About lot and serial number tracking

Generally, lot numbers are assigned to items when they are received. Lot numbers are used to track perishable goods, chemical and medical supplies, and other goods for which laws require companies to maintain accurate records and traceability to the end customer.

The lot size for each lot-numbered stock item is specified in the Supplier inventory (PO201000) window.
When you enter a purchase receipt for lot-numbered items, you can specify the quantities of items in units of measure other than base units; in this case, the system converts the quantity on receipt to base units and calculates how many lots are received. The system then generates lot numbers according to the lot number templates specified by the lot/serial classes the items are assigned to. The same lot number is assigned to all base units in the lot.

For the receipt, you can run the Stock item labels (IN619200) report to print labels for products.
This can be useful for stocktaking counts and for picking items for sales orders.

Consider this example of unit conversion: Suppose that you create a purchase receipt for two crates of lot-numbered goods for which the following information applies:

• The base unit is PIECE.
• A crate contains 12 pieces.
• The lot size is a crate.

For this transaction, the system will generate two lot numbers and create two receipt transactions.

If your company produces items, you can assign lot numbers to items on their sale.

When you enter a lot-numbered stock item on a sales order, the system generates the list of particular lot numbers (with quantities of the item in the base unit) for items to be picked in accordance with the issue method assigned to the item's lot/serial class or selects the items with assigned lot numbers based on the issue method as follows:

• FIFO: The units with the earliest receipt dates will be selected for the order.
• LIFO: The units with the latest receipt dates will be selected for the order.
• Expiration: The units with the earliest expiration dates will be selected for the order.
• Sequential: The units from the top of the list (with lot numbers ordered sequentially) will be selected for the order.
• Custom: The units with lot numbers you manually select will be used for the order.

If the sales unit is smaller than the base unit for an item tracked by lot number (that is, the base unit consists of several sales units), the item may be sold in fractional quantities with the specified lot number.

With serialised inventory (stock items with serial numbers), you maintain the history of any serial number and track its costs and to find the customer in case of recall.

For serialised inventory, the base unit should be the smallest unit of measure used for the item. In most cases, the same unit is used as the purchase unit, sales unit, and the base unit.

When you enter a purchase receipt that includes a serial-numbered item, if a quantity was specified in purchase units that differ from the base units, the system will perform quantity conversion to the base units and will generate a serial number for each base unit of the product. To view the generated serial numbers, invoke the Allocations dialog box on the Document details tab of the Purchase receipts (PO302000) window.

As an example of unit conversion, imagine that you enter a purchase receipt for a case of serialised items for which the base unit is PIECE, and the purchase unit is BOX, which includes 10 PIECES. For the item, on receipt, the system will generate 10 serial numbers.

If serial numbers should be assigned on item sale, the numbers are assigned in accordance with the valuation method specified for the item lot/serial class.
When you enter a sales order for a serialised stock item in the Sales orders (SO301000) window, the particular items will be selected in accordance with the issue method selected for the lot/serial class of the stock item. If the sales unit is different from the base unit, open the Allocations dialog box (on the Document details tab of this window) to view particular serial numbers.

Visma.net ERP provides an option to track the expiration date for each lot and serial number.
The expiration date is specified on receipt of the items, and the same date is assigned to all items of a lot.
The expiration date can be assigned to each item with a serial number individually.
For a lot/serial class whose items are tracked by expiration dates, you can select the Expiration issue method to automatically issue items with the earliest expiration dates, which lets you minimize losses.

For the stock items with tracked expiration dates, the quantity of expired items is calculated automatically and can be deducted from the available quantity.
The quantities of expired inventory can be monitored with the help of reports and inquiries, so you can promptly discard the expired items.

The inquiry windows and reports in the Inventory workspace, listed below, provide various information about the lot/serial numbers so that you can view how the item is allocated, and you can easily locate any item by its lot/serial number:

• Inventory lot/serial history (IN407000):
  Use this window to find the required item's location by lot or serial number assigned.
• Inventory allocation details (IN402000):
  Use this window to view how the item is allocated: the quantities at specific locations, on sales orders and purchase orders, and in transit between warehouses.
• Lot/serial numbers (IN613000):
  Use this report to view the list of items (with their specific lot or serial numbers) located at the selected warehouse or particular location.