Warehouse Pallets and Lots

Modified on Mon, 1 May, 2023 at 3:20 PM

Purpose of this document

The Inventory management and aging process can be improved by utilizing Lot and Pallet tracking functionality in Ceres. Lot Tracking is mandatory, Pallet tracking is optional, though necessary if using Warehouse ADCS Scanners to help manage Inventory.

Ceres Object release 5.00.00 is required for the functionality described in this document.

Table of Contents

Overview
Lot Tracking
Pallet Tracking
Purchase/Donation Orders
Agency Orders
Accessing Item Lot Information
Accessing Item Pallet Information
Bin Content
Changing the Donor Receipt Lot Information
Related Topics

Overview

The Inventory and aging management process can be improved by utilizing Lot and Pallet tracking functionality in Ceres. Lot Tracking is mandatory, Pallet tracking is optional, though necessary if using Warehouse ADCS Scanners to help manage Inventory. In addition, food bank product often moves through the warehouse physically on a Pallet, so matching those to Pallet records in Ceres can provide a great help in matching Ceres to the physical pallet handling processes.

Lot tracking is mandatory and is used to track inventory Aging and expiration information for all Items.

The relationship is as follows:

Lot Tracking

In Ceres Lot Tracking is mandatory for all items. Some of the benefits of lot tracking include:

In the event of a product recall, it is easier to locate the product whether it is in the warehouse or has been distributed to an Agency.

This is where the expiration date and consume by date are stored.
This is where the FBC/UNC Codes are stored and can be updated after the fact for FA Reporting, such as the QPR and Blue Receipt Reports.
Ability to pick using FEFO (First Expiration, First Out) methodology.
Ability to cross check gross weight by lot.

Pallet Tracking

Some of the benefits of pallet tracking Include:

Pallets are a convenient way to store and move product, i.e. the ability to move more quantities (cases) of a product at once.
Pallet tracking is required to use handhelds in the warehouse. (ADCS)
Pallet tracking numbers are unique, allowing varying information to be maintained about individual pallets.

Individual items need to be set up for pallet tracking. Please see the Ceres Item Overview document for specific instructions.

Purchase/Donation Orders

Items enter Ceres via Purchase Orders and Donation Orders. The creation of orders allows visibility to what is expected and when.

Note: Agency Return Orders are also treated as product receipts as well as the receiving side of Transfer Orders.

Initial creation of Lot and Pallet information will be handled at this point. This will include the “exploding” of a single inventory item into various Pallets based on Tier and Height information provided on the source line.

For inventory purposes, Donations behave the same as Purchases with the exception of the Entry Type being Donation when the inventory hits the Item Ledger Entries.

Once the items arrive at the location, they are received into inventory.

The exact method of receiving will be determined by the requirements of a specific location.
Specific lot numbers, expiration dates or use by dates may be edited at this time.
The quantity of items that have arrived is entered into Ceres and the receipt is posted.

After the items have been received, they will be placed into storage in the warehouse.

The exact method of put away will be determined by the requirements of a specific location.
The Pallet No., Lot No, and Bin No. will appear on the lines.

Please see the Donation Order Overview and Purchase Order Overview for more detail.

Agency Orders

Agency Orders are the principle source document used for outbound processing of inventory. Agency Orders may be entered via the internet (Agency Express) or entered manually. Once the orders are in the system and marked as “Released” they are available for the warehouse to pick. The exact method of order picking will be determined by the requirements of a specific location. Pallet No. and Lot No. will be available on the Agency Order Lines. If not utilizing Picks, the Bin Code, Lot No. and Pallet No. must be entered. If Picks are utilized, the Bin Code, Lot No. and Pallet No. will be entered/suggested by the system on the Pick. If the Bin Code, Lot No. or Pallet No. has been entered on the Agency Order Line, they will act as a filter when creating Pick lines and will affect Quantity Available. After the orders are picked, they are available for pickup or delivery.

Accessing Item Lot Information

Individual lot information about and item can be accessed from the related information action pane of the item. To access the item, select Departments à Purchase à Planning à Items.

This will display a list of the items. Click on the item you wish to view the lot information.

Click Navigate à Lots. The Lot information can be accessed from either the Item List or from the Item Card.

The lots for the item will be displayed.

The fields shown and order may be different depending on user personalization. Following is a description of each field contained in the Lot Table.

Item No.: This is the product number associate with this lot.

Lot No.: The lot number is unique to the item and identifies a particular receipt of inventory. Lot numbers can be automatically assigned by the system or manually entered depending on system setup options.

Description: This description is copied from the item card and describes the product contained in the lot.

Maximum Quantity: This field can be used in conjunction with Item Fee Groups to restrict the quantity that can be distributed. Item Fee Groups are a multiplier thus is the Maximum Quantity is set to 5 and the Item Fee Group is Limit 1, the maximum quantity that can be distributed is 5 (5 x 1). If the Item Fee Group is Limit 5, the maximum quantity that can be distributed is 25 (5 x 5). This field is accessible from the Lot No. Information Card.

Blocked: Checking this field will prevent the lot from being used in transactions. This can be useful if perhaps the lot needs to be temporarily or permanently restricted from transactions.

Quantity On Hand: The current quantity on hand. This quantity is system maintained and is not affected by open transactions pending against this lot.

Receive Date: This represents the date the lot was received into inventory. This field is important during the processing of the FIFO (First In – First Out) logic in selecting lots for shipment.

Consume by Date: This field represents the date the product should be consumed by.

Expiration Date: This is the date the product will no longer be considered safe for consumption. Lots past their expiration date will automatically be excluded from available inventory calculations.

Ship by Date: This is the date the product is suggested to be shipped by. This is an informational only field for reporting and does not factor into what product is suggested on the WAP and Picks.

UNC Product Source Code: This field is the Uniform Number Code (UNC) identifying the source of the product. UNC codes are assigned by Feeding America and used for reporting requirements. Food Banks may assign their own source codes for internal purposes and each food bank source code must be linked to a UNC source code.

FBC Product Source Code: This code identifies the source of the product. Each FBC product source code is linked to a UNC Product Source Code.

FBC Storage Requirement Code: This code is linked to a table of storage requirements. Storage requirements are informational and be used to describe temperature range, wet / dry conditions, etc.

FBC Product Type Code: Food banks use this code to classify multiple products into categories such as Dairy, Snacks, Meat, Produce, etc. Each FBC Product Type is also linked to a UNC Product Type Code.

UNC Product Type Code: This code categorizes the products into categories of product similar to the FBC Product Code. Each Food Bank product code is linked to a UNC product code. The UNC codes are assigned by Feeding America and used for reporting requirements.

FBC Package Type Code: This code describes the packaging of the product. Examples of codes used are can, box, bag, case, bottles, etc. The Food Bank Packages Type codes are linked to a UNC Package Type Code.

UNC Package Type Code: This code is describes the packaging of the product like the FBC Package type. The UNC Package codes are assigned by Feeding America and user for reporting requirements.

Accessing Item Pallet Information

Individual pallet information about and item can be accessed from the related information action pane of the item. To access the item, select Departments à Purchase à Planning à Items.

This will display a list of the items. Click on the item you wish to view the pallet information.

Click Navigate à Warehouse à Pallets. The Pallet information can be accessed from either the Item List or from the Item Card.

The pallets for the item will be displayed.

The fields shown and order may be different depending on user personalization. Following is a description of each field contained in the pallet table.

No.: The Pallet number assigned by the system. Each Pallet number is unique in the system. This is sometimes referred to the “License Plate”. From this pallet number it is possible to identify all other information about the product contained on the pallet.

Item No.: This is the product number associate with this pallet.

Lot No.: Identifies the lot number this pallet came from.

Description: Identifies the product on the pallet. This is the description from the item card.

Location Information: The next three fields, location code, bin code, and bin/type, identify the physical location of the pallet in the warehouse. Throughout the system, when using any warehouse activities to relocate the pallet to another location, these fields will be updated with current physical location of the pallet.

Location Code: This is the current location the pallet is stored in.

Bin Code: The physical bin with the location the pallet is stored in.

Bin Type Code: This is the type of bin the pallet is stored in. Bin types control how warehouse functions will select inventory for transactions. As an example, product can’t be picked from a bin type that is not designated as a “Pick” bin type.

Document No.: This field identifies the document from which this pallet was created. Normally pallets are created from either purchase orders or donation orders.

Branch Code: This field identifies the branch of the Food Bank that controls the pallet of product. Typically if the food bank is using branches, a branch may only distribute product assigned to the same branch code.

Qty. Avail. To Take: The field represents current quantity available for distribution. It is the quantity on hand less any quantities that have been committed to on agency orders, return orders, or warehouse documents.

Quantity On Hand: This field represents the quantity on hand of this product on the pallet.

Net Change: This field represents the net change in quantity of a period of time. Use of a “limit to filter” can be used to analyze the change in pallet quantity based on the criteria of the “limit to filter”. As an example you could determine the usage of the pallet of a specified period of time.

Qty. on Warehouse Entries: This field represents the quantity currently on open warehouse transactions.

Qty. on Item Journals: This field represents the quantity currently on open item journal transactions.

Qty. on Invt. Picks – This field represents the quantity currently on open inventory pick documents.

Qty. on Sales Lines: This field represents the quantity currently open on agency orders.

Open: This field shows whether or not this pallet is still open for transactions. The system will close the pallet once the remaining quantity is zero.

Original Quantity: This field represents the original quantity on the pallet when it was created.

Remaining Quantity: This field represents the quantity still open on the pallet.

Qty. in Shipment Bin: This field represents the quantity open on the pallet that is currently stored in bins that allow warehouse picking operations from. Pick bins are controlled by the bin type code associated with the bin.

Received Date: This field is the date the pallet was received into the inventory.

Bin Content

Individual Bin contents information about an item can be accessed from the related information action pane of the item. To access the item, select Departments à Purchase à Planning à Items.

This will display a list of the items. Click on the item you wish to view the lot information.

Click Navigate à Warehouse à Bin Contents. The Bin Contents information can be accessed from either the Item List or from the Item Card.

The bin contents for the item will be displayed.

The fields shown and order may be different depending on user personalization. Following is a description of each field contained in the bin contents table.

Location Code: This field contains the location code of the bin.

Bin Code: This field contains the code of the bin that contains the bin content.

Fixed: A check mark in this field indicates that the item (bin content) has been associated with this bin, and that the bin should normally contain the item. You can use the replenishment batch job to place the item in the fixed bin. The bin content line will not be deleted if the item quantity goes to 0.

Quantity: This field shows how many units of the item are stored in the bin. The program calculates the quantity on the basis of the warehouse entry table.

Unit of Measure Code: This field shows the base unit of measure the item is tracked by in the system.

Quantity (Base): This field shows how many units of the item are stored in the bin. The program calculates the quantity on the basis of the warehouse entry table.

Last-Used Pick Bin: A checkmark in this field indicates that this bin is the bin this item was last picked.

Last-Used Put-away Bin: A checkmark in this field indicates that this bin is the bin this item was put-away into on the last put away transaction.

Changing the Donor Receipt Lot Information

Occasionally it may be necessary to correct the FBC/UNC codes associated with a particular donor order receipt. Ceres provides the ability to make the correction after the receipt has been posted. There is also an option to have the corrected information correct the lot information associated with the receipt. To correct Posted Donation Orders where the FBC/UNC Product Source code was incorrect (to either add it to or remove it from the Blue Receipt Activity report), go to Departments à Donation à Archive à History à Posted Donation Receipts.

1. Find the Donation Receipt that you need to update and edit it.

2. Go to Actions à Update FBC/UNC Product Source Codes.