Scanning items with Lot IDs

Overview

When you scan an item's barcode with the scanner, the barcode may be the type of barcode that represents not just what type of product it is (the Product ID), but also the Lot ID of the particular item you are scanning. However, the barcode could also be the type that represents only the Product ID, leaving you specify the Lot ID some other way. If you are not using Lot IDs, then you don't need to worry about how the barcodes represent them, but if you are keeping track of Lot IDs for your stock, then it is important to know when you scan an item whether the barcode implies the Lot ID automatically or whether you have to specify it manually. This section explains what happens when you scan a barcode.

What are Lot IDs?

Lot IDs, or batch numbers as they are sometimes called, contain information about individual items in your inventory that may vary even among items having the same Product ID, such as an expiration date, serial number, manufacturing batch number, or even physical condition of an item. For example, if you have a stack of $100 dollar bills, each individual bill has its own identification number, even though they are all $100 bills. If you were representing those bills in your inventory, the identification numbers could be held in the Lot ID field, whereas other properties that are common to all $100 bills, such as the value of the bill, would be held in product properties in the product's master file, or detail page.

Lot IDs are closely related to the packing information about an item, because just as an item can have an expiration date stored in its Lot ID, it can also have packing or dimensional information that indicates how many items are in the case (if the item is a case), or the length or volume of the item if the item can have varying dimensions. This packing or dimensional information is held in the item's "packing" field. We mention it here only to clarify that the packing is a separate field from the Lot ID field and to explain what information each field contains.

Do barcodes represent Lot IDs?

Barcodes can represent Lot IDs, but they don't have to. Some companies find it easier to use barcodes that represent only the Product IDs, and to specify the Lot ID separately. Other companies use barcodes that represent the Product ID, Lot ID, and possibly even the suggested packing altogether.

Recall that the barcode lookup table is like an Excel spreadsheet with the barcode in column A, and the Product ID, Lot ID, and suggested packing in columns B, C, and D. Whenever you scan a barcode, the scanner will lookup the barcode in column A and then fill in the information from column B, C, and D into your receive operation.

Example lookup table

In the lookup table above, the barcode 200000137526 corresponds to Product ID 3LID5023-14 with Lot ID 14MAR03A and suggested packing 72/1. The next barcode corresponds to 3LID6040-14 but has a blank Lot ID and suggested packing.

So do my barcodes represent Lot IDs or not?

Whether your own barcodes represent Lot IDs or not depends on where they came from. If you are using the barcodes from your supplier then you may have imported them into the barcode lookup table or learned them on the fly when scanning them the first time. If you imported them, then they will either have or not have Lot IDs depending on what you imported. The section Learning Barcodesexplains what information the barcodes that you learn represent.

Print labels for stock item

If you are using barcodes from labels printed from Finale, then the answer is still not clear cut. Finale has barcode label printing facilities for both types of barcodes. If you print the labels from a link that says "Print labels for stock item" then the barcodes printed will include all information about the stock item: the Product ID, the Lot ID, and the packing of that item as the suggested packing in the barcode. For example, if you print labels for the stock item that is a case of 36 eaches packed 36/1, with Product ID 3LD5023-14 and LotID 12MAR13A, then the barcode will be an automatically generated number like 200000137526 that maps to an entry in the lookup table like,

Finale's automatically generated barcode numbers (200000137526) are in the company internal range of the UPC barcode space, which means they won't conflict with global UPC barcode numbers. You can recognize barcodes in this internal range because they are 12 digits, beginning with a "2".

Print labels for Product ID

If you print labels with "Print labels for Product ID" then the barcode will be the Product ID itself, and the entry in the lookup table will look like (for Product ID 3LID5023-14),

The entry will not have a Lot ID or suggested packing. In fact it couldn't be any other way. Since there can be only one entry in the lookup table for the barcode 3LID5023-14, if that entry had a Lot ID or suggested packing, that would imply that all items having Product ID 3LID5023-14 also have that specific Lot ID and suggested packing, which kind of defeats the purpose that Lot IDs can be different for items of the same Product ID.

Printing labels for purchase orders and purchase order shipments

Purchase orders typically don't include the Lot ID or packing of the products ordered. You find out that information when you receive the order, or possibly from communication with the supplier after placing the purchase order. Thus, in Finale, the purchase order shipments have Lot IDs and suggested packing, but the purchase orders themselves do not. Thus if you print barcodes from the purchase order, they will definitively not have a Lot ID or suggested packing (and the print menu item will probably be of the form "Print labels for Product ID"). However if you print barcodes from a purchase order shipment, then the barcodes will have Lot IDs and suggested packing if the menu item is "Print labels for stock items" and will not have them if the menu item is "Print labels for Product ID"

Printing labels for custom barcode label formats

You can make your own label formats in Finale that print barcodes based on custom fields like an uploaded UPC number, or a standard field like the Product ID, or even a combination of fields. Obviously, these custom barcode label formats may or may not include the Lot ID, depending on how you make the format. Even for custom formats, though, you can be sure that if the labels are printed for a purchase order (not a shipment), then they will not include Lot IDs or suggested packing, because that information is not present in the purchase order.

What happens when I set default Lot ID?

As you might expect from the name, the command "Set default lotID" on the menu of the receive operation on the scanner sets the default Lot ID. This value will apply only when you scan barcodes that don't themselves specify the Lot ID. The logic is simple. The item recorded into the receive operation will have the Lot ID from the barcode if it is not blank; otherwise it will have the default Lot ID you set from the menu. When you set the default Lot ID from the menu, that setting is sticky--it will continue to apply until you set it to something else or until you finish the receive operation.