Learn how to leverage lot expiration in Business Central to manage your inventory

Managing inventory effectively is crucial for businesses to meet the demands of their customers while minimizing inventory loss and expenses. In industries like manufacturing and food and beverage, where raw materials have a limited shelf life, tracking expiration dates becomes crucial. Many organizations choose to leverage Business Central, a cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to manage their inventory and minimize loss.

Business Central is a powerful inventory management solution that enables businesses to track inventory through serialization or lot tracking. Furthermore, Business Central allows users to choose which transactions require item tracking details, which is especially important in manufacturing environments for raw material purchase and consumption. For industries that require additional tracking for expiration dates, Business Central has the capability to assign expiration dates to lots and serial information and to leverage those expiration dates during the picking process. In this blog, we will walk you through the process of setting up lot expiration dates in Business Central.

To track item expiration in Business Central, you need to set up a tracking code that includes expiration rules. This can be done by creating a new item tracking code or by updating an existing one on the Item Tracking Codes page. To open the Item Tracking Codes page you can search for Item Tracking Codes or go to the Item card and click the lookup next to the Item Tracking Code field on the Item Tracking tab. Once you have your Item Tracking Code Card open, navigate to the Misc. FastTab.

Under the Misc. FastTab, you can configure the following expiration rules for your serial or lot numbers:

• Use Expiration Dates – Specifies that you want to calculate expiration dates
• Require Expiration Date – Specifies that you must enter an expiration date on the item tracking line. Any expiration date calculations you set up on the Item Card will not be considered because users will be required to manually enter an expiration date. 
• Strict Expiration Posting – Specifies that an expiration date assigned to the item tracking number as it entered inventory must be respected when it exits inventory. This means that the consumption or sale of expired inventory will not be permitted.

Once you have set up an Item Tracking Code, it can be selected in the Item Tracking FastTab on an Item card. Additionally, you can also enter a predefined Expiration Date Calculation to automatically calculate the expiration date of the item when it enters inventory, if Require Expiration Date is not selected.

To ensure that items with the earliest expiration dates are used first, Business Central uses a process called First-Expired-First-Out (FEFO). However, in order to utilize this functionality, certain requirements must be met. First, the inventory must be stored in a warehouse that uses Bins and Picks. Additionally, the Pick According to FEFO toggle must be enabled on the Location Card. By meeting these requirements, businesses can ensure that their inventory is used in the most efficient and effective manner possible.

When processing consumption or output transactions in Business Central, the system will prioritize suggested item picks by selecting the oldest item, or the one closest to its expiration date, first. If the Strict Expiration setting has been enabled on the Item Tracking Code, then any items in an expired lot will be prevented from being consumed.

Managing inventory effectively is crucial to keep up with the demand for your product, ensuring company growth, and reducing inventory loss and other expenses. The ability to track and enforce inventory expiration is an invaluable tool to achieve this. By following the steps outlined in this blog post, you can set up and utilize Business Central’s item and lot tracking expiration features to effectively manage your inventory.

If you would like more information on how to implement inventory tracking and expiration in Business Central, our team of experts is here to help. Rand Group is your dedicated partner. Our team of experienced consultants can help you unlock the full potential of your technology investment and achieve your business goals. Contact us today to get started and take control of your inventory management.