Item lot types

An item lot type is a commercial grade of one item, such as saleable, sample or promotional stock, that document lines and pricing rules can tell apart without you creating a second item. You define lot types once, usually one set per item, and from then on a line can name the grade it is selling, buying or moving.

Lot types sit between the item master and the documents. You create the item first, then its lot types. Order, quote, invoice, purchase and inventory lines can then carry an Item Lot Type. Price list, tax group and scheme rules can target one lot type, and receiving goods stamps the line's lot type onto the item lot it creates.

Overview

A lot type is a classification, not a lot. A lot is one physical batch or serial number. A lot type is a label that many lots of the same item can share. Lot types do not switch lot tracking on or off, and they do not number lots. Lot tracking is the Track Lots flag on the item, described in Item lots and lot types.

Each lot type record holds a name, an optional item, three short codes for pricing and integrations, and three flags: Saleable, Sample and Promo.

When to use it

Use lot types when the same product is handled at different commercial terms:

• Samples and giveaways. Sample stock of an item prices differently from saleable stock, and a scheme can hand it out as a free item.
• Promotional packs. A promo grade can carry its own price list rule or tax rule.
• Grades of the same product, such as first quality and seconds, where the item and its stock code stay the same.

Use a SKU instead when the versions are physically different products that you stock separately, such as colours or pack sizes. Stock balances are kept per SKU but not per lot type (see Business rules below).

How xMatix handles it

• Lines. Order, quote, opportunity, invoice, delivery order, requisition, purchase order, goods receipt, bill, transfer, adjustment and cycle count lines, among others, have an Item Lot Type field. On order, invoice, delivery order and opportunity lines the picker offers only the lot types whose Item is the line's item. Other lines offer every lot type.
• Pricing. A price list rule with an Item Lot Type applies only to lines with that lot type. A rule with no lot type applies to every line of the item. See Pricing and discounts.
• Tax. A tax group rule with an Item Lot Type is chosen only for lines with that lot type. A blank one matches any line.
• Discount groups. Discount group rules have an Item Lot Type field, but matching ignores it.
• Schemes. A scheme condition with an Item Lot Type counts only lines with that lot type. A benefit's Discounted Item Lot Type limits the discount to lines of that lot type and is written onto a free-item line the scheme adds. Item group members can name a lot type too, so a group can contain only one grade of an item. See Trade schemes.
• Item aliases. When a line picks an item alias that names a lot type, and the line has no lot type yet, the alias fills it in.
• Lots. Receiving a goods receipt creates lots that copy the receipt line's lot type. Transfers and van-stock lines clone the source lot with its lot type.
• Lot allocation. When invoicing from an order or allocating a fulfilment order for a lot-tracked item, xMatix picks only lots of the line's lot type. A line with no lot type can draw from lots of any lot type.
• Field app visits. When a visit activity captures product lines, the lot type picker offers only the lot types tagged to the line's item, on the web and in the mobile app.
• Item inventory attributes. Planning rows can be narrowed to one lot type. See Item classifications.

Prerequisites

• The item exists. See Items.
• Your security profile can create item lot types (see Permissions).

Procedure

Step 1 — Open the Item Lot Types list

Item lot types belong to the Warehouse Settings app (group Warehouse Masters) and to the Inventory settings app (group Item Masters). Neither has a tab of its own on the web. Open the App Launcher, type Item Lot Types into the search box and choose the entity, or open /ItemLotType directly. The list opens in the view All Item Lot Type, with the columns Name, Lot Type Code, Item, Price Code, Is Saleable, Created By, Created Date and Modified Date.

Step 2 — Create a lot type

1. Select New. The create form opens.
2. Enter a Code and a Name. Neither is enforced as required by the form, but give every lot type a name, because pickers on lines show it.
3. Pick the Item the lot type belongs to. Leave it empty only if you want a tenant-wide lot type. A lot type without an item does not appear on order, invoice, delivery order or opportunity lines.
4. Fill in Price Code, External Item Code and Variation Code if your pricing setup or an integration uses them.
5. Under Control, switch on Saleable, Sample or Promo to describe the grade.
6. Save. The record page opens with Code, Item and Price Code shown in the header.

Step 3 — Find and review a lot type

Use the list's search and column filters to narrow by name, code or item. Open a row to see the record page. Information holds the name, code, item and the three codes. Behaviour holds the Saleable, Sample and Promo flags. System Information shows who created and last changed the record, and when.

Step 4 — Change a lot type

On the record page select Edit. The same form you used to create the record opens, so every field on it can be changed. Save to apply. Lines, lots and rules that already name the lot type keep pointing at it, so a renamed lot type shows its new name everywhere.

Step 5 — Use the lot type on a line

On a document line, pick the Item first, then the Item Lot Type. The line's price, tax group and scheme benefits are then worked out for that lot type. For a lot-tracked item, the lot you pick (or the lot that invoicing or allocation picks for you) must belong to that lot type.

Step 6 — Delete a lot type

On the record page select Delete and confirm, or select rows in the list and use Delete. Check first that no open document, rule or lot still needs the lot type.

Fields

The entity reference also lists MRP, SKU, Partner Account, Storage Location and Related Item Lot. These are not stored on lot types, and the forms do not show them. Record MRP on the item lot and choose the SKU on the line.

Business rules

• No numbering and no status. Lot types have no document numbering, no status and no actions other than New, Edit and Delete.
• Flags are labels. Saleable, Sample and Promo are not read by any process. To make sample stock price or tax differently, write a price list rule or tax group rule for that lot type.
• Blank matches all. On price list, tax group, scheme and item group rules, an empty Item Lot Type matches lines of any lot type. A filled one matches only that lot type.
• Specific beats blank only on a tie. Among eligible price list rules, the latest Date Effective From wins first. A rule naming the lot type beats a blank one only when the start dates are the same.
• Stock is not split by lot type. Stock balances are kept per company, branch, item, SKU and storage location. Two lot types of the same item share one stock balance. Only item lots carry the lot type separately.
• Allocation respects the line. For lot-tracked items, invoicing from an order and fulfilment allocation pick only lots of the line's lot type. If none has stock, the line cannot be allocated.

Example

A beverage distributor sells a 500 ml juice carton as normal stock and also hands out cartons to new outlets as samples.

1. The item Orange Juice 500 ml has Track Lots switched on. The inventory administrator opens Item Lot Types and creates two records for it: Name Saleable, Code SAL, with Saleable on; and Name Trade Sample, Code SMP, with Sample on.
2. In the outlet price list, the pricing administrator adds a rule for Orange Juice 500 ml with Item Lot Type Trade Sample and a token price, alongside the existing rule with no lot type for normal sales. Both rules start on the same date.
3. A sales user creates an order and adds two lines for the juice: 48 cartons with lot type Saleable and 6 cartons with lot type Trade Sample. The first line takes the normal price. The second takes the sample price, because on the same start date the rule naming the lot type wins.
4. Receiving the next purchase delivery with lot type Trade Sample on one receipt line creates a lot of that lot type. When the order is invoiced, the sample line draws only from Trade Sample lots.

Training

Practice exercise

In a sandbox, create two lot types for one item, Standard and Promo, each with the item filled in. Add a price list rule for the item with Item Lot Type Promo and the same Date Effective From as the item's existing rule, but a lower price. Create an order with one line per lot type.

Expected result: the lot type picker on the order line shows only the two lot types for that item. The Promo line takes the lower price and the Standard line takes the normal price.

Quick reference

• A lot type is a grade of one item, not a batch and not a lot-tracking switch.
• Open it from the App Launcher: search Item Lot Types.
• Always fill in Item, or the lot type is missing from order, invoice, delivery order and opportunity lines.
• Saleable, Sample and Promo are labels only.
• Price list, tax group and scheme rules can target a lot type. Discount group rules cannot.
• An empty lot type on a rule matches every line.
• Stock balances do not split by lot type. Lots do.
• For lot-tracked items, allocation and invoicing pick only lots of the line's lot type.

Permissions

Access is granted per entity in each security profile. The seeded System Admin, Standard User, Sales, Sales Executive, Sales Manager and Service profiles grant full access to item lot types. A profile without read access cannot open the list. Grant create, edit and delete only to the people who maintain item master data.

Configuration

• Where it appears. The entity is listed in the Warehouse Settings app (group Warehouse Masters) and the Inventory settings app (group Item Masters). Change this in Setup → Design Studio → Apps.
• Forms and list. The create form (also used by Edit), the record page and the All Item Lot Type view can be changed in Design Studio. See Design a form layout.
• Line pickers. Order, invoice, delivery order and opportunity lines use a lookup filter that limits Item Lot Type to the line's item. Other line types have none. Lookup filters are configured on the line entity's lookup field.
• Rules that read lot types. Maintain price list rules (Pricing and discounts), tax group rules, scheme conditions and benefits (Trade schemes), item group members, item aliases and item inventory attributes (Item classifications) to make a lot type change prices, taxes or planning.

Common problems

The lot type I created does not appear on an order line

The picker on order, invoice, delivery order and opportunity lines shows only lot types whose Item is the line's item. Open the lot type, fill in Item and save. Also pick the line's item before the lot type.

A sample line still takes the normal price

The flags do not change prices. Add a price list rule for the item with Item Lot Type set to the sample lot type. If a rule with no lot type has a later Date Effective From, it still wins. Give the lot-type rule the same or a later start date.

Invoicing says no lot was found, but the item has stock

For lot-tracked items, only lots of the line's lot type are eligible. Check that the received lots carry the lot type the order line names, or clear the line's lot type so any lot can be used.

Stock Balance does not show quantities by lot type

Stock balances are not split by lot type. To see quantities per grade, look at the item lots, filtered by Item Lot Type.

Common questions

What is the difference between a lot type and a SKU?

A SKU is a separate stock-keeping version of the item, and stock balances are kept per SKU. A lot type is a commercial grade: it changes prices, taxes and scheme eligibility, and it is recorded on lots, but it does not split the stock balance. Use a SKU for a different colour or pack size, and a lot type for saleable versus sample stock of the same product.

Does marking a lot type as Sample stop it being sold?

No. Saleable, Sample and Promo describe the grade for people and reports. No process reads them. To control what sample stock costs the customer, add a price list rule for that lot type. To keep a batch from being sold, put a hold code on the item lot.

Can one lot type serve several items?

Not usefully. You can leave Item empty, but then the lot type does not appear on order, invoice, delivery order or opportunity lines. Create one lot type per item, with the same name and code if you want them to read alike.

Why do lots have a lot type when the item is not lot-tracked?

Receiving a goods receipt creates a lot for every inventory-tracked line and copies the receipt line's lot type onto it. For an item without Track Lots, that lot is a record of the receipt and later movements do not need it.

Related topics

• Item lots and lot types
• SKUs (item variants)
• Items
• Pricing and discounts
• Trade schemes
• Warehouse configuration
• Item Lot Type entity reference
• Item Lot — entity reference
• Item — entity reference