Materials
Track raw materials and ingredients, organise by category, and monitor stock levels for production inputs.
The Materials module lets you manage the raw materials, ingredients, and components that your business purchases and uses in production. Materials are distinct from finished products — they are the inputs that go into making what you sell, and tracking them accurately is essential for cost control and production planning.
Raw materials vs finished products
In Eleo, materials and products serve different purposes:
- Materials — Raw inputs purchased from suppliers and used in production. Examples include flour, sugar, cooking oil, packaging materials, and electronic components. Materials are tracked in the Supply Chain module.
- Products — Finished goods that you sell to customers. Products may be composed of one or more materials (defined through recipes or bills of materials). Products are tracked in Inventory.
When you receive materials via SmartStock, their stock levels are updated in the Materials module. When materials are consumed in production, their levels decrease accordingly.
Adding a material
- 1
Navigate to Materials
Go to Procurement → Materials from the sidebar.
- 2
Click Add Material
Click the Add Material button to open the material form.
- 3
Enter material details
Provide a name, SKU (optional), and description. Set the unit of measure (e.g. kilograms, litres, pieces) that the material is tracked in.
- 4
Select a category
Assign the material to a category for easier filtering and reporting. Categories might include “Dry Goods”, “Dairy”, “Packaging”, or “Chemicals” — depending on your business.
- 5
Set stock tracking options
Enable stock tracking to monitor current levels. Optionally set a reorder point — the stock level at which you should place a new order — and a reorder quantity.
- 6
Save
Click Save to create the material. It will be available for selection when creating purchase orders and stock receipts.
Material categories
Categories help you organise materials into logical groups. You can create custom categories that match your business — for example, a restaurant might use categories like “Proteins”, “Vegetables”, “Spices”, and “Beverages”, while a manufacturer might use “Raw Materials”, “Components”, and “Packaging”.
Categories are used to filter the materials list, group items on purchase orders, and break down costs in reporting.
Stock tracking
When stock tracking is enabled for a material, Eleo maintains a running count of the current quantity on hand. Stock levels are adjusted automatically when:
- Stock is received — Creating a stock receipt in SmartStock increases the material’s on-hand quantity.
- Material is used in production — Production logs that reference recipes containing the material decrease the on-hand quantity.
- Stock adjustments — Manual adjustments for spoilage, waste, or stock-take corrections.
Materials list with stock levels and reorder point indicators
Materials with stock tracking enabled show a colour-coded stock status indicator: green when above the reorder point, amber when at or near the reorder point, and red when below. This gives you a quick visual signal of which materials need reordering.