Strict quarantine posting refers to a condition in which item lots must be released before they can be used in sales and production activities. Because lots can only be released if they have passed their assigned Quality Control tests, strict quarantine posting ensures that only items that have successfully completed Quality Control testing are available for use.
Quarantine periods
When a new item lot record is created, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central typically assigns the posting date from the relevant transaction as the lot's release date. This changes if a quarantine period is defined for the item.
A quarantine period represents the standard amount of time from an item's receipt into inventory to its availability for sale or consumption in a production order. This is typically to allow an item to undergo quality testing to confirm that it is acceptable for sale or use in production.
Calculate a quarantine period for an item lot by applying a defined quarantine calculation formula to the posting date used when the lot is received. For example, if an item has a quarantine calculation formula of 3D, the program interprets this as three days. When a lot of that item is posted on 07/15, the program calculates an expected release date of 07/18.
The program calculates this expected release date instead of assigning a release date. Item lots with a defined quarantine period are not assigned a release date when they enter inventory. Release dates are assigned to these lots when Quality Control activities have been successfully completed.
Strict quarantine posting setup
Strict quarantine posting is defined at the item tracking code level. The decision to use strict quarantine posting for a particular item tracking code record applies to all items to which the item tracking code is assigned.
The strict quarantine posting functionality uses lot status codes. A lot status code is set up to allow processing in different types of activities. Assign lot status codes to lot records. The configuration of an assigned lot status code determines whether the item lot can be used on a given transaction.
You can define several different default lot status codes on the Inventory Setup page. One of these default codes is for strict quarantine posting. This code is set up to prevent users from posting an item lot on a sales or consumption line. Other types of activities (such as transfers and inventory adjustments) are permitted under this code.
Whenever a new lot record is created for an item set up for strict quarantine posting (that is, it has a defined quarantine period and its assigned item tracking code has strict quarantine posting enabled), the default lot status code is automatically assigned to the lot. This prevents the lot from being posted on certain transactions until it is tested. When quality testing is completed and results are being entered for the item lot, assign a lot status code with expanded posting permissions to the lot record as it is being released.
An alternative to strict quarantine posting
The advantage of strict quarantine posting is that it prevents you from using item lots that have not undergone required Quality Control testing. In some cases, a company's environment may not lend itself to the strict quarantine posting process. This can be particularly apparent when different parts of a business process occur immediately one after the other. For example, a company manufactures an item, tests it, then ships it to customers. With strict quarantine posting active, you cannot post the shipment until all Quality Control information has been recorded and completed in the program. If the user tasked with recording Quality Control results falls behind, the user entering shipping information cannot perform their duties either.
For this reason, strict quarantine posting is optional. If this feature has the potential to create impediments to your data entry operations, it does not have to be active. You can also use strict quarantine posting with selected items, as it is assigned to individual item tracking code records. Note, however, that opting not to use strict quarantine posting lets users assign and post item lots whose pending Quality Control activities have not been completed. In such environments, Quality Control results are recorded strictly for informational purposes.