About lot and serial number tracking

Some products, such as food products and chemical compounds, are tracked because they have expiration dates, while other products, such as medications, are tracked because laws require manufacturers to keep accurate records about their distribution. Still other products, such as electronics, appliances, and cars, must be tracked individually from the manufacturer to the consumer because of safety and warranty issues.

Items to be tracked should be assigned to specific lot/serial classes you have created in the Lot/serial classes (IN207000) window.
For more details on configuring lot and serial numbers, see: About lot and serial numbers.

Lot numbers can be tracked only for base units. If component parts as well as assembled kits have lot or serial numbers, your company will know precisely which assembled kits contain any component, if this information is requested by the component manufacturer.

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.

  If so, 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.

Print lables

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.

Example of unit conversion (lot numbers)

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 (in the base unit) for items to be picked.

• Items are picked in accordance with the issue method assigned to the item's lot/serial class

or

• Items are selected with assigned lot numbers based on the issue method (FIFO, LIFO, Expiration, Sequential or Custom).

Fractional quantities

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 and the quantity was specified in purchase units that differ from the base units:

• the system will perform quantity conversion to the base units

and

• generate a serial number for each base unit of the product.

To view the generated serial numbers, you can invoke the Allocations dialog box on the Document details tab of the Purchase receipts (PO302000) window.

Example of unit conversion (serial numbers)

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,

• 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.

• You can open the Allocations dialog box (on the Document details tab of this window), if the sales unit is different from the base unit, 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.

• can be assigned to each item with a serial number individually.

Issuing items by expiration date

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.

Automatic deduction of expired items

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.