P/O Lot Numbers Generation/Allocation Screen

  1. Open Purchase Orders > P/O Transactions > Purchase Order Entry or Invoice Entry.
  2. Enter a value in the Quantity Received field, and then press either the Enter key or the Tab key.

Click the Add button to add the lot or serial number displayed in the Next Lot Number or Next Serial Number field.

Click the Auto Alloc button to automatically allocate lot numbers to the items. The required number of lot numbers appears in the Lot Numbers list.

To start allocating from a specific lot number, specify this number in the Auto-Allocate From field, before you click Auto Alloc.

The Auto Gen button appears if you had selected the option Allow Auto-Generation of Lot Numbers in PO on the Settings tab of the I/C Options screen.

When you click the Auto Gen button, a dialog box opens, where you indicate how many lot numbers need to be created.

Click the Clear button to remove lot numbers or quantities allocated, or both, depending on the screen.

Click the Close button to end the lot number allocation process.

Use the Auto-Allocate From field to specify the starting lot number from which to automatically allocate the lot numbers.

  1. Select the Auto-Allocate From check box to display a field beside it.
  2. In this field, use the Finder to find and select a starting lot number, or enter it manually.
  3. Click the Auto Allocate button to allocate the required number of lot numbers, starting from the specified number.

When you auto-generate lots, you must enter a number in one of these fields to define how the lots are generated:

  • Make __ Lots. If you want to create a fixed number of lots, with the quantity evenly distributed across all of the lots, enter the number of lots.

    • Example: If you create 10 lots and have 400 items, each lot will have 40 items.

    OR

  • Each Lot Has __. If you want to distribute a fixed quantity to each lot, enter the number to include in each lot.

    • Example: If you want to have 50 items in each lot, the process will generate the number of lots needed to accommodate the quantity of items.

This field displays the next sequential lot number available for the item. Depending on which buttons are displayed, you can use this number in these ways:

  • Click Add to add the displayed number to the Lot Numbers list. Repeat this for as many numbers as you need.
  • Click Auto-Gen to add the required number of lot numbers to the Lot Numbers list, starting from the displayed number.
  • Click Auto-Alloc to add the required number of lot numbers to the Lot Numbers list, starting from the displayed number.

When you finish, this field displays the next lot number that is now available.

This display field indicates how many lot numbers have been selected.

This field indicates how many lot numbers are required, as indicated on the quantity field from which you accessed the Lot Numbers Allocation pop-up.

This figure represents the quantity still to be entered on the Lot Tracking pop-up screen. This number should be zero after you have finished allocating lot numbers.

Overview

When you receive lotted items from vendors in Purchase Orders, the program prompts you to assign lot numbers.

Note: Lot numbers are used for tracking stock from the point of receipt through to the point of sale, and can be used to track returned items from the customer and back to the vendor.

You use the same procedure when entering a vendor invoice, except you start with the Invoice Entry screen instead of the Receipt Entry screen.

Assigning Lot Numbers During Receipt Entry or Invoice Entry

You can assign lot numbers when you receive lotted items or when you create the invoice for the items, provided the item does not use the lot costing method and the Allow Lot Quantity To Be Different From The Quantity In The Entries option is selected on the I/C Items screen.

Generally, there are not big differences in assigning numbers during receipt or invoicing. However, there can be an impact when using the Inventory Control Lot Inquiry report.

Note: If you chose not to assign numbers in the PO receipt screen, but did so using the PO Invoice screen, the cost that appears in the Inventory Control Lot Inquiry report will be zero, as this inquiry reports only the net change from the time of receipt to invoice, not the original receipt cost.

Example: Say you enter the cost of a lotted item as two dollars during receipt entry, but you do not assign the lot number. Then, you use the Invoice Entry screen to enter the lot number, and you change the cost of the item to three dollars. The value that appears on the I/C Lot Number Inquiry for that transaction is one dollar.