PB365 Item Tracing

Dynamics 365 Business Central already provides the option to trace all previous postings based on the Item Ledger Entries. This is made possible by the item tracing functionality. For example, it enables retracing all lots into which a defective component has been incorporated, or identifying all customers to which particular lot has been sold. ProBatch 365 extends this functionality to include internal postings such as Warehouse Movements or changes to lot information.

With every posting or modification of item tracking infos a table with relevant tracing data is filled automatically. Initially, this data is only saved in the table and can not be accessed through the PB365 Item Tracing.

In order to change this and be able to access the most current data, the Item Tracing Tasks have to be processed. This can always be done manually, by executing the Report Process Item Tracing Tasks.

Additionally, the Item tracing Tasks can be set up to automatically be processed whenever the page PB365 Item Tracing is opened. This ensures that the user is always accessing the most current data. To do this, the field Process Tracing Tasks before Item Tracing has to be activated in the ProBatch 365 Lot Management Setup.

It is possible to set up default parameters for Item Tracing on ProBatch 365 Lot Management Setup.

It is also possible to set up a periodic processing of the Item Tracing Tasks via a Job Queue.

Note

Processing large amounts of item tracing data can be quite time and resource intensive. Because of this, it can be especially useful to automatically process the Item Tracing Tasks periodically and to select ressource friendly default parameters for item tracing tasks. Since the Report in question is sequential, potential Error Messages have to be resolved before the system can continue processing the item tracing tasks.\ Tipp: In this case, it can be useful to execute the Report manually, in order to be able to see the Error Message.

The PB 365 Item Tracing can be opened directly via the Inventory Summary list.

  1. In the header of the Item Tracing page you can specify the values you want to search for (serial number, lot number, container number, item number, variant).
  2. You can chose Show Components.
  3. You can chose Show Warehouse Movements.
  4. Chose the Trace Method. This specifies the posted serial/lot numbers that can be traced either forward or backward in a supply chain.
  5. Additionally you can select the Level of Detail you want to use for the display of the Item Tracing Entries. With a low level of detail you can reduce the complexity of the display to make it clearly arranged. The level of detail sums up the display as follows:
    • High: Each Item Tracing Entry is displayed (Standard).
    • Middle: Display of one line if the following values are equal: Item No., Variant, SerialNo., LotNo., Container No., Entry Type, Document No., Document Line No., Location Code, Posting Date, Unit of Measure
    • Low: Display of one line if the following values are equal: Item No., Variant, SerialNo., LotNo., Entry Type, Document No., Unit of Measure, Document Line No.
  6. To avoid unnecessary calculation duration you can limit the levels of calculation by maintain the field Max. Tracing Level. If the maximum level is reached a text will point out that more – uncalculated – levels are available („Max. Tracing Level x reached..").
  7. The flag Explode Prod. Order Structure only once means that when doing a rework (using produced items again) the tracing will display this PO structure only once to avoid endless loops. As a result, the application will show you the documents in which the item or lot has been posted.
  8. Use the function Trace to start the calculcation.

As a result the tracing lines display – depending on the selected filter criteria – what happened with the item tracking information. You can see the related documents or the user who created the entry.

Further more the Report Where Used has been added. This report prints the results of the item tracing only for the lowest level.

  • For tracing method Usage → Origin all raw material (multi-level) are listed with the used quantities.
  • For tracing method Origin → Usage the inventory and Sales Orders of the selected product are shown.
Note

If no Positive Adjustment posting is found for a Negative Adjustment posting, this is displayed in the lines as an error message.

Important

The PB 365 Item Tracking is only supported for items for which full item tracking is set up. This means that the article tracking code has to be Lot Specific Tracking = yes and Lot Warehouse Tracking = yes or with SN Specific Tracking = yes and SN Warehouse Tracking = yes.

Furthermore, only the data that is set up in the item tracking of the item is displayed in the item tracking. All other data is discarded. This means, for example: If an item is set up with lot specific tracking = yes and was nevertheless added with a package number, this will not be displayed in the tracing.