As we discussed in our previous blog post, the PanatrackerGP application makes receiving inventory on Purchase Orders an easy process. Hiccups happen; in addition to receiving more inventory than ordered, as covered in Handling Over Receipts; items may arrive damaged, they may not have been ordered, or the inventory may go through a QA Process. The PanatrackerGP Solution creates a record of the items being received in real-time including receiving exceptions. As such, our team is often called upon to offer process solutions to handle these situations. In any occurrence, the number one rule about receiving is always to record the inventory. Avoiding reconciliation issues caused by forgotten inventory is easy to do with a warehouse management system such as PanatrackerGP.
Damaged Inventory Exceptions
In most cases the physical receiving process is completed after a delivery driver or truck has departed, there is often no opportunity for a company to reject a delivery should any of the boxes be found damaged. A damaged shipping box usually means damaged products inside of it once opened for inspection. The vendor will need to be contacted for return or replacement of the inventory, requiring the buyer to become involved. These items must be set aside and not put away into stock to act as available inventory. The items do need to be recorded as received given that they will be part of the invoice. If not received, accounts payable will eventually need to know why they have a discrepancy between the packing list/receipt and the invoice.
By recording this damaged inventory to a different site or bin location that has been explicitly identified for receiving exceptions, there will always be visibility into the inventory. As soon as an RMA from the vendor has been issued, the inventory can be processed as an adjustment or return. Having this proper audit trail in place, removes the opportunity for any reconciliation from the entire process. The accounting team can now process the invoice, handle the credit transactions and the replacement invoice without the need to backtrack. The inventory manager will have the physical inventory in a location that immediately identifies it as part of a receiving exception. The addition of a label with the PO number and receipt date enables additional audit capabilities for aging inventory in that location.
Items not on a Purchase Order
There are several instances in which the receiving dock may see items that arrive that are not on a purchase order. Some organizations pick up inventory items at a vendor site and do not follow the formal steps of creating a Purchase Order. In other cases, an item may arrive in a purchase order that was not ordered; this may be a substitute item or a vendor mis-shipment. Dynamics GP and PanatrackerGP both offer the ability to receive items without a purchase order. This method is best used when a vendor will be paid for the product as a corresponding payable transaction is created. In the case of a mis-shipment, we recommend our customers follow the steps listed above. This can include receiving in a separate transaction or as an adjustment to a dedicated location for Receiving Exception Inventory. The Panatrack flex fields can be used to capture additional information such as the date and PO number. If using an adjustment, there will not be a payable transaction created.
Quality Assurance Inventory
Panatrack users who have inventory that must go through a QA check have had great success setting up a pre-QA Site within Dynamics GP. This can be set up as the site for the inventory during the PO creation process, defaulting the receiving transaction when the shipment arrives. As inventory passes the inspection process, it can be transferred to the primary stocking site directly in the PanatrackerGP application. Customers using the multiple bin capabilities within Dynamics may want to consider the additional capabilities offered. This includes the ability to transfer an entire bin from one site to another without the need to scan each item. While these are not receiving exceptions in a traditional sense, the process flow is similar, separating inventory before it can be picked for Manufacturing or Sales Order Fulfillment.
For more information on the PanatrackerGP application visit our product page here. Panatrack posts can also be viewed at the ERP Software Blog. Contact Panatrack with questions or to Schedule a personalized Web Demo of the application.
