Walkthrough: Tracing Serial/Lot Numbers
When product defects occur, the errors must be identified and affected items must be prevented from leaving the company. If defective items have already been shipped, you must trace who received them and, if you need to, recall the items.
The first task of defects management is to investigate where the defective items came from and where they were used. This investigation is based on historic data and is made easier by searching through item tracking entries using the Item Tracing page.
The second task of defects management is to determine whether the traced items are planned for in open documents, such as non-posted sales orders or consumption journals. This work is performed on the Find entries page. You can use the Find Entries feature to search all kinds of database records.
About This Walkthrough
This walkthrough demonstrates how to identify which items are defective, which vendor supplied them, and where they are used so that those orders can be stopped or recalled.
This walkthrough illustrates the following tasks:
- Tracing usage to origin.
- Tracing origin to usage.
- Searching for all current records which hold the traced serial/lot number.
Roles
This walkthrough demonstrates tasks that are performed by the following user roles:
- Quality Controller
- Warehouse Manager
- Order Processor
- Purchasing Agent
Prerequisites
To complete this walkthrough, you will need:
- The Business Central company.
Story
Ricardo, the quality controller, is acting on a sales return of item 1002, Racing Bike. The customer, Selangorian Ltd., complained that the frame has cracked welding seams. Quality control engineers have confirmed that the racing frame of the returned bike is defective. The quality controller must now determine:
- Which lot of racing frames was faulty.
- On which purchase order the faulty lot was received.
From the sales department, the quality controller knows that the returned racing bike, item 1002, had the serial number SN1. By using this basic information, they must determine where the finished racing bike was last used, and then they must trace backward to the earliest origin to establish which lot number the faulty component, the racing frame, came from.
The results of this first item tracking task identify which racing frames were defective and which vendor supplied them. Afterward, but in the same overall tracking process, the quality controller must find all the sold racing bikes that contain racing frames from the faulty lot so that those orders can be stopped or recalled. Lastly, the quality controller must find any open documents where the faulty lot is used so that no additional transactions are made.
The first two defects-management tasks are performed on the Item Tracing page. The last task is performed on the Find entries page in integration with the Item Tracing page.
Prepare Sample Data
You must create the following new items:
- 2000, Racing Frame: lot-specific tracking, component of 1002
- 1002, Racing Bike: serial number-specific tracking
Then you must create various purchase, production, and sales transactions with the two items.
To create the items
Choose the
icon, enter Items, and then choose the related link.Choose the New action.
In the No. field, enter 2000, and then proceed to fill in the following fields.
Description Base Unit of Measure Gen. Prod. Posting Group VAT Prod. Posting Group Inventory Posting Group Item Tracking Code Racing Frame PCS RAW MAT VAT25 RAW MAT LOTALL Note
To enter the base unit of measure, choose the New button, and then select PSC on the Item Units of Measure page.
All other fields have acceptable default data or do not have to be filled in.
Choose the OK button to create the first new item card, 2000.
Choose New.
In the No. field, enter 1002, and then proceed to fill in the following fields.
Description Base Unit of Measure Gen. Prod. Posting Group VAT Prod. Posting Group Inventory Posting Group Replenishment System Item Tracking Code Racing Bike PCS RETAIL VAT25 FINISHED Prod. Order SNALL Note
To enter the base unit of measure, choose the New button, and then select PSC on the Item Units of Measure page.
Next, define the item's manufacturing setup.
On the Replenishment FastTab, in the Routing No. field, enter 1000.
Choose the Production BOM No. field, and then choose Advanced.
On the Production BOM List page, choose the first line, 1000, and then choose the Edit action.
On the Production BOM page, change the value in the Status field to Under Development.
Go to an empty line, enter 2000 in the No. field, and then enter 1 in the Quantity Per field.
Change the value in the Status field back to Certified.
Choose the OK button to insert the production BOM on the item card and close the Production BOM page.
Next, purchase racing frames from Custom Metals Incorporated.
To purchase components
Choose the
icon, enter Purchase Orders, and then choose the related link.Choose the New action.
Create a purchase order for vendor, Custom Metals Incorporated, by filling in the following line fields.
Item Quantity Lot No. 2000 10 LOT1 To enter the lot number, choose the Item Tracking Lines action.
On the Item Tracking Lines page, fill in the Lot No. and Quantity (Base) fields, and then close the page.
In the Vendor Invoice No. field, enter any value.
Choose the Post action, select the Receive and Invoice option, and then choose the OK button.
Next, purchase racing frames from Coolwood Technologies.
Choose the
icon, enter Purchase Orders, and then choose the related link.Choose the New action.
Create a purchase order for vendor, Coolwood Technologies, by filling in the following line fields.
Item Quantity Lot No. 2000 11 LOT2 To enter the lot number, on the Lines FastTab, in the Line group, choose the Item Tracking Lines action.
On the Item Tracking Lines page, fill in the Lot No. and Quantity (Base) fields, and then close the page.
In the Vendor Invoice No. field, enter any value.
Choose the Post action, select the Receive and Invoice option, and then choose the OK button.
Next, produce two racing bikes, SN1 and SN2.
To produce end items
Choose the
icon, enter Released Prod. Orders, and then choose the related link.Choose the New group.
Create a new released production order by filling in the following fields.
Source No. Quantity Serial No. 1002 2 SN1 1002 2 SN2 Choose the Refresh Production Order action, and then choose the OK button to fill the line.
To enter the serial numbers, choose the Item Tracking Lines action.
On the Item Tracking Lines page, fill in the Serial No. and Quantity (Base) fields, and then close the page.
Next, post consumption of racing frames from LOT1.
On the Released Production Order page, choose the Production Journal action.
On the Production Journal page, select the consumption line for item 2000, choose the Item Tracking Lines action.
On the Item Tracking Lines page, choose the Lot No. field, choose LOT1, and then choose the OK button.
Leave all other defaults on the Production Journal page, and then choose the Post action.
Next, produce two more racing bikes, SN3 and SN4.
Choose the
icon, enter Released Prod. Orders, and then choose the related link.Choose the New action.
Create a new released production order by filling in the following fields on the header.
Source No. Quantity Serial No. 1002 2 SN3 1002 2 SN4 Choose the Refresh Production Order action to fill the line.
To enter the serial numbers, choose the Item Tracking Lines action, and then the numbers on two lines in the Serial No. field on the Item Tracking Lines page.
Next, post more consumption of racing frames from LOT1.
On the Released Production Order page, choose the Production Journal action.
On the Production Journal page, select the consumption line for item 2000, choose the Item Tracking Lines action.
On the Item Tracking Lines page, choose the Lot No. field, choose LOT1, and then choose the OK button.
Leave all other defaults on the Production Journal page, and then choose the Post action.
You have produced four racing bikes, SN1 to SN4, and consumed four of the ten racing frames from LOT1, two frames in each production order.
Close the production journal and the production orders.
Next, sell racing bikes. First sell the racing bike with SN1 to Selangorian Ltd..
To sell the end items
Choose the
icon, enter Sales Orders, and then choose the related link.Choose the New action, and then, create a sales order by filling in the following fields.
Customer Item Qty. Serial No. Selangorian Ltd. 1002 1 SN1 To enter the serial number, choose the Item Tracking Lines action, and then the number in the Serial No. field on the Item Tracking Lines page.
Choose the Post action, select the Ship and Invoice option, and then choose the OK button.
Next, sell the racing bike with SN2 to The Cannon Group PLC.
Choose the
icon, enter Sales Orders, and then choose the related link.Choose the New action, and then, create a sales order by filling in the following fields.
Customer Item Qty. Serial No. Cannon Group PLC. 1002 1 SN2 To enter the serial number, choose the Item Tracking Lines action, and then the number in the Serial No. field on the Item Tracking Lines page.
Choose the Post action, select the Ship and Invoice option, and then choose the OK button.
Finally, sell some racing frames separately. The Cannon Group PLC. also orders four separate racing frames for their own assembly line.
Choose the
icon, enter Sales Orders, and then choose the related link.Choose the New action, and then, create a sales order by filling in the following fields.
Customer Item Qty. Serial No. Cannon Group PLC. 2000 5 LOT1 To enter the serial number, on the Lines FastTab, in the Line group, choose the Item Tracking Lines action, and then the number in the Serial No. field on the Item Tracking Lines page.
Note
Do not post the last sales order for five racing frames.
This completes the preparation of data to demonstrate the Item Tracing and Find Entries features.
Tracing from Usage to Origin
From the sales department, the quality controller knows that the returned racing bike, item 1002, has the serial number SN1. By using this basic information, they can determine where the finished racing bike was last used, in this case, on the sales shipment to Selangorian Ltd.. Then, the quality controller must trace backward to the earliest origin to establish which lot number the faulty racing frame came from and which vendor supplied it.
To determine which lot included the faulty frame and who supplied it
Choose the
icon, enter Item Tracing, and then choose the related link.On the Item Tracing page, enter SN1 in the Serial No. Filter field, and then enter 1002 in the Item Filter field.
Keep the default setting of Item-Tracked Only in the Show Components field, and keep the default trace method of Usage – Origin in the Trace Method.
Choose the Trace action.
Note that one sales shipment header matches the search criteria. Before you continue the trace, verify that the shipment is the one that shipped the faulty racing bike to Selangorian Ltd.
Select the trace line, and then choose the Show Document action.
Now continue to trace the origin of the sales shipment of the racing bike with number SN1.
Choose the + icon on the trace lines to gradually expand and trace backward in the chain of transactions that the sales shipment originates from.
You can trace the following transaction history:
- The first posted document backward in the chain of transactions is the output posting of SN1 from the first released production order.
- The next posted document backward after that is the consumption posting from the first released production order. Here the quality controller sees that a racing frame from LOT1 was used.
- The lowest posted document in this chain is the posted purchase receipt on which racing frames with LOT1 entered inventory.
The quality controller has now established which lot of racing frames was faulty and they can search for the last trace line to see which vendor supplied them, namely Custom Metals Incorporated.
Note
Do not make any additional modifications to the trace result, as you will use it in the next section.
This completes the first defects-management task using the Item Tracing page. The quality controller must now determine whether other posted documents have processed racing frames from LOT1.
Tracing from Origin to Usage
The quality controller has established that the faulty racing frames came from LOT1. They must now find any other racing bikes that contain racing frames from the faulty lot so that those bikes can be stopped or recalled.
One way to prepare this trace task on the Item Tracing page is to manually enter LOT1 in the Lot No. Filter field and 2000 in the Item Filter field. However, this walkthrough will use the Trace Opposite - from Line function.
To find all usage of the faulty lot
On the Item Tracing page, select the line of the purchase receipt, the last trace line, and then choose Trace Opposite – from Line.
The trace result is now based on the filters of the trace line for the purchase receipt, LOT1 and item 2000, and the result is based on trace method Origin - Usage.
To obtain an overview of all usage of item 2000 with LOT1, continue to expand all trace lines.
Choose the Expand All action.
The first four trace lines refer to the sales shipment to Selangorian Ltd., which is already resolved. The last line indicates that one more racing bike, SN2, was produced in the same released production order and then sold and shipped on another sales shipment.
The quality controller immediately informs the sales department so that they can initiate a recall of the defective racing bike from the customer, Cannon Group PLC.
At the same time, they can see from the last three trace lines that another two items, SN3 and SN4, have been produced based on racing frames from LOT1. They take action to block these end items in inventory.
This completes the second defects management task using the Item Tracing page for defects management. Since the Item Tracing page is based on posted entries only, the quality controller must continue to the Find entries page to make sure that LOT1 is not used in non-posted documents.
Finding All Records of a Serial/Lot Number
With the Item Tracing page, the quality controller learned that LOT1 contained the faulty racing frames, which vendor supplied them, and in which posted transaction they have been used. They must now determine whether LOT1 is in any open documents by integrating from the trace result to the Find entries page where they can perform a search through all database records.
To find all occurrences of LOT1 in non-posted records, such as open orders
On the Item Tracing page, select the first trace line, the purchase receipt of LOT1.
Choose the Find entries action.
The Find entries page is preset with search filters based on the trace result for LOT1. The quality controller recognizes most of the records as pertaining to documents already identified on the Item Tracing page. For example, the last Find Entries line of type Production Order refers to the two released production orders that consumed racing frames from LOT1.
However, the second Find Entries line of type Sales Line is a non-posted document line, so the quality controller proceeds to investigate.
To open the sales line record, select the second Find Entries line, choose the Show action. Alternatively, choose the value in the No. of Records field.
Here the quality controller sees one open sales line for the faulty racing frames. They immediately suggest to the sales department that this order be canceled and a new production order, based on good racing frames, be initiated.
This completes the walkthrough of how to use the Find entries page for defects management in integration with the Item Tracing page.
See also
Work with Serial and Lot Numbers
Trace Item-Tracked Items
Find Entries
Business Process Walkthroughs