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 which is especially important for integrations, since this behavior determines whether stock levels stay accurate across HouseCall Pro, ServiceTitan, Jobber, and other synced platforms.
What Is Location Response Mapping?
Location Response Mapping determines which inventory location Ply deducts from when materials are added to a job. Depending on how technicians are assigned to the job and how their user profiles are configured, inventory may be pulled from:
A technician's truck, or
The default warehouse (if no response location is clearly defined)
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 whether to pull from the tech's truck or fall back to the default warehouse.
How to Configure Location Response Mapping
Step 1. Set the Location Response for Each User
Go to Settings
Navigate to Company & Billing → Team
Use the dropdown in the Location Response column
Set the technician's Default Response Location
Once configured, materials added to jobs will be deducted from the correct location instead of defaulting to the warehouse.
📌 Inventory behavior is driven by technician assignment and response location not by job timing or scheduling.
Step 2. Set Your Default Location for Integration
Go to Settings > Workspace > Integrations
Select the Field Service Management (FSM) tab
Find your connected FSM (e.g., Housecall Pro) and choose your Default Location under its settings
This is the location Ply falls back to whenever it can't determine a specific truck to pull from (no technician assigned, or multiple technicians assigned).
Then scroll down to configure the Material Sourcing for Multi-Tech Jobs and Tiebreaker rule.
When multiple technicians are assigned to the same job, Ply needs a rule to decide which location to source materials from. This is controlled by the Material Sourcing for Multi-Tech Jobs setting, which offers three options:
Option | What It Does |
Default sync location | Always sources from your default sync location, regardless of which technicians are assigned. |
First technician's location | Sources from the first technician on the job, using their Response Location. Falls back to the default sync location if no location is found. |
Shared truck | Sources from a truck shared by all assigned technicians. If multiple shared trucks exist, or only one technician is assigned to the job, the tiebreaker rule decides which one to use. Otherwise, falls back to the default sync location. |
Tiebreaker Rule (for Shared Truck)
If you select Shared truck as your sourcing option, there's an additional Tiebreaker rule that applies when technicians share more than one truck, or only one tech is assigned to the job. This decides which location to use in that situation:
Tiebreaker Option | What It Does |
Default sync location | Skip the shared-truck logic and use your default sync location. |
First technician's assigned location | Pick a shared truck that is assigned to the first technician. |
First technician's response location | Use the first technician's response location, even if it isn't in the shared list. |
At a Glance
Situation | What Ply Does | Stock Deducted From |
No technician on the job | System can't determine a truck, defaults to the warehouse | Warehouse |
One tech, correctly configured (Response Location set) | Ply finds their truck and deducts from it | Truck |
Two or more techs assigned | Depends on your Material Sourcing for Multi-Tech Jobs setting (see above) | Default sync location, a shared truck, or the first technician's location |
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.
Troubleshooting: Materials Pulling From the Warehouse Unexpectedly
If inventory is being deducted from the warehouse when you expect it to come from a truck, all three of the following must be true. if any one is missing, Ply falls back to the warehouse:
Check | Where to Look | If Not Set |
Exactly one technician is assigned to the job | Job details | 0 techs → always warehouse. 2+ techs → see Configuring Material Sourcing for Multi-Tech Jobs above |
That technician has a Response Location set | Settings > Company & Billing > Team, Location Response column | If it says "Choose location...", it isn't configured |
The technician is assigned to a truck in Ply | Settings > Company & Billing > Team, Assigned Locations & Jobs column | If blank, assign the truck first, then it will appear in the Response Location dropdown |
Also worth checking if none of the above resolves it: confirm the Default Location under Settings > Workspace > Integrations > Field Service Management is set to the warehouse you'd expect as the fallback.
Still need help? Contact Support!