How to Simplify Lot Control using Business Central?

Hey readers, have you ever thought about how a simple process of lot control can change the whole process of supply chain management and inventory tracking. In this highly demanding market where companies have to increase their production by many folds to satisfy customer needs, it is important to be able to track each and every part used for the production of an item from manufacturing to assembling and the item itself. This will also ensure smooth planning of production, sales, and marketing. In Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, lot control is referred to as “item tracking”.

Companies often have doubt about the accuracy of their own forecast sheets, this can be solved by constantly keeping track of the items by which the sales report and other related reports essential for forecasting future sales will be more precise and trustworthy. The system becomes more transparent as anyone can check the right number of supplies are being received at the right time. You can also easily track the route of any defective item, like where it was assembled.

In Business Central, Lot no. or Serial no. is used for easy tracking of the items. Lot no. is used more in food items, medical products, and other products which have an expiration date. Serial no. is mostly used for machinery and electronic equipment or gadgets. There are three types of item tracking, namely, inbound item tracking, outbound item tracking, and internal item tracking.

While working with Lot no. and Serial no., Business Central calculates the information on the availability of each item and shows it in the respective item tracking pages. You get to know the real-time usage of various parts, the inventory level of items, etc. The item tracking code is used to understand the considerations of a company regarding the use of lot no. and serial no.

Let us see how item tracking codes are set up:

· Type “Item Tracking Code” in the search bar.

· You will see a list of item tracking codes, choose one from them, or create a new one.

· To create a new one, click on the ‘new’ icon and fill in the fields accordingly.

· By enabling the ‘SN Specific Tracking’, the most inbound and outbound tracking is automatically enabled.

· If you want warehouse tracking, then you will have to enable it manually separately. It is better to enable it if you have warehouse management.

· You can go through the other options to enable and enable those required by you according to your needs.

· After navigating to ‘items’, under ‘item tracking’ fill in the item tracking code, and the item tracking no. is assigned.

Next, let us look at the assigning of serial numbers or lot numbers during an inbound transaction:

· Select the search icon, type in ‘Purchase Order’ and choose the link you want.

· Choose the document line want and then choose Line action on the Line tab, and from there choose ‘Item Tracking Lines’ action.

· Assign serial numbers or lot numbers automatically by choosing the ‘Create Customized SN’ action.

· After choosing it, input a starting number of a serial number or lot number series.

· Enter ‘1’ in the “Incremental” field, so that each next number increases by 1.

· To put the new serial or lot numbers in a separate lot, tick the ‘Create New Lot No.’ check box.

· Finally, select the ‘OK’ button.

Now let us have a glimpse into the process of assigning a serial number or lot number in an outbound transaction:

· Choose your desired document and select the ‘Order’ action in the ‘Line’ tab, and then select the “Item Tracking Lines” action.

· Choose “Assign Serial No.” to automatically assign a serial number or lot number.

· Next, choose the ‘Create New Lot No.’ field to place the new numbers in a lot.

· Click on the ‘OK’ button and your number is assigned. You can modify the default quantity according to your needs.

Let us take a look at how to select the existing lot numbers and serial numbers:

· From an outbound document, choose the line for which you want to select the lot or serial numbers.

· Choose ‘Actions’ from the ‘Lines’ tab, then choose ‘Line’ action, and then the ‘Item Tracking Lines’.

· After selecting the ‘Lot No.’, select a no. from the ‘Item Tracking Summary’ page.

· Select ‘Select Entries’ to view the lot or serial numbers.

· Enter the amount of lot numbers you want in the ‘Selected Quantity’ field.

· After clicking on ‘OK’, the selected item's information is sent to the ‘Item Tracking Lines’ page.

Finally, let us go through the modification process of existing serial numbers and lot numbers:

· In the search bar enter ‘Items’ and then select your desired link.

· Choose an item you want that has both item tracking code and serial number information.

· Choose the ‘Entries’ action from the ‘Item Card’ page, and then select ‘Ledger Entries’.

· Upon choosing the ‘Lot No.’ field, you can view the information.

· Choose ‘Lot No. Information Card’ from a card.

· You can change the description text and the ‘Blocked’ field.

By using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central for your item tracking, you can relax assured that your inventory management will go smoother than ever. If you are already using Business Central, but have not set up item tracking, then be quick to set it up. Do not miss out on your chance to rake in better profits and analytical reports due to better tracking of your items.

Are you facing any difficulties in using your Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central solution? No worries, as always, x2x eCommerce will assist you with your business-related problems with reliability, stability, consistency, and affordability. For further details, reach out to us at sales@x2xe-commerce.com or 888-929-3266 and grab your complimentary 1 Hour Demo along the way.