Count of serial traced parts 'at receipt and issue' & 'not in inventory'
We are currently facing challenges with counting part serials which are serial traced 'at receipt and issue' & 'not in inventory'. These type of parts have a stock record in the ‘inventory parts in stock’ view consisting of a line which states a ‘*’ in the serial number column.
When creating a count report consisting of a serial traced part ('at receipt and issue' & 'not in inventory'), WaDaco asks us to scan a ‘*’ for the serial no. field. Where we make use of a barcode label with a GS1 code consisting of an identifier for a serial no. The first error is that the scanner gives an error for a faulty scanned serial no's where the part's real serial no. is scanned through the GS1 code and not an ‘*’. The second thing is that in case we have a counting difference, we need to state which serial no's are missing. Since we do not know which serial no.'s are in stock, we cannot state which ones are missing.
Does anyone have a solution/ WoW for the above case? How do we need to set up counting for these parts so that in case of counting differences it can be handled (it is possible to tell which serial no's are missing)?
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Hi @DMNBSOM ,
that’s the issue you run into when serial tracking is not enabled In Inventory.
It strictly prohibits serial tracking in inventory and counting via serials as well. When this is true the inventory parts, and for all their existing stock, will be processed in inventory with serial “*” only.
I don’t know which version of IFS you’re working with, but in IFS Cloud a Master Part record can be set as “In Inventory” after transactions already exist, but you have to first define serials per individual Inventory Part In Stock record.
This can of course be cumbersome depending on the number of serial records in the Part Serial catalog per part.
In the following screen captures I have a Part that is tracked, but not In Inventory, so the Part Serial catalogue has records due to serials created during inbound process.
For Inventory Part In Stock record I can initiate Identify Serials (picture 1) and connect the existing serial number records (picture 2) to individual 5 PCS in stock (picture 3).
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Then the In Inventory option on the Master Part record can be enabled and the serials will be taken into account when for example picking and counting.
If the In Inventory option is left as disabled, even after the serials are connected, the parts will still be considered as “*” when counting, but Inventory Part In Stock records will show the connected serials.
This probably will not help you in a dire situation, or if you have hundreds or serial records to connect to inventory, but at least showcases how important it is to thoroughly think through if and when a Master Part is to be serial tracked in the first place.
There’s also an additional caveat if you wish to disable the In Inventory option after there already are serials in stock (picture 4).
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Br,
Mikko
Dear Mikko,
Many thanks for your fast and thourough response! Making the parts ‘in inventory’ traced would indeed solve the above problem. However, we struggle with the disadvantages of this setting when relocating ‘in inventory’ traced parts (requires a seperate scanning transaction for each relocation (when not using handling units)).
For now, if we encounter a counting difference, the best option seems to log all physical serial no's in an excel and compare it to the part serials administratively logged in stock. Based on the comparison we can determine which serial no's are missing. This is however far from ideal, where we strive to handle such count processes fully in IFS.
Kind regards,
Bart
Hi @DMNBSOM,
“Many thanks for your fast and thourough response! Making the parts ‘in inventory’ traced would indeed solve the above problem. However, we struggle with the disadvantages of this setting when relocating ‘in inventory’ traced parts (requires a seperate scanning transaction for each relocation (when not using handling units)).”
How about creating a MOVE_PART configuration with as few steps as possible?
You could start the configuration with the Data Item SERIAL_NO, which would automatically find the part number and from location data if you set their Use Automatic Value as Fixed and hide all steps which are not necessary. Maybe trying something like this could lead you to a suitable configuration.
Another problem with keeping the Master Part not tracked in inventory, but identifying serials, is that the identified serial exists for the specific Inventory Part In Stock record as long as the record stays the same, meaning:
if you move the inventory part with an identified serial to another location, the connection to the serial is again lost and you have to again identify/connect the serial to this new Inventory Part In Stock record.
Br,
Mikko
Hi Mikko,
We still have an IFS case open with regard to the issue of automatic reservations combined with ‘identified serials’ on a location. If let's say 50 of 100 parts at location X are identified, and an automatic reservation is done by the system on that part. If the 50 ‘unidentified serials’ are reserved, the system gives an error in case of picking an identified serial.
As an example, if the inventory parts in stock lines would look like the below, it would not be possible to pick SN: A2 in case a reservation is done on the ‘anonymous’ line (SN: *):
