Understanding the difference between Materials and Consumables in Ply is key to tracking inventory correctly and choosing the right workflow for your team. While both represent items you stock and use, they behave very differently once they leave the warehouse.
What is a Material?
Materials are items you want to track individually as they move through your inventory and jobs.
Use Materials when:
- You need to track quantities across warehouses, trucks, and jobs
- Items are sold or used on specific jobs
- Techs need to move, transfer, or consume the item themselves
- You want usage to show up clearly in reports
Key behavior:
- Materials can be transferred between locations (warehouse ↔ truck)
- Materials can be added to jobs
- Materials can be marked as used/consumed through activity
- Inventory is always tracked at the location level
What is a Consumable?
Consumables are items meant to be used frequently and not tracked once they leave the warehouse.
Use Consumables when:
- The item is used across many jobs, not tied to one specific job
- You don’t need to track it after it’s issued
- You mainly want to know when to restock, not how it was used
Common examples include tape, gloves, sprays, or small fittings.
Key behavior:
- Consumables are replenished from the warehouse
- Techs can request more consumables, but cannot mark them as consumed
- Once issued, consumables are not actively tracked at the job level
Key Differences at a Glance
Feature | Material | Consumable |
Tracked by job | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
Can be consumed by techs | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
Intended for reporting | ✅ Yes | ❌ Limited |
Tracked after leaving warehouse | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
Best for frequent, low-cost items | ❌ | ✅ |
Can I move a Material to a Consumable?
Yes. You can migrate a Material into a Consumable directly from the Catalog:
- Go to Catalog
- Expand the material using the arrow on the right
- Click the three dots
- Select Create a consumable
This pulls in the existing material details so you don’t need to re-enter them. After creating the consumable, you’ll need to manually delete the original material.
Note: Materials can only be migrated one at a time. For large migrations, you can send a list to Support and our Data team can assist.
Which should I use?
If you want techs to:
- Track usage per job
- Move items between locations
- Mark items as consumed
👉 Use Materials.
If you only need to:
- Restock items regularly
- Avoid tracking usage after issuing
👉 Use Consumables.
If you’re unsure which category fits your workflow, our Support team is always happy to help you decide.