Before we can start creating our stockpiles, we need to think of a way to organise them so it becomes easier for Officers and Members to find what they need, share, edit, or delete them.
How to organize stockpiles
We do not enforce a specific organisational structure on organisations! However, we recommend setting up a clear and scalable structure from the beginning to avoid confusion as your organisation grows. You can implement the below structural guidelines, or make up your own! Learn more in the Create a logistics network guide.
In the below, we will describe a master network organisation, where there is a single all-encompassing network that contains all stockpiles and sub-networks. This is what we recommended, but it is not what you HAVE to do. Feel free to experiment and give us feedback if you find a better way! Learn more in the Create a logistics network guide.
Now that you have your organisation created, it’s time to set up your stockpiles. Stockpiles in FoxStock are logical groupings of items that help you manage your resources effectively.
To keep things easily extensible and centralized, we recommend creating stockpiles within the appropriate networks that reflect the main branches of your logistics operations. This approach prevents your organisation from becoming fragmented and ensures that everyone knows where new stockpiles should be placed.
We will assume that you have created a logistics network structure similar to the one below:
What is a stockpile?
We’ve talked a lot about networks and what they are, but what about stockpiles? Stockpiles are the core assets in FoxStock where you store and manage your resources. They represent physical or virtual locations where items are kept for use in your logistics operations.
They can have different meanings and purposes, just how networks can represent different groupings. Much like a logistics organisational structure, we do not enforce a specific meaning to stockpiles. They can be physical stockpiles such as seaports or storage depots, but could also be bunkers, maintenance tunnels, or even individual factories or entire facilities.
Use the stockpiles guide to learn more about stockpile settings.
Create a stockpile
Let’s create a first Stockpile by opening the Stockpiles page on the left navigation bar and selecting “Add New.” You will be asked to provide a name, a location, and assign it to a network. Choose the appropriate network based on your organisational structure. For example, if you’re creating a stockpile for frontline supplies, you might assign it to the “Frontline Logistics Network.”
Depending on your organisation’s structure, you might have to assign your stockpile to multiple networks! For example, if your organisation has a network for geographical areas and another for functional areas, you might have to assign your stockpile to both the geographical and functional network that best fits its purpose.
Continue and create as many stockpiles as you need… That’s it! You have your stockpiles created!
Congratulations! You are almost done! From here, you can go two different ways:
- You can stop here and use your logistics network as is. You can immediately start adding items to your stockpiles and let your members use your network and stockpiles.
- (Advanced) You can enhance your logistics network further by creating Hub networks which will allow you to use FoxStock’s targeting and recommendation system to its full potential.
Setting up hub networks is optional, and can be done at any time. However, we recommend doing it sooner rather than later to avoid having to reorganise your logistics network later on.