📦 Low Stock Notification

The Low Stock Notification module provides automated email alerts when item inventory drops below defined thresholds. It helps warehouse managers and purchasing teams stay informed about critical stock levels without manually checking inventory.

What It Does

The module monitors your inventory against configurable rules and sends batch email notifications to designated recipients when items fall below their threshold quantities. Each email contains a summary table of all affected items, along with a link to a live results page in Business Central where recipients can view up-to-date stock levels at any time.

Key capabilities:

  • RuleSet-based monitoring — group rules and recipients into logical sets (e.g., per team, warehouse, or product category).
  • Flexible rule types — define thresholds at three levels: Global (all items), Item Category (entire category), or Item (specific item).
  • Rule priority — when multiple rules apply, the most specific one wins: Item > Item Category > Global.
  • Location filtering — optionally restrict rules to specific locations using standard BC filter syntax (e.g., EAST|WEST).
  • Calculation Source — choose whether thresholds are compared against physical inventory or a custom availability calculation. When set to Custom Availability, you select the availability template that defines how the stock level is computed.
  • Batch email alerts — one email per RuleSet containing all items below threshold, sent to all assigned recipients.
  • Multilingual emails — emails are sent in each recipient's preferred language (english and polish supported at the moment).
  • Calculation Source in emails — when all items use the same calculation source, the email displays the source above the results table. When sources are mixed (e.g., some items fell back to inventory), a "Calculation Source" column appears per row.
  • Live Results page — each email includes a link to the N24I - Low Stock Alert Results page, which recalculates stock levels in real time when opened.
  • Automated scheduling — runs automatically via a Job Queue Entry on a configurable interval (default: every 24 hours).

When to Use It

  • You want to be proactively notified when items run low, rather than discovering shortages during order fulfillment.
  • Different teams need separate alert sets — e.g., the bikes team only cares about bicycle parts, while the warehouse team monitors everything.
  • You need location-specific thresholds — the same item may require different minimum quantities at different warehouses.
  • You want a lightweight, automated solution that runs in the background without any user interaction after initial setup.

How It Works

  1. The Job Queue periodically triggers the Low Stock Monitor process.
  2. The monitor iterates over all enabled RuleSets.
  3. For each RuleSet, it evaluates every active (non-blocked) item against the RuleSet's enabled rules, applying rule priority (Item → Item Category → Global).
  4. For each item, it calculates the quantity using the configured Calculation Source: physical inventory (default) or a custom availability template. If the custom availability calculation fails (e.g., the module is disabled or the template is missing), the system falls back to physical inventory.
  5. If an item's calculated stock at the relevant location(s) is at or below the threshold, it is added to the alert list.
  6. If any alerts are found, a single email is composed per recipient language with a table listing all affected items — including Item No., Description, Location, Current Quantity, Threshold, and Unit of Measure.
  7. When all items were calculated using the same source, the email shows the calculation source (e.g., "Calculation based on: Inventory" or "Calculation based on: Custom Availability") above the table. When sources are mixed, a "Calculation Source" column is added to each row.
  8. The email also contains a View Live Results button that opens the N24I - Low Stock Alert Results page filtered to the RuleSet, showing a real-time recalculation.

Example Scenarios

Single Global Rule

  • RuleSet: DEFAULT, one Global rule with Threshold Quantity = 10.
  • Result: All items with inventory ≤ 10 are reported in one email to all recipients of the DEFAULT RuleSet.

Mixed Rule Types

  • RuleSet: WAREHOUSE-1
    • Rule 1: Item Category = PARTS, Threshold = 50
    • Rule 2: Global, Threshold = 10
  • Result: Parts with inventory ≤ 50 and all other items with inventory ≤ 10 are reported. The specific Item Category rule takes priority over the Global rule for items in the PARTS category.

Multiple RuleSets for Different Teams

  • RuleSet BIKES: Rules for bicycles, recipients: bikes-team@company.com
  • RuleSet PARTS: Rules for spare parts, recipients: parts-team@company.com
  • Result: Each team receives their own email with only the items relevant to them.

Location-Specific Thresholds

  • RuleSet: MULTI-LOC
    • Rule 1: Item = BIKE-1000, Location Filter = EAST, Threshold = 50
    • Rule 2: Item = BIKE-1000, Location Filter = WEST, Threshold = 30
  • Result: BIKE-1000 is checked separately per location with different thresholds. Both results appear in the same email.