When materials are added to a job in Ply, the system needs to decide which inventory location those materials should be deducted from (for example, a technician’s truck or a warehouse).
This behavior is controlled by Location Response Mapping.
This article explains how Location Response works today, why inventory may sometimes be pulled from the warehouse unexpectedly, and how to configure your account correctly.
Every user in Ply can have a response location set on their profile, typically their assigned truck. When a technician is added to a job and materials are consumed, Ply uses this mapping to decide: pull from the tech's truck or fall back to the default warehouse?
Why this matters
If response locations aren't configured correctly, your warehouse inventory will decrease every time a job uses materials, even when techs are physically pulling from their trucks. This causes warehouse counts to drift inaccurately over time.
What is Location Response Mapping?
Location Response Mapping determines which inventory location Ply uses when materials are added to a job.
Depending on how technicians are assigned to the job, and how users are configured in Ply, inventory may be pulled from:
A technician’s truck
Or the default warehouse
If no response location is clearly defined, Ply will fall back to the warehouse.
| No tech assigned | 1 Tech + Response Location set | 2+ techs Assigned |
Situation | No technician on the job | One tech, correctly configured | Multiple techs — can't pick one truck |
What Ply Does | System can't determine a truck — defaults to the warehouse | Ply finds their truck and deducts from it | Ply can't determine which truck to use and falls back to the warehouse |
Stock Deducted From | 🏭 Warehouse | 🚛 Truck | 🏭 Falls Back to Warehouse |
How Location Response works today
Here’s the current logic used by Ply:
1. No technician assigned to the job
Materials are pulled from the default (integrated) warehouse
The system assigns the transfer to a system/default user
Nothing to fix here; this is correct behavior. If materials should be deducted from a truck, assign the technician to the job first.
2. One technician assigned with a Response Location
Materials are pulled from the Response Location set on that technician (typically their truck)
This is the ideal and recommended setup
💡This is the setup to aim for: Every technician should have exactly one response location configured: their primary truck. See the configuration section below.
3. Two or more technicians assigned to the job
Materials are pulled from the default warehouse
This is a known limitation and a common source of confusion
⚠️ Why this can be an issue:
Even if technicians are actually using materials from their trucks
Ply will continue deducting materials from the warehouse
This can cause warehouse inventory to decrease incorrectly while truck inventory remains unchanged
Why trucks may not appear as an option
For a truck to appear in the Response Location dropdown, two conditions must be met:
The technician must be assigned to that truck
A Response Location must be set on the technician’s user profile
If no users are assigned to stock locations, no options will appear in the dropdown. This is one of the most common setup issues.
How to configure Location Response Mapping
To configure Location Response Mapping in Ply:
Go to Settings
Navigate to Company & Billing → Team
Use the dropdown field in the Location Response Column
Set their Default Response Location
Once configured, materials added to jobs will be deducted from the correct location instead of defaulting to the warehouse.
Important things to keep in mind
Inventory behavior is driven by technician assignment and response location, not by job timing or scheduling
If materials are consistently pulling from the warehouse, it usually means:
No technician is assigned to the job/location.
Multiple technicians are assigned to the job/location.
Or response locations are not configured correctly.
Summary
If inventory is being deducted from the warehouse when you expect it to come from a truck, review the following:
Is exactly one technician assigned to the job? If zero → materials always go to the warehouse. If two or more → see the multi-tech workarounds above.
Does that technician have a response location set? Go to
Settings → Company andBilling and check the Location Response column. If it says "Select location…" → the response location isn't configured.Is the technician assigned to a truck in Ply? Check the Truck Assignment column in
Settings →Company and Billing. If blank, assign the truck first; then the Response Location dropdown will show it.
All three conditions must be true for materials to be deducted from a truck. If anyone is missing, the system falls back to the warehouse.
Still need help? Contact Support!
Need help auditing your response location configuration or fixing inventory drift? Our support team is happy to walk through your setup.