We have an extensive lab to test out plastic materials that we want to track the quantities that we have in our lab repository (with an ID, material type, quantity, etc.). Does anyone leverage Epicor to track part samples for testing or shipping to customers for potential sales?
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Like Lot information?
Create as a separate warehouse and then transact in/out of there?
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I would combine both of what @Mark_Wonsil and @SueLowden suggests.
Create a generic part called “Sample” (or something of that ilk).
Set it to be lot tracked.
You can adjust in “Sample” and assign a lot based on the customer/material you receive:
Lot No. ExxonPP12345.01 @ 2,000 lbs
Lot No. AvientPE12345.01 @ 50 lbs
Lot No. SabicPC867.5309 @ 1,200 lbs
Receive those in to a separate warehouse/bin so they stay somewhat removed from standard inventory (depending on whether you want to do this nettable/non-nettable, etc.).
I’m not sure if these are internal samples or customer samples… but, we do testing for our customers and in that case… Depending on how you want to keep track of things, you could have bins dedicated to specific customers (making them active/inactive as needs require). For example, our lab trials would include several polymers, fillers, additives, color, etc. that we would then compound during the trial. So we may set up a bin called WonsilPolymers and receive/adjust in all the compound ingredients to that one bin. We can then easily see what materials we have on hand for a specific customer just by querying against a bin location.
or… Likewise… the bin number could be your internal sales order number or trial number… so again, you would know what materials you had on hand for a given trial.
Just depends on how you want to set it up for the type of testing your lab performs.
This may also depend on how long materials are kept on hand. This could all be a lot of busy work if you receive materials in, run a trial and dispose of them shortly there after. The “idea” is good… but I could see this becoming a tedious task and your users just abandon it after awhile. In that case the REAL challenge is how to set it up so it is easy to manage the ins-and-outs.
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