Lot/Serial Classes

Form ID: (IN207000)

Note: This form appears only if the Lot and Serial Tracking feature is enabled on the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form.

You use this form to define the lot/serial classes. A lot/serial class is used to group inventory items with lot or serial numbers and to provide default settings for new items of the class. On this form, you can add new lot/serial classes and view existing lot/serial classes, modify their properties, and delete unused classes from the system. For details on configuring and using lot and serial numbers, see Items with Lot and Serial Numbers: General Information.

If the Lot and Serial Tracking feature is not enabled on the Enable/Disable Features form, the DEFAULT lot/serial class is automatically assigned to all item classes and individual stock items; lot and serial numbers are not assigned and tracked for items of the DEFAULT class.

Form Toolbar

The form toolbar includes only standard buttons. For the list of standard buttons, see Form Toolbar and More Menu.

Lot/Serial Settings Summary Area

In this area, you can enter basic information about a new lot/serial class and view information about an existing class.


Element	Description
Class ID	The unique alphanumeric identifier of the lot/serial class; a string of up to 10 characters may be used.
Description	A brief description of the lot/serial class.
Tracking Method	The tracking method for the inventory lot/serial class. Select one of the following options: Not Tracked: No tracking of the lot or serial numbers will be performed for items of the class. Track Lot Numbers: Tracking of the lot numbers will be performed for items of the inventory lot/serial class. Track Serial Numbers: Tracking of the serial numbers will be performed for items of the inventory lot/serial class.
Track Expiration Date	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the system will track the expiration date for inventory items of this lot/serial class. This element is not used for classes with Not Tracked selected as their tracking method.
Required for Drop Shipments	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the system will apply the selected tracking method to items of this class when the items are listed on drop shipments. If the check box is not selected, the system will not require specifying lot or serial numbers for items on drop-ship orders. For information on drop-ship orders, see Processing Sales with Drop Shipping.
Assignment Method	The method of assigning lot or serial numbers to the items. Select one of the following options: When Received: Assigns lot/serial numbers to the items when the items are received When Used: Assigns lot/serial numbers to the items when the items are used; if an item is returned by a customer, the item can be issued again with the same serial/lot number. The selected option is ignored if Not Tracked is selected in the Tracking Method box. Note: You cannot change an assignment method selected for the lot/serial class for another assignment method if there are any history transactions with any item of the class, or any unreleased document that includes an item of the class, or any non-zero quantity of any item of the class at any location.
Issue Method	The method used to issue the items of this lot/serial class, which is not applicable for items of the class for which the Not Tracked tracking method is selected. You can select one of the following issue methods: FIFO: A first-in-first-out (FIFO) issue method LIFO: A last-in-first-out (LIFO) issue method Sequential: A sequential issue method Expiration: An issue method based on the expiration date; to use this method, select the Track Expiration Date check box for this class User-Enterable: A custom, user-defined issue method The selected option is ignored if Not Tracked is selected in the Tracking Method box.
Share Auto-Incremental Value Between All Class Items	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the same auto-incremental value should be used for all inventory items in the lot/serial class. If it is cleared, for each item, an individual auto-incremental value may be specified on the Stock Items (IN202500) form; if such a number is not set, the initial value for each item will be 0000 by default.
Auto-Incremental Value	For a newly created class, the initial value to be used for generating new values (incremented by 1) in the lot/serial number segment that has the Auto-Increment Value option selected in the Type column on this form. The value will change as follows: If the Share Auto-Incremental Value Between All Class Items option is selected, the value will be incremented each time a new lot of any item of the class is received. If this option is not selected for the class, the box will be blank. For different items of the class, individual auto-increment values will be used as follows: For an item of the class, if the initial auto-increment value is specified on the Stock Items (IN202500) form, that value will be used for the lot segment. For an item of the class, if the initial auto-increment value is not specified on the Stock Items form, the default value 0000 will be used as the initial auto-increment value.
Auto-Generate Next Number	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the system will automatically generate the next number for items of the class with an auto-increment segment. If the check box is not selected, users should manually enter serial numbers.
Max. Auto-Generate Number	The maximum number of lot or serial numbers that can be generated at once for items of this lot/serial class. If a larger quantity of the item is specified for a document, only the maximum number of lot/serial numbers will be generated, with the excess quantity remaining with unassigned numbers. You can initiate the assignment of lot/serial numbers for unassigned quantity of the item manually.

Numbering Settings Table

You can specify the structure of the lot/serial numbers in this table. Each row describes a segment of the lot/serial numbers to be used for items of the class.

Note: The total number of characters in all segments of a serial or lot number must not exceed 100; unicode characters may be used.

The table toolbar includes only standard buttons. For the list of standard buttons, see Table Toolbar.


Column	Description
Segment Number	The segment number of a lot or serial number, which is assigned automatically by the system.
Type	The type of segment value to be used for this segment. You can use one of the following options: Auto-Incremental Value: Generates incremented values for the segment, using as the initial value either the Auto-Incremental Value for this class or the value specific to the inventory item if the Share Auto-Increment Value Between All Items of the Class check box is not selected. This option can be selected for only one of the segments. Constant: Uses a constant in the number segment. Day: Uses the day (from the date when the lot or serial number is generated) in the segment. Month: Uses the two-digit month (from the date when the lot or serial number is generated) in the segment. Month Long: Uses the month name in the lot/serial number segment. Year: Uses the two-digit year in the lot/serial number segment. Year Long: Uses the four-digit year in the lot/serial number segment. Custom Date Format: Uses the date in the custom date format in the segment.
Value	The specific value to be used in the lot/serial number segment for the Constant and Custom Date Format types. (Values are not required for other types of segments.) In this column, you enter the value as follows: For the Constant type, you specify a constant to be used as the segment value. For the Custom Date Format type, you specify a date format by using custom date specifiers from .NET. (For details, see Custom Date and Time Format Strings). For example, for a date that consists of two digits of a month, two digits of a day, and four digits of a year without separators, you use the following value: `MMddyyyy`.