Overview
Your Inventory catalogue is made of materials: the parts, consumables and supplies you stock. Materials are sorted into categories, which form a tree. Both are on the Inventory page: the Categories tree on the left and the materials list beside it.
This article covers creating, editing and deleting materials and categories, and how SKUs stay unique. For stock, see Warehouses and stock levels.
At a glance |
|
Who can do this | Any Backend user once Inventory is enabled. There's no Role permission for Inventory. |
Where | Inventory (Categories tree and materials list) |
Works on | Backend (web) |
Availability | Early access — ask Mobaro to enable Inventory Management |
🚀 Early access: Inventory is an early-access feature. Mobaro turns it on for your organization. Until then, Inventory shows greyed out in the Backend menu.
ℹ️ Note: Older Inventory versions called materials Products and the SKU a Code. This has been updated to use material and SKU.
What a material holds
Field | Required | Notes |
SKU | Yes | Up to 50 characters. Unique per Manufacturer. |
Name | Yes | Up to 255 characters. |
Manufacturer | Yes | Part of what makes an SKU unique. |
Description | No | Up to 255 characters. |
Image | No | Shown in the list's Image column. |
A material sits in one category, or in none (uncategorized). The category is set when you create the material and can't be changed later.
Create a material
1. Select the category
On the Inventory page, click the category in the Categories tree. The new material goes into the selected category. To create an uncategorized material, click the selected category again to clear the selection.
2. Click Create
The New material page opens.
3. Fill in the details
Enter the SKU, Name and Manufacturer, which are marked Required, plus a Description and image if you want them.
4. Save
Click Save. Mobaro confirms Inventory material saved successfully. Then add its stock in the Warehouses panel on the same page — see Warehouses and stock levels. If you try to add stock first, you'll see Fill in SKU, name and manufacturer before adding stock.
⚠️ Heads-up: Check the category before you click Create. A material's category can't be changed afterwards. To move a material, you have to delete it and create it again in the right category, which means removing its stock first.
How SKUs stay unique
An SKU is unique per Manufacturer, not across the whole catalogue. Two materials from different Manufacturers can share an SKU; two from the same Manufacturer can't. If the SKU is taken, you see A material with this SKU already exists for this manufacturer. Check the Manufacturer on both materials.
Materials imported without a Manufacturer count as having none, so two of them can't share an SKU either.
Edit or delete a material
Select the material and click Edit to change its SKU, Name, Manufacturer, Description or image. The category can't be changed.
To delete a material, select it, click Delete and type its SKU to confirm. You can't delete a material while any Warehouse still has a stock row for it: A material that is still in stock cannot be deleted. Write off its stock first. Remove each row from the material's Warehouses panel first — see Setting up Inventory for how that write-off works.
🛑 Critical: Deleting a material can't be undone, and removing its stock rows writes off any quantity left. Transfer stock you want to keep before you delete.
Manage categories
Create: click Create Category (+) above the tree and enter a name. The new category goes under the selected category, or at the top level if nothing is selected.
Rename: select the category and click Edit Category. A category can't be moved under a different parent.
Delete: select it and click Delete Category. A category with child categories can't be deleted until they're gone. Its materials become uncategorized; if it has materials, you type the category's name to confirm.
Selecting a category lists only the materials directly in it, not those in its sub-categories. With nothing selected, the list shows uncategorized materials. Search looks across the whole catalogue.
Best practices
Plan the category tree before you add materials, since a material can't change category later.
Keep the tree shallow: a few clear levels are easier to browse, on the Backend and in the Mobile app's material picker.
Use your suppliers' part numbers, or your existing system's codes, as SKUs, and always fill in the Manufacturer.
Use a naming convention so similar materials sort together in the list.
Frequently asked questions
How do I create categories in Inventory?
On the Inventory page, click Create Category (+) above the Categories tree and enter a name. Select a category first to create a sub-category under it.
I added a new item to a category, but it won't save. Why?
Save only works once SKU, Name and Manufacturer are filled in. If the SKU is already used by a material from the same Manufacturer, change the SKU or the Manufacturer.
Can I move a material to a different category?
No. The category is set when the material is created. Delete the material and create it again in the right category, after removing its stock.
Can a material be in more than one category?
No. A material sits in one category, or none. Use parent categories for broader groupings.
We have our parts in a spreadsheet. Do we add them one by one?
No. Mobaro can import your materials, categories, Warehouses and opening stock from a spreadsheet. See Importing your Inventory data.