Overview
Each Engineering Item Master record to be manufactured or purchased will have an Inventory Item Master record. This record contains the planning information for the Item in a specific Division and contains all inventory-related settings for the Item. These settings affect MRP Planning, Work Order creation and planning, Inventory Locations, and overall Inventory Management.
It is created automatically by the system when the Engineering Item master is created (status ‘Active’) for standard items. No Inventory Item Master is created for Phantom or Reference Items. If a Phantom Item is changed to Standard, an Inventory Item Master is created at that time.
Many of the Inventory Item Master fields default from the values on the Inventory Commodity Code. The Inventory Commodity Code is originally set when the Engineering Item Master is created, but may only be changed on the Inventory Item Master. Many of the individual fields may be changed from the default; however, the main purpose of the Inventory Commodity Code feature is to populate these fields as a standard default to ensure uniformity within groups of Items. Users who find themselves overriding many of the Inventory Commodity Code defaults will likely need to create additional Inventory Commodity Codes in order to avoid that practice.
Inventory is managed by the Division Master and Site Master relationship. Within the Site, Inventory is defined by Location ID and Location ID Number. Within Location, Inventory can be managed by Lot and/or Serial Number. This breakdown provides major grouping opportunities for viewing and managing inventory. Reports that identify Inventory by Lot and Serial Number and tools to trace Lot and Serial Numbers are integrated into the Inventory Management functions.
Within the system, a Stock Location is identified by two separate fields: Stock Location ID and Inventory Location Numbers. The Location ID is the ‘general area’ (e.g. Stores inventory) and the Location Number is a further categorization (e.g. ‘Row/Aisle/Bin’). Locations can also be identified as being Backflush locations, allowing the system to automatically issue material as it is consumed by Work Orders. Locations can also be flagged as Vendor Locations, indicating the material is physically located at the Supplier site.
The Location Number may exist as a free form data entry field or as a predefined Location Number. This decision is made at the Site Level, as the requirement to have predefined Location Numbers (or not), is Site-specific.
However, MRP is Division-specific but not Site-specific. The MRP Planning Process considers all the inventory listed under the Locations in all the Sites of the Division.
A New Inventory Item Master can be created independently of the Engineering Item Master in a Non-Engineering Division under Centralized Engineering Control. Refer to Centralized Engineering for more information.
Navigation
Inventory Item Master
Processing
The Inventory Item Master Page is divided into a header and detail sections. The detail sections have critical information on multiple tabs used throughout the system.
Header Section
Fields
Division: The Division to which this record applies.
Centralized Engineering Indicator: Designates whether the company will have a centralized repository (Division) for maintaining Engineering Item Masters, BOMs, Revisions, and ECOs. When checked, the Centralized Eng Division needs to be identified on the company record.
Item Number: Item is the designator for a given part. Can be up to 50 characters.
Description: User-defined descriptive name of the Item. It is maintained in the Engineering Item Master.
Commodity Code: The group code assigned to this Item. The Commodity Code is used to assign default values for some fields.
Source: Indicates the source of the Item in the given Division. Selections are Manufactured (made in-house), Purchased (obtained from a Vendor), or Subcontract (produced by a Vendor using Items supplied from in-house inventory).
Item for Routing Extract: This field provides an override for accessing the Routing Template in the standard routing extract processes. The routing for the alternate item defined here will be extracted instead of looking for the item’s own routing.
Engineering Division: If using Centralized Engineering, this is the Division under which Eng Items, BOMs, Revisions, and Change Orders are created and maintained.
Buy Division: When using Centralized Buying, this identifies the purchasing Division for the Item. This is initialized from the Inventory Commodity Code and can be overridden in a multi-division environment.
Inventory UOM: Unit of Measure for this Item as it pertains to inventory. Other units of measure are used for Engineering, Purchasing, and Order Entry.
Inventory Item Standard Costs: Link to Inventory Item Standard Cost record associated with this Item.
Inventory Item Costs/Qty: Link to Inventory Item Costs/Qty record associated with this Item.
Inventory Item Account: Link to Inventory Item Account record associated with this Item.
SEE ALSO
Inventory Item Master MRP Policies tab
Inventory Item Master Lead Times tab
Inventory Item Master Disassembly tab
Inventory Item Master Misc CC Override tab
Inventory Item Master Locations Tab
Inventory Item Master Cycle Count tab
Inventory Item Master Attributes tab
Inventory Commodity Code
Inventory Item Master Inventory Container (LPN) - Setup tab