Product Levels setup question Raw Product > Product

Rainwater

I am currently testing the Product Levels Trial on my WooCommerce store and want to confirm the correct way to structure my products and stock deductions.

My scenario

Product A (Plain). This is the uncoated item. It is currently set up as a Simple Product, which i understand i need to convert to Raw Product.

Product A (Powder Coated) This is the same product but powder coated in different colours. It is set up as a Variable Product with around 20 colour variations.

What I want to achieve

When a customer purchases Product A – Colour 10, I want ATUM to:

Deduct 1 unit from the Product A - Colour 10 stock first.

If that coloured variation is out of stock, then reduce the total stock of Product A (Plain).

My main question

When configuring ATUM Product Levels, should:

each individual variation be linked directly to Product A (Plain),

can the parent variable product Product A (Powder Coated) be linked to Product A (Plain) so that all variations follow that stock logic automatically?

Ideally, I want to avoid linking all 20 variations individually if the parent product can manage the stock deduction.
as i have approx 240 products (powdercoated)

Could you please confirm the recommended setup for this scenario? Or help with set up

Thank you.

Salva

Hi Rainwater

You said:

Product A (Plain) and Product A (Powder Coated)

I understand that both are 2 distinct products in WooCommerce, and one is a simple product, and the other is a variable product.
So let's name them as Product A (simple) and Product B (variable).

So, you can convert Product A to a BOM product and set it as "sellable" (if you are selling it on your shop), or create a separate BOM product and link that one to all of them. What you prefer.
Converting Product A to a BOM product will let you assign it directly to the variations of Product B.

But note that the BOM product will always be deducted (not only when they are out-of-stock, as you mentioned) if you use Product Levels only, as there is a single source of inventory for all of them.

And you have 2 main ways of configuring the behavior when the stock is deducted. For more info, read this article:
https://stockmanagementlabs.crunch.help/en/atum-product-levels/how-does-the-bom-stock-control-work

So if you need to have Product A and Product B stocks in sync, and when one is sold, it will deduct stock of the other one will be adjusted accordingly too, you need to enable the BOM stock control option.

But if what you need is to have 2 distinct inventories (one for produced items and one for non-produced items) and consume the ones already produced first. You will also need to use the Multi-Inventory addon.
For more info regarding this, you can read these articles:

https://stockmanagementlabs.crunch.help/en/atum-product-levels/multi-inventory-and-product-levels-integration

https://stockmanagementlabs.crunch.help/en/atum-product-levels/produce-items-according-to-bom

can the parent variable product Product A (Powder Coated) be linked to Product A (Plain) so that all variations follow that stock logic automatically?

No. Every variation has its own stock and must be linked separately.
But you could use the Export & Import PRO addon to link BOM products in bulk:

https://stockmanagementlabs.crunch.help/en/atum-export-import-pro/how-to-link-existing-bo-ms-with-existing-products-on-export-pro

If you have further questions, please let us know.

Best Regards,
Salva.