Getting started with traceability

1. Create and set up a product group with default settings for traceable items.

   Some default settings can be changed for individual stock items in the product group. You cannot amend Batch attributes on the stock item, although you can when you receive and despatch the items.

   Open: Stock Control > Stock Maintenance > Product Groups.

   • Click Add.

   1. On the Details tab, select Items use batch or serial numbers.
   2. On the Batch/Serial Numbers tab, enter default information relating to how you want to use traceability.
   • Choose how to trace items in the product group by default, whether by Batch numbers or Serial numbers.
   • If by Batch numbers, then select A sale may only be from a single batch if you want to all items in one sale to come from one batch.

   There are processing implications for whichever way you choose to trace an item. For example:

   	Specify Trade UOM?	Use for direct delivery	Use in automatic purchase order process generation
   Serial	No	Yes	Yes
   Batch	Yes	Yes	Yes
   Single batch only	Yes	No	No

   • Select Allow duplicate numbers if you receive stock with the same serial numbers from several suppliers.
   • Select Alternative references, Sell by dates and Use by dates, if required.
   • Enter default values for batch attributes and whether they are Compulsory or In Use.

   Attributes provide an extra level of uniqueness within a batch. For example, an inspector code identifies who carried out quality checks.

2. Specify when to record and select traceable numbers.

   Open: Stock Control > Utilities > System Set Up > Stock Control Settings | Options.

   • Choose default settings for when to assign traceable numbers.
     • When you receive goods.

     You can assign the numbers when you receive goods, or at a later time, depending on whether you select Numbers must be recorded when goods are received or not.

     If you don't assign numbers when you receive goods, they are marked as unassigned. You can allocate unassigned goods but not despatch or issue them. This means that you will need to assign numbers before you can fully process the items.

     You can change this setting on individual stock items.

     • When you issue goods.

     You can assign numbers when allocating stock, or later, when despatching stock.

     Assigning numbers during allocation is useful to ensure the oldest stock is picked first, for example. However, if the warehouse employee does not find the numbered items on the list, then the picking list must be amended to record the traceable item numbers that were selected.

3. Enter traceable details for each traceable stock item.

   Open: Stock Control > Stock Records > Enter New Stock Item | Batch/Serial Nos.

   1. Amend the default settings from the product group, if required.

   For example, you can choose whether the item uses a serial or batch number. You can only select A sale may only be from a single batch for a stock item, if this has been selected on the product group first.

   2. For each traceable item, you can select Batch/Serial number automatic generation options which apply if you use your own numbers, and not those of the supplier.
   3. If you selected Use by dates for an item, you can add a Shelf life in days, weeks, months or years.
   4. Confirm the Processing options for the stock item.
   • When you record traceable numbers for items (either when items are received or later), defaults from the Stock Control Settings. Until numbers are assigned you cannot issue or despatch the items.
   • You can choose to display the batch and serial numbers for the item on stocktake sheets.

If you want to identify individual traceable component items used to make traceable built items, set up Bill of Materials.

Open: Bill of Materials > Records > Amend Bill of Materials | Details.

• Select the Stock Item.
• Select Component association required.

There are four main methods of receiving stock into Sage 200:

• Purchase Order Processing Purchase order

  There are two ways of receiving goods in Sage 200 using purchase orders:

  • Confirm goods received.
  • If traceable numbers are recorded when goods are received, you enter the batch or serial number and additional information, if applicable, for each item.
  • If traceable numbers are recorded later.

  Items are marked as unassigned. These items cannot be issued or despatched but can be allocated from Stock Control or Sales Order Processing or recorded as being returned to the supplier.

  You must assign numbers later, manually, using the Traceable Stock Items option in Stock Control.

  • Confirm direct delivery goods received.

  POP orders are not automatically marked as received if they use For delivery direct from supplier. This option lets you mark purchase orders that use a direct delivery address as received.

  You can use direct delivery with traceable numbers. However, you may not always know the batch or serial number. In this case, Sage 200 creates numbers in a temporary traceable format. You cannot use this option if you are buying to sell from a single batch only.

• Sales Order Processing Sales return

  • Confirm goods received.

  When traceable items are returned, you must record the batch or serial number of the returned item.

  You can choose from the batch/serial numbers that have been despatched to the relevant customer or add an unknown batch/serial number if it does not appear in the list.

• Bill of Materials Built items

  Goods in occurs when you confirm an allocation or build a BOM without allocating first.

  • Confirm Build or Record Built Item.

  Note: When recording built items, although you can add multiple BOMs to build at once, to ensure end to end traceability searching, we recommend only adding one individual BOM.

  • If your built item is traceable, assign batch and serial numbers to built items.
  • If your components are traceable, assign batch or serial numbers to the components used in building the finished item.
  • If the item is batch traceable, select batch number to build from. You can build quantities from different batches unless the item is a single batch item in which case you must build the total quantity from one batch.
  • If the item is serial traceable, select each serial number to use in the build.
  • If Component association required is selected on the BOM record Details tab, then match traceable components to traceable built items.
• Works Orders Completion

  Completing works orders increases the stock levels of the finished items.

  Note: You cannot complete multiple batch works orders at once if you are using traceable components and traceable built item numbers.

  Completing single batch and one-off Works Orders works in the following way for traceability:

  • Confirm the traceable item numbers to be given to the completed stock and specify the location into which each item is placed.

  Note: If Stock Control is set to generate traceable numbers automatically, you can change the location from that entered, if required.

  • If there is a quantity of serial numbered components in the works order, this number is compared to the required works order quantity.
  • If it is not divisible, you cannot part complete the works order.
  • If it is divisible, and you are fully completing the works order, match the traceable components to the finished items.

You also have the following ways of recording goods in within the Stock Control module:

• Internal Return.
• Return from Supplier.
• Project Return.
• Add Stock.

If you use multiple locations to store stock, you can move stock between those locations, using the Transfer Stock option within Stock Control. You can move stock between warehouses and between bins in the warehouses.

If traceable items have been allocated, or are in use by other Sage 200 processes whilst you are carrying out a transfer, you cannot move those items from one place to another.

There are four main methods of recording the despatch of stock in Sage 200:

• Sales Order Processing Despatch

  Batch and serial numbers are printed on picking lists if the numbers are assigned to the order when the stock is allocated. This occurs when Numbers selected when allocating stock is selected in the Stock Settings Options tab.

  If batch/serial numbers have been allocated to the order and you want to despatch different batch/serial numbers, you can amend the order line allocation and, then confirm the despatch of the stock items.

• Purchase Order Processing Return.
• Works Orders Issue Stock

  Goods out occurs when you use Works Orders to manage production.

  • You can fully or partially issue stock for single works orders.
  • If you have chosen to allocate batch and serial numbers at despatch in Stock Control, you can select traceable numbers for issue.
  • You can reverse orders that have been fully issued, unless the traceable items issued contain fully completed traceable components.
  • You can reverse orders that have been partially issued, unless issued traceable components are linked to finished item traceable numbers.

• Bill of Materials Record Built Item, or Bill of Materials Confirm Build.

You also have the following ways of recording goods out:

• Internal issue.
• Return to Supplier.
• Customer FOC issue.
• Project Issue.
• Write off stock.