Serial and lot numbers
Serial numbers are unique identification numbers that track a product from manufacturing to the final sale to the customer. Tracking may be required beyond the sale when service or replacement is required. Each unit of a serialized product must have its own serial number. Each serial number must have a unique record in the system that tracks this information:
- Receipt date
- Cost
- Order number
- Customer purchasing the product
- Invoice number
- Price
- All pertinent dates
Parameter 3606, Pick/Pack Serial Scan Confirmation, controls whether a serial number is verified during the picking and packing tasks.
The serial number entry field on the TWL RF unit allows entry of up to 30 characters. The serial number value is then validated by the Product Extended Serial Formatting Setup functionality. Specific characters are removed, resulting in the 20-character, or less, serial number required by Distribution SX.e. A message is displayed at each of these serial number validation points when there is no Product Extended Serial Formatting Setup record set up for that vendor, or when the resulting number is more than 20 characters. The message is: Serial Number cannot be longer than 20 characters. Please re-enter. Serial number validation occurs immediately upon entry wherever serial number entry is available in the TWL RF. Ensure that your Product Extended Serial Formatting Setup records are set up appropriately.
Lot-controlled products are manufactured and warehoused with unique identification numbers. Parameter 7506, Allow Multiple Lots Per Location/Pallet, controls where each lot is required to be stored. When set to No, then you can put more than one lot in a location. The location must be a defined as a pallet location and the lots must be on different pallets. This storage distinguishes the lot numbers and facilitates the picking task.
If lot numbers are not specifically assigned in the system, the first available lot is found by TWL. It is found based on the assigned location type that contains the largest quantity of available stock. If the lot product is set up for linear cuts, the allocation logic examines the total available amount in the lot, the number of pieces, and the lengths of those pieces. If the location type is not specified, lots are selected by TWL alphabetically. When the product has an expiration date, a validation is made by TWL. This is to ensure the expiration date is greater than the date you drop the order.
Parameter 7510-Order Drop By Lot Size controls the automatic lot allocation based on fewest lots required.
If the lots are not already entered manually when the order drops, the preselection automatically selects the fewest number of lots per location and lot number for picking. Additionally during the picking process, if manually selected by the picker, the next predetermined lot location and numbers is then preselected. The assigned lots directs the picker to the least number of lots. This enables the operator to pick from a single lot or the fewest number of lots that can be used if no single lot is able to fill the pick quantity.
This functionality increases productivity and supplies the customer with materials from as few lots as possible, which minimizes the potential for variation in product.