This FAQ will cover how to use lot-based inventory in Paradigm.
The first step to start tracking lots on your inventory is to set the item in Paradigm to track lots. On the detail tab of the product, change the "Use Lots" dropdown to "Yes". This will require that the stock is 0 on that product for all warehouses, if there is stock, use an inventory adjustment to remove it before setting the product to track lots. You can then use a second inventory adjustment to bring the stock back into the product, assigning lots to that inventory as you do so.
Costs can be calculated one of two ways for lot-based item: Average cost across all inventory in that product, or FIFO based for just the selected lot. If you want the cost that posts when you use a lot to match the cost at which the product was posted, select the "FIFO" cost method on the item's general tab-- otherwise, select "average cost". NOTE: average cost is not based on just the selected lot, it is based on all of stock in the product, regardless of lot.
After setting an item to track lots, every sale, purchase, or use of that item will require a lot to be defined. The symbol for lots in Paradigm is a blue barrel (pictured below) -- clicking this button will allow you to enter the lots that were used or received prior to posting, in most cases. If lots have not been defined, posting that transaction will be disallowed until lots have been entered. When adding inventory to stock, an existing lot can be selected to add inventory to that lot, or a new ID can be entered to create a new lot. When selling inventory, an existing lot will need to be selected.
When creating a new lot, four fields are shown that are designed to record information about lot-tracked coils. These fields are length (in feet), width (in inches), weight (in pounds), and grade. Additionally, each lot has a place for notes that will appear anywhere the lot is selected to be used. Production can use these measurements in the "Quick Adjust" form to assist with calculating new coil weights when slitting one coil into another coil.
When doing an entire physical inventory on a lot-tracked item, a physical count worksheet can be used. These lines will be summarized into a single line on an inventory adjustment through the physical count analysis, but the line will not be editable on the adjustment due to data constraints. Adjustments can also be made manually for lot-tracked items, with one lot going on each line (just be sure to edit the "Quantity Diff" column instead of "New Qty" when adjusting more than one lot.) Learn more about adjusting lot inventory here.
Production will require the user to enter the lot ID used if they produce an item out of a lot-tracked component (or if they produce a lot-tracked item, they will be prompted to create a new lot ID), for example, when they produce a trim out of a lot-tracked coil. If the machine in production is already set to prompt for coil information, the coil information popup will be bypassed if the item tracks lots, instead only giving them the popup for lot ID. Lean more about creating lots from Production here.
Throughout Paradigm and Production, every place records lot usage has a checkbox for "depleted" or "end of coil". This checkbox is used to record when a coil or other lot item is completely used, but some inventory still shows on that lot in Paradigm. This can commonly happen on coils, due to waste, manufacturing mistakes, variations in coil thickness, etc. Marking an item as "depleted" will cause it to show up in the lot depletion form, which is accessed through the "Lot Depletion" button on the inventory adjustment form. This form allows the lots to be adjusted to 0 easily to keep inventory correct in Paradigm. NOTE: lot depletion is only needed if the stock does not equal 0 at the end of the lot. Additionally, large differences should be investigated to check for assembly issues or other preventable mistakes.