a company that already has access cannot be added a second time. A company whose access was removed can be given access again.
  • To remove a sharing, you give the identifier of the sharing link, not the identifier of the company.
  • When listing sites, you must give the type (location or vehicle). Permissions are checked for that type, so a member can be allowed to list vehicles and not locations.
  • Each action has its own permission for locations and another for vehicles, and the company must hold it too.
  • Details accept only the keys that suit the type. A measure and its unit go together: a volume needs its volume unit, a weight needs its weight unit. Keys not sent are left as they are.

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All the actions of this topic