The different ways of selecting inventory for issue and receipt and their effects on inventory are a source of confusion for many Microsoft Dynamics AX users. The common denominator between them all is this: They are all ways that the user specifies exact inventory (specific to dimension) to be issued or received. Below is a brief definition of each function and an example of its use. The examples shown are not the only ways to perform each function in AX, but a simple demonstration of the functionality.
Picking in AX is the process of designating which items will be issued based on storage dimension, such as location, batch or serial. Usually, picking in the system coincides with the business process of picking inventory for inventory issue, such as shipment.
Example:
Sales Order 101278 is for 100 High Definition DVD Players. The DVD Players are stored in more than one Location. The user can pick inventory from the specific location from the Sales Order line by clicking the Inventory button and selecting Pick from the menu.
In the Pick form, you can specify the Location from which to pick in the upper Transactions window before clicking Auto-create or in the lower Pick Now window after clicking Auto-create.
The act of picking reduces the inventory on hand.
Registration is the process of recording a receipt for the purpose of tracking by storage dimension such as location, batch or serial. Usually registration in the system coincides with the business process of recording a receipt, for example, during the receipt of purchased goods.
Example:
Purchase Order 000391 is for 200 Standard Digital Video Recorders. The Recorders are received into a Location called Inbound Dock, and they are stored in Pallets. You can register the receipt of the goods into the location and assign the pallet number from the Purchase Order line by clicking the Inventory button and selecting Registration from the menu.
The resulting Registration form works similarly to the Pick form. You can specify the dimensions related to the receipt. In this example case, the item is tracked by Pallet and Location, so you would enter this information into the Registration form.
The act of registration physically receives the inventory, and it will appear available in the On Hand form.
Transaction showing physical receipt:
On Hand form showing 200 on hand after registration:
Reservation is the process of holding or reserving specific inventory for a particular Sales Order. You can set AX up to reserve inventory automatically (to ensure first come, first served) or you can do it manually from the Sales Order Line. The inventory you reserve can either be on hand or ordered but not yet received.
To manually reserve inventory on the Sales Order Line, click the Inventory button and then Reservation.
To manually reserve inventory on the Sales Order Line, click the Inventory button and then Reservation.
In the Reservation form, you can specify the amount to be reserved.
The act of reserving inventory that is currently on hand reduces the Available Physical inventory in the On Hand inquiry form. If you reserve inventory that is ordered but not yet received, the quantity will appear in the Ordered Reserved field of the On Hand form. Both types of reservation are calculated into the Total available.
Marking is the process of linking an issue transaction to a receipt transaction for the purpose of specifying the lot issued. This will allow you to use the exact cost of the inventory instead of following the costing setup.
Example:
Sales Order 101278 has a line for 100 High Definition DVD Players. This is a purchased part. Instead of charging the usual $133 for this item, the vendor sold it for $123. In order to capture the reduced cost, you want to link the Sales Order with the exact Purchase Order where the unit price was $10 less than normal. This is Purchase Order 000390. You can mark the Purchase Order from the Sales Order form by clicking the Inventory button on the Sales Order line followed by Marking on the menu.
In the Marking form, you can select the receipt by clicking the Set Mark Now checkbox. The transactions against which you can mark are listed by Order type and number.
The act of marking ensures that the cost associated with the receipt is the one recorded with issue. Once the Sales Order is invoiced, you can see that the cost on the transaction is the unit price from the marked Purchase Order.
PO 000390:
Inventory Transactions from Sales Order 101278:
Basically the feature when doing the reservation/marking is the same. However, the way that the transactions are treated afterwards are different.
Ex: if your cost model is FIFO
Reservation
01/06/06 PO1 1 pcs 100$
10/06/06 PO2 1 pcs 200$
21/06/06 SO1 -1 pcs ?
If you have reserved the salesorder against PO2 then the FIFO is calculated as normal, and the costprice going out of the inventory is 100.
Month end inventory value = 200
Marking
01/06/06 PO1 1 pcs 100$
10/06/06 PO2 1 pcs 200$
21/06/06 SO1 -1 pcs ?
If you have marked against PO 2, then the FIFO calculation will treat markings as a 1-1 setting. This means that when closing the inventory the FIFO calculation will not look at the salesorder and PO2, because these have allready been settled. and the cost of the salesorder is 200.
Month end inventory value = 100
This is one of the major differences between marking and reservation.
Also depending on the inventory dimension group, then the system can re-reserve against another lot of the same item, but the system cannot mark against other items automatically.
To summarize quickly, Picking is for Issue, Registration is for Receipt, Reservation is to hold inventory, and Marking is to link a specific receipt to an issue.
