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Defining Lot Numbers for Samples

Siebel Samples Management allows you to define your samples and promotional items according to a number of different implementation scenarios. By specifying certain product settings, you can make Siebel Samples Management suit your company's strategy for inventory tracking and distribution of samples. You can implement samples using lot numbers in the following ways:

• Tracking samples for inventory purposes at a lot level or a sample product level.
• Disbursing some products with lots and others without lots.
• Managing existing samples that have already been distributed and tracked without lot numbers in Siebel Samples Management.
• Using lot numbers for samples creation, transfers, adjustments, orders, and call reporting, but not using lot numbers for inventory and reconciliation. For more information, see Managing Inventory Tracking and Reconciliation Without Lot Numbers.

Before you can track samples by lot number, you must:

• Verify that the Samples Lots Enabled system preference is set to TRUE (the default setting). For more information, see Disabling Lot Number Tracking.
• Define the products that will be disbursed as samples. For more information, see Defining Internal Products.
• Define the lot numbers for each product. For more information, see the procedure To define lot numbers.

If you track disbursements at the lot number level, you may track inventory with or without using lot numbers. For more information on disabling lot number tracking see Disabling Lot Number Tracking. For more information on reconciliation without lot numbers, see Managing Inventory Tracking and Reconciliation Without Lot Numbers and Enabling Inventory Reconciliation Without Lot Numbers.

If you are implementing either full or partial lot number tracking for samples use the following procedure to define the lot numbers associated with those samples. This procedure creates lot number records that are children of the parent sample product record. For more information setting up lot tracking, see Defining Internal Products.

Existing products (that is, products that were previously defined without lot number tracking specified) cannot be tracked by lot number if they exist in any user inventory. To begin tracking lot numbers for an existing product, you must create a new product record with a product name indicating that this product will be tracked by lot number. For example, if the existing product is named Aracid 200, you could name the new product Aracid 200 (Lot).

To define lot numbers

1. Verify that you have specified the correct settings for the products to be disbursed as samples.

   For more information setting up lot tracking, see Defining Internal Products paying specific attention to Table 10 and Table 11.

2. Navigate to the Samples Administration screen > Lot Setup view.
3. In the Lot Setup list, create a new record and complete the necessary fields.

   Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Comments
   Expiration Date	This information can be used for recalls of expired products.
   Effective Start Date	The date of manufacture, the date on which the product was received, or another date defined by your company.
   Lot #	Enter an unique value that corresponds to the lot number printed on the label of the product.
   Inventory By Lot	Check this field if inventory tracking by lot number is required For more information, see Defining Internal Products paying specific attention to Table 10 and Table 11.
   Sample	The name of the product for which this lot number will be affiliated. This field should indicate both product name and dosage. Only products that are set up for lot number tracking appear in the dialog box. For more information, see Defining Internal Products paying specific attention to Table 10 and Table 11.

4. Repeat Step 3 to define other lot numbers.

   NOTE:  Multiple lot numbers can be defined for a sample product, as long as each lot number is unique.

You can also include the lot number in the product name when defining the product. For more information, see Defining Internal Products. However, using this method can make the drop-down lists that users select from very long. Only use this method if the number of products that will be disbursed is small.

Disabling Lot Number Tracking

Lot number tracking for sample products is enabled by default. With lot number tracking enabled, the constraints and data checks described in How Siebel Samples Management Works with Calls and Defining Internal Products become active.

Regardless of whether you have set the Samples Lots Enabled system preference to TRUE or FALSE, samples dispersed with lot numbers should appear in both the Samples History and the Inventory Count views. Thus, even if you decide not to use lot numbers, your samples history is fully recorded.

To disable lot number tracking for samples

• Set the Samples Lots Enabled system preference to FALSE.

  For general information about setting system preferences, see the Siebel Applications Administration Guide.

Setting the Lots for Disperse Only system preference to TRUE allows you to ship samples to users by lot numbers and allows sales representatives to disburse the samples by lot numbers while maintaining and reconciling inventory without lot numbers. To retain sample product visibility, the samples administrator must reconfigure the Siebel repository. For more information, see Managing Inventory Tracking and Reconciliation Without Lot Numbers.

NOTE:  By default, Sample Lots Enabled is set to TRUE and Lots for Disperse Only is set to FALSE. If you do not want to use lot numbers, you can change both of these system preferences, setting Sample Lots Enabled to FALSE and Lots for Disperse Only to FALSE.
Lots for Disperse Only works only when Sample Lots Enabled is set to TRUE. If Sample Lots Enabled is set to FALSE, the system ignores Lots for Disperse Only.