About Serialized Inventory and Lot Tracking

If you use Serialized Inventory and Lot Tracking, you can allocate serial numbers or lot numbers to items when you enter transactions.

You use serial and lot numbers to track items—from their receipt into inventory to their sale and shipment to customers. You can also use serial and lot numbers to track returned items (from the customer back to the vendor).

Serial Numbers

Serial numbers are used to track individual items. Each serial number must be unique to one specific item.

Example: An electronics retailer can use serial numbers to record sales of items that have warranties.

Lot Numbers

Lot numbers are used to track groups of items. Unlike serial numbers, a lot number can be allocated to multiple items.

Example: A food distribution company can use lot numbers to record purchases and sales of unique batches of product.

Managing Serialized and Lotted Inventory

Serial numbers and lot numbers are managed by item and location in Inventory Control. Also, settings in Inventory Control determine how you process serialized and lotted items in Order Entry.

Note: To change these settings, you must have Inventory Control Setup Maintenance security authorization. (For more information, see the Inventory Control help.)

In Inventory Control, you can specify:

• If an item is serialized or lotted (or both). For serialized or lotted items, you must assign serial or lot numbers when you sell the item or return it to inventory.
• If you must allocate serial numbers and lot numbers to all quantities in shipments, invoices, credit notes, and debit notes, or if you can allocate fewer serial numbers or lot quantities than the quantities in entries. Regardless of this setting, you can always post an order, even if the order quantity does not equal the quantity of allocated serial numbers or lot numbers.
• Whether you allocate serial numbers and lot numbers for the quantity ordered or the quantity shipped (the default is quantity shipped). More...

  If the option Use the Qty Ordered field in OE for the Allocation of Serial Numbers is selected in Inventory Control:

  • When you allocate a serial number to an order quantity, the program selects the Allocated To OE Order setting for the item and serial number in Inventory Control (on the I/C Serial Numbers screen).
  • When you ship an order, the program clears the Allocated To OE Order setting for the item and serial number, and sets the serial number’s status to Not Available.

  If the option Use the Qty Ordered field in OE for the Allocation of Lot Numbers is selected in Inventory Control:

  • When you allocate order quantities to lots, the program updates the Quantity Reserved For Order for the item and lot number (on the I/C Lot Numbers screen).
  • When you ship the order, the program decreases the Quantity Reserved For Order by the quantity shipped.

  If you allocate serial numbers or lot numbers for the quantity ordered, Inventory Control reserves the numbers until you ship the items.

  Note: You can allocate serial and lot numbers for the quantity ordered only to active orders (not to future orders, standing orders, or quotes).

Generating and Allocating Serial Numbers and Lot Numbers in Order Entry

You generate serial numbers and lot numbers for an inventory location when you receive serialized or lotted items (in Inventory Control or in Purchase Orders), and, if necessary, when you return the items to Inventory Control (in Order Entry).

You allocate serial numbers and lot numbers from an inventory location when you sell or ship serialized or lotted items (in Inventory Control or in Order Entry), and, if necessary, when you return them to the vendor (in Purchase Orders).

When you enter quantities for a serialized or lotted item in an Order Entry transaction, the program prompts you to allocate or generate serial numbers and lot numbers, as follows:

• O/E Serial/Lot Numbers Allocation screen. This screen appears when you:
• Enter a quantity on the O/E Order Entry, O/E Shipment Entry, or O/E Invoice Entry screen, and then press the Tab key or click the column header.
• Enter a quantity for a debit note on the O/E Credit/Debit Note Entry screen.
• O/E Serial/Lot Numbers Generation screen. This screen appears when you enter a quantity for a credit note on the O/E Credit/Debit Note Entry screen.

For more information about the allocation and generation screens, see O/E Serial/Lot Numbers Allocation/Generation Screen.

For information about allocating lot numbers and serial numbers in Order Entry, see Serial and Lot Numbers.

Transaction Records in Inventory Control

Transaction records are generated for I/C Serial Numbers and I/C Lot Numbers when you post serialized or lotted items for:

• O/E shipments
• O/E shipment adjustments
• O/E invoice adjustments
• O/E credit notes (for type Items Returned To Inventory)
• O/E debit notes (for type Items Removed From Inventory)

For I/C Serial Numbers, the transaction cost is shown for each transaction record.

For I/C Lot Numbers, the quantity and transaction cost are shown for each transaction record.

For more information, see the Inventory Control help.