Lot Number and Expiration Tracking

Overview

If you sell perishable items and need a way to track their shelf life, Sellercloud lets you easily track lot numbers and expiration dates. This way, you can ensure that expired products do not reach your customers.

Learn how to add and manage lot numbers and expiration dates in Skustack here.

Configure Settings in Sellercloud

You must configure several settings in Sellercloud to enable lot expiration tracking functionality:

1. Use bin-enabled warehouses, as lot numbers can only be tracked through bin-enabled warehouses.
   When transferring quantity out of a bin-enabled warehouse to a non-bin-enabled warehouse, the lots will be lost.
2. Enable the following client setting Enable Lot Expiry Workflow in Skustack. When enabled, the lot expiration tracking is activated in Sellercloud and Skustack.
3. Contact Sellercloud Support to enable the following app setting: EnableProductLotExpiry.
4. Mark the product as Expirable on the Shipping Preferences page (Inventory > Manage inventory > Select the product > Toolbox > Shipping Preferences).
5. For Independent kits, contact Sellercloud Support to enable the AutoUpdateExpirableStatusOnKitParentsBasedOnComponents app setting:
   1. This setting will not allow manual editing of the Expirable setting of independent kit parents and will make it dependent on the Expirable setting of the components.
   2. Any time IsExpirable is updated on any components, it will automatically update the kit parent.
      • When initially starting to use this workflow, this setting should be enabled before any of the components are marked as Expirable so the parent status will be updated accordingly.
      • For any parent that already has assembled quantity, use the plugin to import the lot and expiration information.

Import Existing Lot Numbers

You can use the Product Lot Expiration Import plugin to import lot information for any expirable items that already have quantity in bins. You can do this before enabling the workflow (or before marking the product as expirable). This plugin should only be used the first time you are importing lot numbers. Contact your onboarding representative or Sellercloud Support for assistance.

1. Navigate to Catalog > Tools > Import Product Info.
2. Select IMPORT INFO VIA PLUGIN/PROFILE.
   
3. Select the company next to Update Products For Company.
4. Select the Product Lot Expiration Import plugin.
   
5. Upload the file from your computer. (Show me a Product Lot Import Sample File!)
6. Click the IMPORT button.

Manage Lot Numbers

There are several ways to check and manage lot numbers in Sellercloud’s Delta interface.

View Lot Numbers for a Specific Product

To find lot numbers for a particular product:

1. Navigate to Inventory > Manage Inventory.
2. Open the product details page of a product and make sure Inventory is selected on the top right.
3. Click Toolbox, then search for “Lot Numbers” and click this option.
   
4. You will see the information about lot numbers connected with this product.
   1. You can use the Lot Number and Bin filters to search for specific lot numbers or bins.

View Products With Lot Numbers

To search and find products with lot numbers:

1. Go to the Skustack web portal at https://your-server-id.skustack.com (substitute “your-server-id” with your actual server ID).
2. On the left, select Reports > Product Lot Numbers > Manage Product Lot Numbers.
   
3. Click Search to see products with lot numbers.
   1. You can use the filters on top of the page to narrow down the scope of your search.
   2. You can click the drop-down menu next to Sort By in the top right corner to change the order in which products are displayed.

Refer to the information below for a detailed definition of each filter.

View Activity Including Products With Lot Numbers

To view lot number activity such as POs, orders, and FBA shipments:

1. Go to the Skustack web portal.
2. On the left, select Reports > Product Lot Numbers > Product Lot Number Activity.
   
3. On this page, you can use the filters on top of the page to find specific information. The report shows: 
   1. Purchase orders containing products with lot numbers are in the PO DATA table.
   2. Orders containing products with lot numbers are in the ORDER DATA table.
   3. FBA shipments containing products with lot numbers are in the FBA SHIPMENT DATA table.
      

Refer to the information below for a detailed definition of each filter.

View Lot Numbers for a Specific Order

To see all lot numbers for a particular order:

1. Navigate to Orders > Manage Orders.
2. Open the order details page of the order you want to check.
3. Click Toolbox on the top right, then search for “Lot Numbers” and click this option.
4. You will see information about lot numbers connected with products in this order.

Reconcile Lot Numbers

You can update your inventory to match a product’s bin quantity to the quantity of a specific lot number.

1. Navigate to the Skustack Admin portal at https://xx.skustack.com (replace “xx” with your server ID or team name).
2. Enter your login credentials.
3. On the left, select Reports > Product Lot Numbers > Lot Numbers Reconciliation.
4. Configure your Default filters to make sure that the results display exactly what you need.
5. Click Search. Each filter you apply gets highlighted. If a filter is gray or not displayed at all, it’s not active.
6. To manage the columns in the grid, click the three dots icon on the top right and select Customize Columns. You can:
   1. Reorder columns by dragging them up or down in the list;
   2. Hide columns by clicking the Trash icons;
   3. Add columns by clicking Add column.
7. To arrange the data in a different order, use the Sort by menu.
8. To save your filtering and sorting options, click Save view, enter a Name, and click Save.
9. Access the Actions menu at the lower right-hand corner to generate a Bin Lot Reconcile Audit Report, or select a product from the grid and Reconcile Bin Qty To Lot Qty.

Reconciling the quantity will adjust the bin quantity to match the lot number data.

Refer to the table below for a description of each filter.

Ship with Lot Numbers

Ship From Shipbridge

When shipping expirable items, you will need to select from the existing lots in the picking bin for the item. You can use either Scan & Ship or Ship & Print to do this:

1. If there is only one lot number for the item in the picking bin, it will be applied to the item automatically.
2. If there are multiple lot numbers available in the picking bin, you will need to choose which one to apply to the order: A window will open in Skustack showing the available lot numbers and quantity in the picking bin. You will have the option to either select just one lot unit at a time or to select all the units from the lot number to apply to the item.

Ship From Sellercloud

Next, while shipping from Sellercloud, in the Lot numbers section, click the toggle arrow to the left of the item’s SKU to show the lot numbers info. Then enter the quantity under QTY FOR THIS ORDER.

If you ship your orders without Shipbridge (or Sellercloud), you will need to somehow arrange for the lot numbers to be removed from the picking bin. Simply adding a regular pick movement will not remove the lot numbers from the picking bin.

You can learn more about customizing your workflow using plugins by contacting Sellercloud Support.