Lot Assignability

Lot Assignability means the ability to select a specific lot for reservation at the time of order entry.  This feature is especially useful for a company who sells products that differ slightly from one lot to another.  In this case, the warehouse must be told which particular lot(s) to pick for shipment.

Items are identified as lot assignable on the Item Master record.  Each item is defined as not lot controlled, lot controlled (inventory is stored at the lot level but reservation is done at the warehouse level), or lot assignable.  For items defined as lot controlled or lot assignable, up to 10 specifications about the lot can also be stored.  For lot-assignable items, these specifications are displayed on the screen from which lots are selected for reservation.

At order entry time, the user can reserve specific lots to be shipped for lot-assignable items.  To assist in the lot selection, the user can, optionally, enter specifications given by the customer for the item ordered.  These specifications will display on the lot selection screen, along with the values of the same specifications for each lot displayed.  The user can review the customer's requested specifications versus the actual lot specifications and make a decision as to what to reserve.

Considerations

Lot assignment can be done only from the balance types that are identified as available for distribution.  Therefore, only those orders with a relief code of D (distribution) can have reserved lots.  Also, if the balance type where the inventory is stored is not available for distribution, the inventory must be transferred to a distribution balance type before the reservation can be made.  For example, if the inventory was received from manufacturing into the on-hand balance (which is available for manufacturing but not distribution), it would need to be transferred before lot reservation could be used.