Life Sciences Supply Chain Management provides an additional Sub batch tracking dimension, which is available in the Tracking dimension groups form (Product information management > Setup > Dimension and variant groups > Tracking dimension groups).
The Sub batch dimension can be activated following the rules available for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management tracking dimensions regarding blank issue/receipt allowed, primary stocking, and physical inventory.
Sub-batches can be generated, either manually or automatically, and registered in inventory upon purchase receipt and production report as finished via mobile device. Menu items with the following work creation processes support the sub-batch generation:
Purchase order item receiving
Purchase order line receiving
Purchase order item receiving and put away
Purchase order line receiving and put away
Load item receiving
Load item receiving and put away
Advanced report as finished
Advanced report as finished and put away
Manual sub-batch generation
Users can manually enter a new sub-batch number and the corresponding quantity upon registration via mobile device, by manually entering a value in the Sub batch field. Once a sub-batch is generated, the remaining quantity to be received is decreased, and the user is prompted to generate additional sub-batches to complete the registration process.
The sub-batch number is unique within a company. Upon registration and/or manual creation, the system prevents users from generating duplicate sub-batch numbers.
Automatic sub-batch generation
Users can automatically generate one or multiple sub-batches during the registration process via mobile device by clicking the Create sub batch numbers button in the Assign dimensions to LP screen.
When the Create sub batch numbers screen is opened, users have the flexibility to generate sub-batches based on one of the following rules:
Define the size of each sub-batch (Qty per sub batch) and let the system automatically calculate the total Number of sub batches to be received.
Define the total Number of sub batches to be received and let the system automatically calculate the size of each sub-batch (Qty per sub batch) accordingly.
The following information is displayed in the Create sub batch numbers screen:
The Start number defines the first number used for generating sub-batch numbers.
The End number is calculated based on the Start Number and the Number of sub batches to be generated.
The Format for the sub-batch number generation consists of the parent batch number plus a suffix (for example, “-###” will generate a sub-batch with a suffix with three digits).The default format can be defined in the Default sub batch ID format field in the General tab of the Inventory and warehouse management parameters form (Inventory management > Setup > Inventory and warehouse management parameters), but it can be manually overridden.
The Sub batch type dropdown menu can be used to select a sub-batch type to be assigned to the registered sub-batches. Users can decide to skip sub batch type selection by disabling the Edit sub batch type parameter in the relevant Mobile device menu item form (Warehouse management > Setup > Mobile device > Mobile device menu items). If the Edit sub batch type parameter is disabled, the Sub batch type dropdown menu is not displayed, and the Sub batch type field in the sub batch details form becomes not editable.
If sub-batches have already been generated for a batch and additional sub-batches for the same batch must be registered later, the system automatically suggests the next Start number to avoid generating duplicates.
Note
If the Sub batch number group field has been populated in the item card of the material being registered, one or more of the above field(s) could be pre-populated and/or non-editable by the users. Please refer to the advanced sub batch numbering feature for additional details.