Item Class Serial/Lot Mask

Item Class Serial/Lot Mask

HelpID: 497022061

Item Class Serial/Lot Mask applies a single serial or lot numbering Mask to all items in an Item Class.

See “Serial/Lot Mass Generate” for another serial and lot numbering option. “Serial/Lot Mass Generate” adds an “auto-generate” window to all transactions in Dynamics GP which can add inventory to the system (this is similar to the PO Receipt auto-generate functionality). “Serial/Lot Mass Generate” has optional functionality that can also apply a Global Lot Number to all Lot Numbered items, a Global Serial Number to all Serial Numbered Items, or a single Global Numbering Sequence to all serial AND lot numbered items. Item Class Serial/Lot Mask cannot be used together with the Global Serial/Lot Numbering functionality of “Serial/Lot Mass Generate”, and the software will provide a warning if an attempt is made to activate both. However, “Item Class Serial/Lot Mask” can be used with the “auto-generate” functionality of “Serial/Lot Mass Generate”.

Setup

Navigation: Tools >> Setup >> Manufacturing >> MFG PowerPack Setup

Mark the box next to “Item Class Serial/Lot Mask*”.

Double-click on “Item Class Serial/Lot Mask*” to open the Template Item Setup window.

When done with the setup below, close Template Item Setup, then close MFG PowerPack Setup. Item Class Serial Numbering will be activated immediately for the current user. Other users will need to close GP, then log-in again to activate it.

DO NOT ADD/REMOVE/CHANGE SETUP IN THIS WINDOW WHILE USERS ARE IN THE SYSTEM WHO COULD BE CREATING TRANSACTIONS WITH SERIAL/LOT CONTROLLED INVENTORY.

Item Class Serial/Lot Mask uses one Item in an Item Class as the “Template Item”. This Item has the Serial/Lot Number Mask that will be applied to, and used by, all Items in the class.   The item should NOT otherwise be in use (i.e. do not use it in Manufacturing, Purchasing, Sales, etc).

IMPORTANT: If the Template Item is a Lot Numbered Item, then all Lot Numbered Items in the Class will use the same Mask and all increment as a group. It will NOT be applied to Serial Numbered items. An Item Class can have either Class-level Lot Numbering, or Serial Numbering, but not both.

Once the Item Class and Template Item are selected in this window, you will only be able to access the Serial/Lot Number Mask for the Template Item. You will not be allowed to open the Serial/Lot Mask window for other items in the class.

As soon as you select an item as the Template item, the following will occur:

  • the Mask from the template item will be rolled-down to all serial/lot items in the Item Class
  • a new serial/lot number will be generated using the template item’s mask and displayed in the Last Ser/Lot Number field
  • the Last Generated Serial/Lot Number for all of the items in the Item Class will be set to the “Last Ser/Lot Number”.

Create a NEW Serial/Lot Mask on the Template Item BEFORE adding it to the setup window. The mask should be created in such a way that there can be no overlap with the serial/lot numbers for ANY of the Items in the Item Class. Item Class Serial/Lot Mask will enforce sequential numbering for all items in the class once it is set up, but it cannot ensure that the new serial/lot numbers will not overlap with existing serial/lot numbers unless the Template Item Serial/Lot Mask is created in a way that ensures that is not possible.

Make sure the Serial/Lot Mask is set up correctly on the Template Item BEFORE adding it to the setup window. Once you add the Template Item Number to this window, all Items in the Class are updated immediately. There is no chance to stop or undo. Once Class Serial Numbering is activated for an Item Class (by adding it to this window), any change to the Mask on the Template Item will reset the Last Generated Serial/Lot Number for all items in the class.

Using an Item Class Serial/Lot Mask places some restrictions on the construction of the Mask. The mask must generate serial/lot numbers which sort, alpha-numerically, from highest to lowest in the same order the numbers were generated. Since serial/lot numbers sort as strings, the Date field can present a problem with sorting because all “01” days will sort together, then “02” days and so on.

  • If DATE is the first segment, it must be YYMM, YYMMDD or YYYYMMDD.
  • If DATE is any other segment, it must be preceded by an incrementing segment, and have the format shown above.

The Item Class Serial/Lot Mask module will not allow a mask to be used which fails to meet the rules above. If the mask is not valid you will not be able to select the item in the Template Items window, and when creating or changing the Serial/Lot Mask on the template item you will not be able to exit the Serial Mask Entry window if there are Date Segment errors.

Using Item Class Serial/Lot Mask

Once activated, Item Class Serial/Lot Mask enforces a single serial/lot numbering scheme for all items in the Item Class. Class-level numbering will be applied when auto-generating Serial Number from PO Receipts and MO Receipts.

WilloWare’s Serial/Lot Mass Generate module (in MFG PowerPack) also adds automatic serial/lot number generation to Inventory Transactions and Sales Returns. Class-level numbering will apply when generating serial or lot numbers with the Serial/Lot Mass Generate window. Serial/Lot Mass Generate supports a “global” serial/lot mask. This should NOT be used at the same time as Item Class Serial/Lot Mask. Both modules will check for this conflict and prevent both from being used at the same time.