Parts of a whole inventory suggestions

Lisham

Hello! we use Smartsheet mostly for inventory management and I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions on how to write a formula to automatically subtract the parts that go into each item while also subtracting the completed part. I currently link in the part inventory from one sheet and update it there so that it links to the main page, but this requires manual updating. 

Example Complete Item A (CIA) contains items a b and c and Complete Item B (CIB) contains items a d and e. how would I account for when I release CIA to deduct from items a b and c, while updating item a for CIB as well?

We have a few items that share a main item and then have different sub items, and the sub items appear in multiple completed items with different main items. I'm sure there is a way to do this with some of the recent updates, but I don't want to undo a system that works.

Thank you!  

Shaine Greenwood

Hi Lisham,

If I'm following you correctly, you might want to look into a COUNT formula.

If your items have pure numerical data (no letters mixed in) and you're wanting to add them together, use SUM

I'd recommend organizing your sheet in a hierarchical structure by indenting your smaller parts underneath the main item that they are a part of. More on hierarchy is available in the help center: https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/504734-hierarchy-indenting-outdenting-rows

You can then use the CHILDREN function to more easily count or sum, e.g.: =SUM(CHILDREN())

Please review our complete functions list for more examples of these: https://help.smartsheet.com/topics/formulas-and-functions