| Overview of serialized itemsA serialized item is a physical occurrence of a standard item
that is given a unique lifetime serial number. This enables you to track the
individual item throughout its lifetime, for example, through the design,
production, testing, distribution, and maintenance phases. A serialized item
can consist of other serialized components. Some business examples of the use of serialized items
are: - The vehicle identification number (VIN) that is used in the
car industry
- The tail numbers that are used in the Aerospace and Defense
industry
- The serial numbers that are used in the electronics industry
A serialized item is identified by the item code in combination
with the serial number. In LN, you can
define every type of item as a serialized item. Note - A serialized item is not the same as a unit effective item. A serialized item has a serial
number that is used to identify and track individual items, whereas a unit
effectivity item has an effectivity unit that provides some information about
the item's configuration.
- An item can be both serialized and unit effective.
- In the Item, Lot and Serial 360 (whltc3600m100) session, you can view the transactions related to an item, lot,
and/or serial number. This session also displays the as-built and as-maintained
structures of lot or serialized items in a graph.
You can allocate serial numbers to serialized items during
specific stages of an item's life cycle in the following LN packages: - Manufacturing
- Warehousing
- Service
Manufacturing Job shop operators can
enter serial numbers for new manufactured items during various stages of the
production process. They can enter a serial number manually, or they can
generate a serial number based on a specific mask. Serial numbers are entered in
as-built structures. An as-built structure reflects the configuration of a
product. The product has a serialized number; the component items in the
as-built structure can be serialized or non-serialized. If the component items
are serialized, serial numbers are either allocated to the components when they
are issued from the warehouse, or the job shop operators allocate the serial
numbers when they add the components to the as-built structure. You can use the serial numbers
assigned to manufactured items for tracking through warehousing, sales, and
service processes. In a repetitive production environment, the use of
serialized and lot controlled items is typically less extensive, but it is
possible to register a manufactured product that is either serialized or lot
controlled as well as the use of either one during production. You can also register an as-built during production, but due
to the nature of repetitive manufacture, only manual registration of an
as-built is supported. Note: it is not possible to create a multi-product
production model for serialized items. Warehouse Management The need to track items by means of serial numbers arises
from the items' cost. The more expensive the item, the more closely you want to
monitor the item during its life cycle. In general, expensive items are
produced and handled in relatively small quantities, whereas the goods flow of
less expensive items involves larger quantities. In LN, this concept is
modeled in the following scenarios: Low volume This scenario is used for expensive items produced and
handled in relatively small quantities that require intensive tracking
throughout the warehouse flow. When received in the warehouse or issued from
the warehouse, a serial number is allocated, either manually or automatically,
to each serialized item. Upon receipt, each item/serial number combination is
individually registered in inventory. For each inventory transaction, such as a
receipt, transfer, or an issue, the inventory records of the serialized items
are updated. High volume The high volume scenario is used for relatively less
expensive items produced and handled in large quantities that require less
intensive tracking. In this scenario, serialized items are not registered in
inventory. Consequently, no inventory records exist that show updates on
inventory transactions. However, for each item-by-warehouse you can specify
whether serial numbers must be registered for receipts, transfers, and/or
issues. This helps you obtain an overview of the whereabouts of particular
serialized items through warehousing but also enables you to skip scrutinizing
serials where you do not need it.
Warehousing also enables you to track the orders that initiated the
receipt, transfer, or issue of serialized items, such as production orders,
purchase orders, or sales orders. This option is available for both the high
volume and the low volume scenario. Service To obtain product information and to register item
replacements for service and maintenance purposes, you can copy as-built
structures created in Manufacturing to product structures called physical breakdowns in Service. You can define an item as serialized to be able to track the
item in all transactions that take place within Service. To interact with
other areas such as production or warehousing, you must define the item as
serialized in Common as
well. The Maintenance Sales Control and Work Control System modules deal with service and maintenance activities
performed at your own company. The Service Order Control module deals with service and
maintenance activities performed at customer locations. Both scenarios involve
the sale and delivery of (spare part) items, the sale of repair and maintenance
activities, the receipt of returned items, and replacement of
items. When the item and the components are issued for work orders
or service orders, the serial numbers are, either automatically or manually,
registered for the issued items.
| |