TABLE OF CONTENTS

Note: WarehouseOS is currently developing improvements for Lot Control.  This period of development can be a little confusing on functionality that is currently available.  Please see the Current Implementation for details on what is and is not yet available.



WOS has the ability to record and track Lots against inventory. The Lot Requirement is enabled per Item so it isn't a blanket requirement for everything in the system. 

WOS makes a distinction between Lot Tracking and Lot Recording.

  • Lot Tracking identifies the Lot number on inventory records throughout the system; only for Lot-enabled items.  This allows the identification of Locations that hold a specific Lot.
    • The system setting "Track Lot" must be turned on in order for the system to attempt to track lots
    • Where possible, Lots are assumed to improve operational performance.  Lots cannot be assumed if there are multiple lots in a location
    • WOS does not support Lot Directed picking.  Instead, Replenishment can use the Lots' expiration dates to identify the next lot to be replenished into the pick face.  For operational performance, once a lot is stored in the pick face, the pickers are free to choose any Lot.
    • Lot functionality is currently under development to improve the overall implementation.  Please see the section on Current Implementation to understand what is and is not available.
  • Lot Recording allows a Lot number to be recorded during Packing. This Lot number is not tied to inventory and allows for an accurate recording of Lot numbers before the product is sent to customers.
    • In reality lots could be mixed and possibly incorrectly recorded in inventory.  If knowing the exact lot that went out on a shipment is important, Lot Recording can be turned on at packing.  This allows the record of which Lot was included free from any assumptions based on the inventory records it was picked from.


Note: WarehouseOS recommends storing only 1 lot per location.  This allows the system to assume lots in transactions and will improve operational performance.


Lot Tracking 

Lot Numbers can be tracked on the inventory record. This will enable the identification of Locations that hold a specific Lot.


Lot Tracking is enabled per Item on the Item master record. When Require Lot Number is turned on, the Lot Number will need to be included with any transaction that affects inventory.  As much as possible, WarehouseOS will assume the lot number to improve operational efficiency.


Any transaction that adds inventory (PO Putaway, Put, and Cycle Count) will require a Lot Number be scanned so it can be added to the inventory record. The Pull and Move transactions will assume the lot if possible.  If the location has multiple lots stored, the specific lot number must be identified before the transaction can be completed.


In order to ensure an efficient picking operation, only one Lot can be stored in each Location. This allows Picking operations to assume the Lot number because only one exists in each Location. This speeds up picking by not requiring a Lot number to be scanned.


Note: Because Lot is assumed in Picking, a Lot number has to exist on the inventory record. If Lot Tracking was turned on after inventory was already added, all of the inventory must be cycle counted to add Lots to the inventory.


Lot Selection

Lot Numbers can be selected in a number of ways.  By default, Lots are expected to be scanned.  We recognize that is not always possible and a few settings have been enabled to allow for a quicker operation when that is not possible.


Allow Tap Selection

If the User Group setting "Allow Tap Selection" is turned on, then selecting a specific inventory record during a Pull or Move operation will select the lot as part of that selection.


Allow Lot Selection

If the User Group setting "Allow Lot Selection" is turned on, then when a Lot is normally requested to be scanned, a list of possible Lot values are presented and allowed to be selected.


Lot Expiration Dates

Managing Expiration Dates is a major purpose of the new Lot implementation within WarehouseOS.  During the replenishment processes, backstock locations can be sorted by the Lots' expiration dates to find the lot that must be replenished next.


When a Lot is added to the system, the expiration date must be captured.  WarehosueOS will only store 1 expiration date per lot.  Once that expiration date is entered, additional requests to validate the lot number will not ask for the expiration date.


If Lot Expiration is not important, a system setting can automatically set the Lot's creation date as its expiration date.  This allows the other back-end systems to continue to sort and consider the expiration date without needing to ask the user to record it as new lots are entered.


Note: Lot Expiration is one of the newest features of Lot Control within WarehouseOS. The system has been setup to store and consider the lots' expiration dates.  While Manage Inventory has been developed to record the Expiration Date during a Put or Move*, Receiving doesn't have the capability to record this expiration date until the planned updates are made and Receiving is released as part of WOS Fulfillment.

*If WOS identifies that a Lot Enabled item does not have a Lot during Move operation, it will ask the user to provide the lot for the inventory record being moved.  At this time, an expiration date can be entered if a new lot is used.



Lot Recording

Lot Numbers can be recorded during Packing. These Lot Numbers are not tied to inventory and do not need to match the Lot that was picked. This can be helpful in situations where the Lot on inventory wasn't accurate but identifying which Lot was given to a customer is important. 


The item must be configured with Require Lot Number turned on.  During the packing operation, these items will be identified and a lot number requested.  This lot number must be scanned.


See the Lot Recording section under Lot Setup for how to configure this setting.


Lot Setup

Each item individually must be configured with the Require Lot Number flag enabled.  This allows for only certain items to ask for Lot Numbers while items not configured will be managed without needing to provide a lot number.  This can be set in the following ways

  • Turning on the flag on the Edit Item page.
  • Through the API when items are added or updated
  • From the Items grid by selecting the items and choosing the Require Lot action below the grid.


Lot Tracking

In addition to the Item's flag, a system setting must be enabled to allow Lots to be tracked throughout inventory.
With this setting turned off, Lots can be recorded in Packing without needing to also be tracked through inventory.


This setting must be enabled by the WarehouseOS support.  Please reach out to support@warehouseos.com to have this setting enabled.


Lot Recording

Depending on which version of the iOS Apps are being used, Lot Recording is setup in different ways.


WMS Fusion - The legacy packing app in WMS Fusion is configured with a system setting.  Under Admin => Settings, enable the Record Lot Serial at Pack setting.  With this enabled, Lot enabled items will request a lot number during packing.   The system setting "Lot Tracking" is not required for this setting to be used.


WOS Fulfillment - The new packing app in WOS Fulfillment is configured with settings in the User Groups.  Within the Packing section of the User Groups, find the Require Lot setting.  With this group setting enabled, these users will be asked to provide the Lot number when packing the order.  The system setting "Lot Tracking" is not required for this setting to be used.


Current Implementation

WarehouseOS is currently developing better functionality around Lot Control.  A new iOS app is being developed, called WOS Fulfillment, to take advantage of the latest that iOS has to offer and add additional features and functionality.
While WarehouseOS is in this development phase, the actual implementation of Lots will have some caveats that must be considered.


WMS Fusion

The legacy apps in WMS Fusion are not being updated with these enhanced functionality.  Lot Tracking is enabled in this version of the WarehosueOS iPad apps, but it does not have all of the features updated.


Mange Inventory

**WOS Recommends using WOS Fulfillment**

Only 1 lot is allowed per location.  Expiration dates are not recorded.  Pulls and Moves ask for Lot number even when they can be assumed.  Lots must be scanned, not selected.  The Track Lots system setting is ignored and an item that is Lot Enabled will always be asked to provide a lot number.
A known bug in the Move operation could result in multiple lots in a location which results in the WMS Fusion of Manage Inventory not being able to manage that location.


Cycle Count

Only 1 lot is allowed per location.  Lots are expected to be scanned.  The "Scan Each" functionality will not ask for Lots.  The Track Lots system setting is honored. With that off, lot enabled items will not be asked for a lot number.


Receiving

Lots are recorded during receiving.  Because this doesn't technically create inventory, multiple lots can be put into a single received location.  If the setting "ReceiveToStorage" is enabled, this will error if trying to receive multiple lots.  Expiration dates are not recorded.  The Lot Number must match the Lot Regex that is setup on the system.  The default setting is a digit only value.

This app does not look at the system setting Track Lots.  Instead, support needs to enable a hidden flag to either track lots during receiving or to turn off that functionality.


Putaway

Lots must be recorded during the receiving stage or Putaway will expect lots and will fail.  A received location with multiple lots can be putaway.  The final putaway cannot put multiple lots into a single location.

Currently Putwaway does NOT honor the Track Lots setting.  This will be updated and released soon so that this setting can be fully used.


Picking

Only 1 lot is allowed per location.  If picking against a location with multiple lots, it will fail.  

The system setting Track Lots is honored and if off, the pick does not expect a lot number to be on the inventory record.


WOS Fulfillment

New functionality around Lot Control is being implemented as WOS Fulfillment is being developed.


Manage Inventory

Multiple Lots are allowed per location.  Single Lot locations will assume the lot number and improve operational performance.  Lot Selection is possible so the Lot does not always need to be scanned.  Expiration Dates are recorded when new lots are entered, assuming the CreateDate = ExpirationDate system setting is turned off.  


Replenishment

Replenishment was not initially developed with Lot Control in mind.  Development is currently under way to handle lots in the same way as Manage Inventory.  Until then, paper replenishment reports along with Move operations will need to be used to replenish Lot Tracked items.


Cycle Count

Cycle Count is not yet released in WOS Fulfillment.  It is being developed and will be released soon.
Upon release, Cycle Count will allow for multiple lots in a location, for Scan Each to request a lot after each scan, for Lot Selection to be enabled, for Expiration Dates to be captured, and other functionality developed for Manage Inventory will be enabled.