Generating a Physical Inventory (MGPI)
Purpose: The Physical Inventory table contains the item/locations that are being counted during a physical inventory, and the perpetual count (on-hand quantity) for the item/location at the time the physical inventory is generated. This table is used to:
• record the item quantities that are counted in each location
• compare the quantity counted to the on-hand quantity
• update the system with the new count information
When you create a physical inventory, you can include:
• all item/locations in the warehouse or in all warehouses
• item/locations in selected zones and aisles only
• items that have specific status codes assigned to them
• items assigned to specific cycles if you are cycle counting.
You can also specify a maximum number of item/locations to count. If you do not set a limit, item/locations that meet all of the selected criteria are included.
In addition to generating the physical inventory:
• You can also print the Physical Inventory Batch Work Sheet or each Physical Inventory Ticket for use in recording the physical counts for each item/location. You can group the worksheets in batches or by item/location and you can control the number of item/locations that are included in each batch, based on how you have set the related fields in the System Control table. See Printing Batch Sheets or Tickets for more information on batching, or Setting Up Inventory Values for more information on inventory system control values.
• The system prints the PI Batch Listing, which lists the batches that were generated as part of the physical inventory.
You can have only one physical inventory job in process at a time.
Note: The Physical Inventory Generation (A04) secured feature controls access to this menu option.
In this topic:
• Generate Physical Inventory Screen
• Printing Physical Inventory Worksheets
• Physical Inventory Batch Work Sheet
• Printing Physical Inventory Tickets
For more information: See Generating the Physical Inventory for more information on the processing the system performs when generating a physical inventory.
Generate Physical Inventory Screen
Purpose: Use this screen to generate the physical inventory for the warehouses, locations, item types, or cycles to be counted.
Each physical inventory you generate is assigned a control number. If you use the batching feature, separate batch numbers are assigned as well. The system may also print worksheets or tickets for use in recording inventory counts depending on your settings at the Physical Inventory Values (C15) or Physical Inventory Values (Screen 2) in the System Control table.
How to display this screen: Enter MGPI in the Fast path field or select Generate Physical Inventory File from a menu.
Field |
Description |
Date |
The date you generate the physical inventory. The system date defaults. Overriding this date is not currently implemented. Numeric, 6 positions (MMDDYY format); required. |
The warehouse where the physical inventory is taking place. The Default Warehouse (A04) defaults but you can override it. Warehouse codes are defined in and validated against the Warehouse table; see Creating and Maintaining Warehouses (WWHS). To include all item/locations in the physical inventory, enter a warehouse code and leave the other fields on this screen blank. If you leave the warehouse field blank, you will generate a physical inventory for all eligible warehouses. Numeric, 3 positions, optional. |
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Specify Locations: |
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The zones to include in the physical inventory. Zone codes are defined in and validated against the Location table for the warehouse; see Creating and Maintaining Locations (WLOC). Alphanumeric, ten 1-position fields, optional; required if entering a range of aisles. |
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The range of aisles to include in the physical inventory. You can enter a range of aisles only if you define one or more zones. You must enter a From and To aisle. The From Aisle must be less than or equal to the To Aisle. Alphanumeric, two 2-position fields; optional. |
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The range of locations to include in the physical inventory. You can enter a range of locations only if you define a warehouse. Location codes are defined in and validated against the Location table; see Creating and Maintaining Locations (WLOC). You must enter a To and From location. The From Location must be less than or equal to the To Location. If you enter a range of locations, you cannot specify a zone or range of aisles. Alphanumeric, two 7-position fields; optional. |
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The status of the items you want to count. Status codes are defined in and validated against the Item Status table (see Working with Item Status (WIST)), and assigned to items in the Status field in the Item table. Item selection used flag: When you generate a physical inventory by item status or cycle count, the system sets the Item Selection Used field in the Physical Inventory Batch table to Y. When this field is Y and you enter counts using RF Physical Inventory by multiple item, the system places any counts for an item location that was not part of the generated physical inventory in an error status and includes the item locations in error on the Physical Inventory Scan Errors Report. See Entering RF Physical Inventory Counts by Multiple Item in RF Physical Inventory for more information. Alphanumeric, twenty 1-position fields; optional. |
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The cycles to include in the physical inventory. Entering a cycle code limits the physical inventory to item/locations for items whose Cycle field is set to that code. The item/locations will be included only if you have not performed a physical inventory for the location for that cycle period. The system compares the physical inventory generation date against the Last physical date defined for the Item Location and uses the Days defined for the cycle code to determine which item/locations for an item assigned to the cycle code to include in the physical inventory. • If the number of days between the physical inventory generation date and the Last physical date for the item/location is equal to or greater than the number of days defined for the cycle code, the system includes the item/location in the physical inventory count. Example: If the physical inventory generation date is 9/14, the last physical date is 9/6, and the cycle days is 7, the system includes the item/location in the physical inventory count (9/14 - 9/6 = 8 days, which is greater than the 7 cycle days. • If the number of days between the physical inventory generation date and the Last physical date for the item/location is less than the number of days defined for the cycle code, the system does not include the item/location in the physical inventory count. Example: If the physical inventory generation date is 9/14, the last physical date is 9/8, and the cycle days is 7, the system does not include the item/location in the physical inventory count (9/14 - 9/8 = 6 days, which is less than the 7 cycle days. Cycle codes are defined in and validated against the Cycle Code table. See Working with Item Cycles (WICY). Note: These fields display only if the Cycle Counting (A06) system control value is selected. See Working with Item Cycles (WICY) for an overview, required setup, and an example of generating a physical inventory by item cycle. |
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Item selection used flag: When you generate a physical inventory by item status or cycle count, the system sets the Item Selection Used field in the Physical Inventory Batch table to Y. When this field is Y and you enter counts using RF Physical Inventory by multiple item, the system places any counts for an item location that was not part of the generated physical inventory in an error status and includes the item locations in error on the Physical Inventory Scan Errors Report. See Entering RF Physical Inventory Counts by Multiple Item in RF Physical Inventory for more information. Alphanumeric, ten 2-position fields; optional. |
The maximum number of item/locations to include in the physical inventory. Specifying a maximum number of items to count limits the physical inventory to the first n item/locations that meet all of the criteria on the screen. If you use LPNs, the number of LPNs included may exceed the number of item/locations you enter here; see the LPN Tracking (E16) system control value. Numeric, 5 positions; optional. |
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A user-defined control number that you can assign to a physical inventory for tracking purposes. Once you complete the physical inventory, the update program saves this control ID as the ID # field for each inventory transaction history record created through a physical inventory update. You can review the ID # at the Inventory Transaction History Screen (2 of 2). It is also included on the Inventory Transaction History Report. Alphanumeric, 10 positions; required if the Populate Physical Inventory Audit Table (L19) system control value is selected. |
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Indicates whether to delete LPN records associated with the item/locations in the physical inventory from the system before generating the physical inventory. You would generally use LPNs to track cases of inventory in your warehouse if you use radio frequency devices; see Radio Frequency Overview. Valid values are: • Selected = Delete LPN records associated with the item/locations in the physical inventory. The system also deletes any LPN records that are associated with an invalid item location. This allows you to rebuild the LPN table when you enter or upload counts. If you select this option, the system displays a Confirm Delete window when you select Accept; select OK to confirm the delete or select Exit to cancel the physical inventory. Note: Entering RF Physical Inventory Counts by LPN allows you to create new LPNs as you enter counts. • Unselected (default) = Do not clear the LPN table of records associated with the item/locations in the physical inventory. |
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Instructions: Only item/locations that meet all of the selection criteria defined are included in the physical inventory.
1. Accept the system date for the physical inventory or enter a new date.
2. Define the Warehouse where you are performing the physical inventory.
3. Use the Zones, Range of aisles, Range of locations, Select item statuses, Select cycle counts, and Maximum number of item locations to count fields to limit the number of item/locations included in the physical inventory.
4. Optionally, select the Clear LPN file before generate field to delete LPN records associated with the item/locations in the physical inventory. If you select this option, the system displays a Confirm Delete window when you select Accept; select OK to confirm the delete or select Exit to cancel the physical inventory.
5. If the Populate Physical Inventory Audit Table (L19) system control value is selected, you must enter a Control ID.
6. Select Accept to generate the physical inventory and, if applicable, the batch sheets or tickets to use for the counts. The fields are cleared from the screen.
7. Enter information for another warehouse, or select Exit.
For more information: See Generating the Physical Inventory for more information on the processing the system performs when generating a physical inventory.
Printing Physical Inventory Worksheets
Purpose: Physical Inventory Worksheets (see Physical Inventory Batch Work Sheet example) are used to record the item quantities counted during the physical inventory. You can enter the physical counts recorded on the sheets using Entering Physical Counts by Worksheets (MPIE), RF Physical Inventory, or you can upload the counts from an external system; see Uploading Physical Counts (MPIU).
You can set the System Control table to produce inventory worksheets that include a specific number of items on each sheet, a separate sheet for each location regardless of the number of items, or a separate sheet for each zone/aisle combination regardless of the number of items.
Inventory worksheets print when you generate the physical inventory.
• Batch sheets for the first count print if the File Generation Output (A09) system control value is SHEET.
• Location sheets for the first count print if the File Generation Output (A09) system control value is LOCATION.
• Zone/aisle sheets for the first count print if the File Generation Output (A09) system control value is AISLE.
In all cases, the Entry Method (A01) system control value must be SHEET. You should unselect the Upload Counts field to have the system produce sheets automatically. See Physical Inventory Overview.
You can print worksheets for the second and final counts through Entering Physical Counts by Worksheets (MPIE).
You can also print or reprint worksheets through Reprinting Batch Sheets or Tickets (RPIF).
Note: If you use LPNs to manage your inventory (see Radio Frequency Overview), the system prints each LPN separately. LPNs sharing the same item/location appear in numeric sequence by LPN on the batch worksheets. Item/locations not associated with an LPN (LPN = 0) appear first.
File generation output? |
Assign batch numbers? |
Batch Inventory Worksheets Results |
SHEET |
Y |
Item/locations appear in alphanumeric sequence by location code, then item code, then by the Sort sequence number for the SKU. Page breaks by location type and batch quantity (specified in the Batch size system control value). Batches may be split across sheets. If a batch splits across sheets because of different location types, the sheets within the batch appear in location type sequence (PRIMARY, SECONDARY, BULK, then TEMPORARY). |
SHEET |
N |
Item/locations appear in location type sequence (PRIMARY, SECONDARY, BULK, then TEMPORARY), then alphanumeric sequence by location code, then alphanumeric sequence by item code, then by the Sort sequence number for the SKU. Page breaks by size of batch sheet and location type, but not by location code. |
LOCATION |
Y |
Item/locations appear in alphanumeric sequence by location code, then item code, then by the Sort sequence number for the SKU. Page breaks by location and batch quantity. Batches are not split across sheets. A blank sheet appears between each batch sheet. |
LOCATION |
N |
Item/locations appear in location type sequence (PRIMARY, SECONDARY, BULK, then TEMPORARY), then alphanumeric sequence by location code, then alphanumeric sequence by item code, then by the Sort sequence number for the SKU. Page breaks by size of batch sheet and location code. |
AISLE |
Y |
Item/locations appear in zone/aisle sequence, then alphanumeric sequence by item code, then by the Sort sequence number for the SKU. Page breaks by size of batch sheet and zone/aisle. |
AISLE |
N |
Item/locations appear in location type sequence (PRIMARY, SECONDARY, BULK, then TEMPORARY), then alphanumeric sequence by location code, then alphanumeric sequence by item code, then by the Sort sequence number for the SKU. Page breaks by size of batch sheet and location code. |
Printing Physical Inventory Tickets
Purpose: Physical Inventory Tickets (see Physical Inventory Ticket sample) are used to record the item quantities counted during the physical inventory. You enter the physical counts recorded on the tickets through Entering Physical Counts by Tickets (MPIE), RF Physical Inventory, or you can upload the counts from an external system; see Uploading Physical Counts (MPIU).
The tickets for the first count print when you generate the physical inventory if both Entry Method (A01) and the File Generation Output (A09) system control values are set to Tickets. You can print tickets for the second and final counts through Entering Physical Counts by Tickets (MPIE) or Reprinting Batch Sheets or Tickets (RPIF); however, you must use the Enter Physical Inventory Count function the first time you generate tickets for a count.
When you use tickets, a separate ticket prints for each item/location to be counted as part of the physical inventory. The tickets print in alphanumeric sequence by location code, then by the Collating sequence # assigned to the item in the SKU table.
You can group your tickets into batches and indicate the number of tickets to include in each batch, if desired. The batches do not break by location type or code. You define the number of item/locations (tickets) that each batch will contain in the Batch Size (A08) system control value. The physical counts can be entered, analyzed, and updated separately for each batch.
Note: If you use LPNs to manage your inventory (see Radio Frequency Overview), each LPN appears on a separate ticket. LPNs sharing the same item/location appear in numeric sequence. Item/locations not associated with an LPN (LPN = 0) appear first.
