Item tracking is a thorny field.  You are forced to select between traceability and performance.  If you aspire to get too much, it will bite you back.

Like everything traceability is good is modest proportions.  A good example is cell phone distributor we implemented a few years ago.  Everyday there are pallets of cell phones coming in and out of the warehouse.  The distributor needs to keep track of the serial numbers and mac addresses, coming in and going out.

 

Dynamics NAV, like many other ERPs can handle tracking of lots and serials.  It would be only natural to conclude that using the item tracking features in Dynamics NAV would handle the storing of serials travelling in and out of the system.  But this can have unforeseen implications.

 

Dynamics NAV is built to handle costing down to serial and lot level.  This means that if the system is set up to track cost on a serial and lot level, then each serial number is closed out when it is sold and it’s cost of goods sold amount realized, individually.  This is excellent if you need to track costing down to the serial level, but you pay dearly in performance.  Since serial numbers come usually in large numbers, an order containing a couple of thousand serials, could take upwards of 10 minutes to post or more.   Additionally, the system creates a transaction for each serial number in the item ledger.  This creates an item ledger bloat.  Staff looking into the item ledger and trying to decipher the purchases and sales, would have a hard time putting things together.

 

The solution is to keep the serial system outside the standard NAV.  You can do this with a few modifications.  A better way is to utilize the tracking system in E-Ship from Lanham and Associates.  They have produced an excellent shipping system amongst other modules.  E-Ship allows the user to capture serial numbers on inbound and outbound points in the warehouse, therefore creating a trail, without ever touching the item ledger.  If the user chooses, e-ship can pass the serial numbers to standard NAV.

 

All ERP systems have their shortfalls and this is clearly one in standard NAV.  Fortunately, since NAV is so flexible and has several excellent ISPs, this gap can be bridged without much difficulty.  As long as you know what you are doing …