Overview
The Inventory Freshness app helps manufacturers and distributors ensure that lot, serial or package tracked items meet freshness requirements before they’re picked, shipped, or received.
Assign production dates, apply freshness rules by item, customer, or vendor, and block inventory that falls outside the allowed window. Fully integrated with warehouse operations, the app provides real-time validation without disrupting your workflow. Perfect for roles across sales, purchasing, production, and warehousing, especially in industries where freshness is critical.
Important
The production date cannot be used in advanced warehousing (directed) location transactions.
Key features
Set Production Date Rules by Item Tracking Code: Set up item tracking codes to require production dates when receiving, picking, and shipping.
Set Freshness Calculation Dates: Control which date (e.g., shipment date, receipt date, or due date) is used during picking, shipping, or receiving to calculate freshness compliance.
Create Custom Freshness Codes: Define the number of allowable freshness days for inventory. These codes determine the minimum acceptable production date when used with the freshness calculation date.
Assign Freshness Rules to Items, Vendors, and Customers: Apply freshness codes at the item, vendor, or customer level, or to specific item/vendor and item/customer combinations to meet internal policies and external requirements.
Flexible Location Control: Disable freshness validation for specific locations when not required for sales, purchases, or picks.
Assign Production Dates During Item Tracking: Add an item’s production date when entering the item tracking, with the option to automatically assign a default production date (e.g., work date, current date, or production start or end date).
Real-Time Freshness Validation: Automatically validate freshness during receiving, picking, and shipping. Inventory is blocked if the time since production exceeds the defined freshness window.
Adjust and Track Production Dates: Easily update production dates through the Item Reclassification Journal and view the full history of production date assignments and deletions.
Compatible with Lot Algorithms: Add the production date to a lot number when using the Lot Algorithms app.
Handheld Scanning: Ensure that freshness validation happens as products are being handled with the Mobile Data Collection app’s handheld scanning capabilities.
As illustrated below, for outbound products heading to customers, an item-lot will be restricted from being picked or shipped, if the planned delivery date minus the production date exceeds the number of required freshness days:
In terms of purchasing, as illustrated below, for inbound products being received from vendors, item-lot will be restricted from being received if the receipt date minus the production date exceeds the number of required freshness days:
As illustrated below, for items being consumed, an item-lot will be restricted from being picked if the due date of the component minus the production date exceeds the number of required freshness days:
