Understanding Production Number Generation

Use the Production Number Master program (P34401) to generate production numbers for use with production controlled items.You can create, edit, copy, and delete production numbers.

The Company, Production Number Type, Item Number, and Date Created fields are mandatory for production number generation. A production number can only be associated with a valid production controlled item.

You select a value from user-defined code (UDC) 34/PT for the Production Number Status field. The system does not perform a validation when you change the production number status from Active to Inactive. The system does not create new sales orders with inactive production numbers. Also, material requirements planning (MRP) does not consider orders associated with inactive production numbers.

When entering dates for production numbers, the date in the Date Created field must be prior to the date in the Date Closed field. Past dates are accepted in both the Date Created and Date Closed fields.

Note: When a production number expires based on the date in the Date Closed field, the status of the production number remains Active. However, you cannot create new sales orders using the expired production number.

Enter a value in the Year field; valid values are 1901 through 2040. If you enter a 2-digit year, the system converts it to 4 digits based on the default value of the CenturyCutOffYear (DCYR) data item.

You use the default value of the CenturyCutOffYear (DCYR) data item to control the century. The default value of 40 for data item DCYR in the Data Dictionary encompasses all years through 2040.

Note: If the default value of data item DCYR is changed, then the same default value change is applied to data item CenturyChangeYear (CENTCHG). Review both values before and after making any changes to validate that these two data items have the same default value.

The value in the Month field can either be blank or in the range of numbers from 01 to 12. You do not use a UDC table to enter values such as JAN, FEB, and MAR.

Note: The asterisk (*) is not allowed in production numbers. The system accepts all other characters for use in production numbers.

When you click the Generate Prod No button or select the Generate Prod No option from the Form menu, the system generates the production number based on the structure definition for the production number type. The generated production number is 30 characters in length, populates the Production Number field, and is editable. The generated production number also includes an appended 10-character production number short at the end.

During production number generation, the system retrieves the value for the Production Number Short (PNS) from the N004 column of the Next Numbers - Automatic table (F0002) for system code 34.

If branch/plant is defined as a segment in the production number, then the system uses the branch/plant specified in the Production Number Master program in production number generation. If month and year are defined as segments in the production number, the system uses the value from the Date Created field in the Production Number Master program.

The system concatenates the actual values for a production number based on the structure definition and then truncates the production number to 20 characters, excluding the production number short. The system displays a message to inform the user of the truncation.

The system issues warnings and highlights segments for which segment values for a particular production number have blank values. If you do not enter values for the blank segments, the system generates a production number with blank segment values and appends the production number short.

For example, the production number structure definition is year, category code 2, and customer. Category code 2 is undefined, and you defined the separator value as /. The system generates the production number as 2011//4242/6029, where 6029 is the production number short from next numbers.

You can modify a production number structure and a production number itself upon creation, but you cannot change the keys of the production number. The primary keys are Company and Production Number Type.

You may edit a production number only when no orders are associated with the production number. If any order is associated with a production number, then the system disables the Production Number field, Generate Prod No button, and Generate Prod No option on the Form menu.

If you change some segment values and regenerate the production number, the system generates the production number based on the new segment values and populates the Production Number field, but the Production Number Short remains the same. If you change the production number type and regenerate the production number, the system creates a new production number but the production number short remains the same.

You can delete a production number if the production number has no sales orders, forecasts, work orders, purchase orders, or inventory (in the F41021T table) associated with it. If the selected production number has sales orders, forecasts, work orders, purchase orders, or inventory (in the F41021T table) associated with it, then the system issues an error and does not delete the record.

The system stores production numbers in the Production Number Master File (F34401) and Production Number Master Tag File (F34401T) tables. Company and Production Number Short are the primary keys to the F34401 table. The order number (DOCO) field is for future use so the field value is set to 0 (zero) for records in the F34401T table.

Note: A production number cannot have a duplicate in the F34401 table even if the production number short has different values. Each production number must be unique.