Setting Up Information for Lot Assignable Parts

The following steps are required to define information for lot assignable parts.

1.   Create quality control specification codes.

You decide which quality control specifications apply to your parts.  Each specification (such as color or grade) is assigned a code.  Quality control specification codes are defined on Reference File category A18.

2.   Create lots and determine what quality control specifications are relevant (optional).

If you create a lot number manually, you can specify which quality control specifications will be relevant.  For example, if color is relevant for a part, you would specify the quality control code for color.  When the part is received, the inventory controller would be required to specify what color applies to parts within the lot.

3.   Determine how the lot's characteristics meet the relevant quality control specifications.

When the parts are received, inventory controllers specify the lot's quality control characteristics, or quality control personnel can record test results through lot maintenance.   For example, if the quality control specification is color, the inventory controller can easily determine the color of the parts and enter it as part of the receiving process.  For a quality control specification such as melting point, however, the value could not be determined easily when the part is received and must be entered later, after quality control tests have been performed on the part.

4.   Specify customer preferences (optional).

You define what characteristics the customer requires when buying the part.  Up to three quality control specifications can be defined for each part.  Characteristics are specified for a particular bill-to/ship-to customer combination.

5.   Source a customer order from the lot(s) that best meet the customer's needs.

During order entry, Order Processing lists all lots containing the part.  It also displays each lot's values for the characteristics specified as important to the bill-to/ship-to customers.