1 Reply by jrock

(8 replies, posted in FA Modifications)

OK - thx Janusz,

1) Anyone else got some input on my proposal?

2) Janusz - Would it be viable to create a module that includes (edited) copies of all of the impacted standard forms?  ie. Do it all as a module with:

- Edited versions of existing forms
- New forms
- For a given function, Users can bring up either the Standard Form (if not using Lot Traceability) or, under a different menu, the "enhanced" form with Lot Traceability in it.

Obviously, the database design/transactions would have to be set up in such a way that both can coexist.

3) Why? My thinking is that this approach:
- Lowers my dependence on the rest of the FA development cycle
- At a later date others can take my module and migrate it into the FA core at their leisure.

Viable?

js

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2 Reply by jrock

(3 replies, posted in Accounts Payable)

I'd just like to clarify that answer pls:

1) I send the Supplier a Purchase Order.
2) The Supplier sends me the physical goods and I Receive them in to my Stock (ie. Inventory increases in FA)
3) I then discover a defect with some of the received stock and I complain to the Supplier.  The Supplier says either:

- "Just throw it out and I won't charge you for those items"; or
- "I'll come and collect the defective items from you and I won't charge you for those items"

In either of these cases, my Inventory now decreases.

4) I enter a Purchases Credit Note into FA to capture the fact that I don't need to pay for those items.
5) But how do I record that my stock level has decreased?  Are you saying that:

5.a)  When I include Items in the Purchases Credit Note, they will be automatically deducted from my Inventory on Hand?
5.b) When I DO NOT include Items in the Purchases Credit Note, they will NOT be deducted from my Inventory on Hand (ie. will just record the financial credit instead)?

thx again,
js

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3 Topic by jrock

(3 replies, posted in Accounts Payable)

When a Customer returns goods AND we wish to re-enter those goods into Inventory, we must:
- Create a Sales Credit Note with the "Credit Note Type" set to "Items Returned to Inventory Location"

However, when we want to return purchased goods to a Supplier there does not seem to be the same functionality.  That is:
- We can create a Purchases Credit Note but there is no "Credit Note Type" field.

So, does this mean that we would have to separately go to Inventory Adjustments to remove the Purchased-and-Returned Stock from our inventory?

Or am I missing something?
thx,
js

Go to forum: Accounts Payable

4 Topic by jrock

(8 replies, posted in FA Modifications)

Hi All,

Apologies in advance for this long post.

Depending on the response I get to this post, I am considering adding Batch/Lot/Serial Inventory Tracking to FA (collectively referred to as "Lots" henceforth).

==== BACKGROUND ====
I am an accomplished PHP developer who runs a growing Perishable Goods distribution business in Asia.  I implement ERP systems on the side.  So I have the right background to pull this off and my growing business needs it.  But I am trying to decide whether to implement it in FA or an alternative - frankly, I'd prefer doing it in FA.

After testing FA, here are my initial thoughts on how it might work.

==== FUNCTIONALITY CHANGES =====
Items & Inventory -> Maintenance -> Items
---------------------------
Add fields for:
- Serial/Batch Control Reqd? (ie. is tracking required and is it Batch or Serial - see definition further down this msg)
- Is Perishable? (ie. if tracking required, are Best-Before dates required)
- Expiry Offset (days): (ie. if Perishable, default number of days to Expiry from Receiving)

Setup -> Company Setup -> Forms Setup
---------------------------
Add ability to set Next Reference for new Lots.

Changes to Existing Inventory Transactions
----------------------------
Add ability to add/edit/delete one or more Lots (from onoe or more Locations) against the following transactions:
- PO & WO Receiving
- Issuing to WO (including when the shortcut method is used)
- Inventory Location Transfers
- Inventory Adjustments
- Direct GRN (Purchases)
- Direct Delivery (Sales)
- Delivery Against Sales Orders
- SO Returns (ie. Credit Note with "Credit Note Type" of "Items Returned to Inventory Location")
- PO Returns (ie. Credit Note - looks like this needs enhancement to allow definition of a Credit Note Type with resulting stock movement similar to SO Returns above?)

Any other Inventory Transaction trigger points I have missed?

Inquiries & Reports
-------------------------------
- Initially I would just add one or two new Lot-level reports.  Examples: Pick List with Expiration Dates (First-Expiry-First-Out "FEFO"), Lots Locations, Lots Aging.
- If others contribute to add more reports then that would be great.



==== GENERAL LEDGER ====
My understanding is that:
- FA currently offers only the Average Cost method (method 1) for Inventory Valuation
- FIFO or LIFO (methods 2 & 3) could be added regardless of whether Lot Traceability is available (but there has been no real push for this yet).
- Inventory valuation for Exact Stock Lines (method 4 - what is the correct terminology for this?) is not possible unless Lot traceability is implemented.

However, whilst I prefer to "Pick" using FEFO (which has nothing to do with accounting), I value my Inventory (and set my Sales Prices as a margin above) the Average Cost for a product (method 1).

As such, I do not plan to make any changes to the current Inventory Valuation logic (ie. it will ignore Lots as it does now).


==== NICE-TO-HAVES ====
- Add the concept of Sub-Locations (Bins) with a One-Bin-to-Many-Lots relationship
- Review all existing reports for Lot Tracking changes (and Sub-Location changes?) that may be useful


==== OTHER CONCEPTS ====
- Serial numbers will be treated as a special case of Lots where the Lot Size is hardcoded to 1.
- One Location (or sub-Location) can contain many Lots
- One Lot can only be in one Location


==== DATABASE =====
At the database level I would like to:
- Add extra fields to the Items master table(s): Batch/Serial/None, Perishable (boolean), ExpiryOffsetDays
- Keep the existing Inventory-related tables as-is and just add two new Lot Master/Transactions tables. Obviously this is conceptual and I will fit it to FA conventions (I have not reviewed field names, record versioning, etc yet).
- The Lot Master Table might look something like:

LotID (unique) | ItemID (foreign key) | ExpiryDate | LotSize (holds net qty balance) | LocationID (holds current location)

- The Lot Transactions Table might look something like:

LotTransactionID (unique) | StockTransactionID (foreign key1) | LotID (foreign key2) | TransactionTypeID (Adjust,Move,ReceiveWO, etc) | FromLocationID | ToLocationID | Qty

Alternatively, we could make this a double entry table structure with two records per Lot Transaction - eg:

LotTransactionID (unique) | StockTransactionID (foreign key1) | LotID (foreign key2) | TransactionTypeID (Adjust,Move,ReceiveWO, etc) | LocationID | Side (in/out, like debit/credit) | Qty

==========

So, feedback time.

1) How does this look?  Is this what you envisage for the first level of functionality for Lots?  Are there any important complexities/stumbling blocks/ommissions (functional or technical) that I need to consider?

2) Should I implement it as an Extension (possible?) or go straigth to the SVN?

3) Anyone willing to contribute?  Especially with the Testing and Reports & Inquiries where I'm pretty sure I'll get bored....

4) If I go ahead and deliver a stable version of this, how do we ensure it makes General Release ASAP?

Looking forward to your feedback,
js

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