1. What Are Type A and Type B Inventory

Type A Inventory: Within ShareCRM, Type A covers full closed-loop inventory management for an account, including core inventory operations such as inbound, outbound, inventory checks, and transfers. It also directly supports business scenarios like Sales Orders, deliveries, and returns.

Type B Inventory: Type B relies primarily on integration with third-party systems—most commonly mainstream ERP solutions. Basic inventory operations (inbound, outbound, inventory checks, transfers) are processed by the external system; only the final inventory balances synchronize back to ShareCRM. ShareCRM uses those synchronized results to support business scenarios such as Sales Orders, deliveries, and returns.

2. Key Differences Between Type A and Type B Inventory

2.1 Different Objects

• Type A Inventory: Includes the full set of inventory module objects, such as Warehouse, Inventory, Batch, Serial Number, Batch Inventory, Inbound Order, Outbound Order, Transfer Order, Inventory Check Sheet, Purchase Order, and Purchase Return Order.
• Type B Inventory: Includes a limited set of basic inventory objects, such as Warehouse, Inventory, Batch, Serial Number, and Batch Inventory.

2.2 Different Data Handling

• Type A Inventory: Inventory data is maintained and processed inside ShareCRM. The system updates inventory quantities based on inventory transaction documents (including increases, decreases, additions, deletions, etc.). You can query each inbound/outbound record in ShareCRM.
• Type B Inventory: Inventory data is maintained by the third-party system and only the final inventory results synchronize to ShareCRM. ShareCRM cannot guarantee the accuracy of inventory details, cannot maintain inventory records, and cannot provide per-transaction inbound/outbound records.

2.3 Different Upstream Business Logic

Using Sales Order as an example:

• Type A Inventory: When you submit a Sales Order, the system increases the reserved (allocated) inventory in the ordering Warehouse and reduces available inventory accordingly. When the order ships, the system releases the reserved inventory and deducts the actual stock.
• Type B Inventory: When you submit a Sales Order, the system does not increase reserved inventory in the ordering Warehouse and available inventory does not change. When the order ships, reserved inventory is not released and actual stock is not deducted within ShareCRM.

2.4 Different Target Customers

• Type A Inventory: Suited for small and medium-sized enterprises that do not use an ERP system, do not require inventory integrations, and do not need sophisticated financial inventory management.
• Type B Inventory: Suited for medium-to-large and large enterprises that already use in-house or third-party ERP systems (e.g., Kingdee, Yonyou, SAP). These organizations require refined inventory control, cost accounting, and financial inventory management and therefore need integration with external systems.

3. Switching Inventory Modes

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• ShareCRM supports switching between Type A and Type B inventory modes. Because switching clears existing data and reinitializes the module, the change must go through a “Customer Special Request” approval process. After approval, the system automatically issues a permission that is valid for 24 hours. During that window, the tenant’s ShareCRM administrator can perform the switch.