The batch management functionality enables tracking products with limited shelf life (food, pharmaceutical or cosmetic products etc.) and batches of products:

• in the local stock,

• during the shipping process,

• after they are sold.

If the best-before date (BBD) of an item has expired or is about to expire, you will always know where the item is located. Sorting the stocked items based on their expiration date allows you to prioritize shipping products with the shortest remaining shelf life first.

If you have products in your assortment that can be assigned to specific batches, pixi can manage and track these using the batch number. In the case of production defects, you can target the affected batch and request the return of items from the impacted customers.

When this functionality is enabled, you can use the system tags for Batch Number and Best Before Date in pixi to appropriately label the relevant products. Additionally, scanning of batch numbers and BBD is supported via GS1-128 barcodes, which are either printed directly on the items or provided by the supplier on the delivery note.

Activation of Batch Management

To use the batch management functionality, first assign the Batch Number and/or Best Before Date tags for items that require this information. Whenever you perform a stock movement operation for such items, you are prompted to provide this information. In addition, the batch number and best before date should be provided for shipping these items. You can view the batch number and best before date in Item Information, in the customer order in pixi Customer Service and on the invoice.

pixi supports GS1 codes, which can contain the batch number and best before date. When you use the GS1 code to Scan-In an item, the batch number and best before date are provided automatically.

Batch management functionality and support for GS1 codes is also implemented in pixi POS application. In pixi POS application you are not required to provide information for BN/BBD even for tagged items, if database setting Track BN/BBD in pixi POS is not set to »Yes«. For more information on using batch management POS, check the chapter for POS.

The setting for batch management is located in the pixi Control Center > Database Setting tab > General folder > Enable Batch Management.

Note: Since batch management is a billable module which can be added to the standard feature set of pixi, please contact Descartes pixi Support to enable the functionality.

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Add Batch Number and/or Best Before Date for Items

Depending on the functionality that you are using (tracking of batches or best before dates), items should be tagged with system tags Batch number and/or Best before date. Tagged items can be imported in pixi or you can manually assign tags to items in pixi. See also: Add or Remove Item Tags

For items with Batch Number and/or Best Before Date tags assigned, you must provide this information for every stock movement operation (put to stock or take from stock) in the pixi Inventory application. If you have items already on stock before enabling the functionality, you can add the information by doing a complete inventory. But this is not necessary if it would take too much time: if the information about best before date or batch number is missing, you are asked at Scan-In to enter it manually. We recommend doing an inventory to enable complete traceability within your warehouse.

When you scan-in an item with the pixi Inventory application, which requires batch number and/or best before date, you are prompted to provide the necessary information:

Depending on the functionality you wish to use, items must be assigned the appropriate system tag for Batch Number and/or Best Before Date. Specifically:

• The system tag Batch Number is used for batches/batch numbers

• The system tag Best Before Date is used for the best-before date

Items labeled with these tags can be imported into pixi, or you can assign the tags manually within pixi.

For new items marked with the tag for Best Before Date and/or Batch Number, you must provide this information during every stock movement within the pixi warehouse.

If you already have items in stock that are not yet assigned this information, you must first remove and then re-store (put to stock) these items. During the put to stock process, you will be prompted to enter the values.
If you skip this step and assign the BBD and/or Batch tags without actually entering values, this can lead to issues during stock transfers using pixi Mobile.

Note: If the item has a GS1-128 barcode, this information is automatically transferred to pixi. Manual entry or selection is then not required.

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Printing GS1 codes

You are able to print GS1-128 barcodes from pixi Bin Client, Control Center, Customer Client, Returns, Shipping, Delivery and POS Clients in Item Info > Batch and Best Before Date tab.

1. Open Item Info > Batch and Best Before Date tab.

2. Select the line with the corresponding bin, batch number or best before date.

3. Select an option from the Print Barcode button drop-down:

   • Single label to print a single label for the item.

   • Print line qty to print multiple labels (the number of items in that line).

The printed label consists of the GS1 barcode as well as the item name, batch number and best before date as text below the barcode. When printing GS1 barcodes, the item name is wrapped into several lines. You can define how many characters are printed in each row with the database setting 'GS1 Barcode Wrap Length' in pixi Control Center > Database Settings tab > Barcodes folder.

Note: The GS1 standard for EAN codes is 14 characters. If an EAN code in pixi contains 13 characters or less, the button for printing the GS1 code is disabled.

pixi GS1 Default Template

To configure the default template for printing GS1 barcodes, the tab "Mails (old)" needs to be visible in pixi Customer Service. By clicking on "Templates" (next to the subject field of the e-mail detail), you can access the template. If you cannot access the tab "Mails (old)" please contact pixi Support for the adaption of the template.

pixi GS1 default template [ZBRGS1]:

N
q800
B20,50,0,1E,1,0,100,N,"%GS1Barcode%"
A20,150,0,2,1,1,N,"%Barcode% %BestBeforeDate% %BatchNumber%"
A20,170,0,2,1,1,N,"%ItemName%"
P1

Length and height of the printed barcode can be adjusted. The maximum length for the GS1 code is 2; if higher values are inserted, the code is not fully printed on the label (B20,50,0,1E,2,0,100,N,"%GS1Barcode%").

AI Codes	Description	Länge (ohne AI)
00	Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) - Nummer der Versandeinheit (NVE), a unique identifier to identify a shipping unit	18
01	Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) of the trading unit	14
02	GTIN of Contained Trade Items - GTIN the included trading units wihina transportation unit	14
10	Batch/Lot Number - Lotnumber/Batch number	variabel bis zu 20
15	Best Before Date (YYMMDD) - DE: Mindesthaltbarkeitsdatum (JJMMTT)	6

The following application identifier values are recognized at Scan-In in case of batch management functionality:

For example:

• (AI)GTIN-13(AI)MHD(AI)Chargennummer

• (02)25000000000012(15)120930(10)Batchnr12

  • (AI)GTIN-13(AI)MHD

  • (02)25000000000012(15)120930

    • (AI)GTIN-13(AI)MHD(AI)Chargennummer

    • (02)25000000000012(10)Batchnr12

Info: The brackets shown in the example are not shown when printing the barcode. They are only there for a better display. A correct GS1 barcode with BBD and Batch Nr. will look like this: 02250000000000121512093010Batchnr12

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Shipping

Create a picklist

When you create a picklist in the pixi Shipping application for items with Batch number tag, and Best before date tag, the tags are checked. In case the same item is located in different bins, the picklist is split. For the same item the picklist is created for each bin separately in order to prevent that you need to search a certain best before date or batch number within one bin and assure correct stock reduction.

Example: A customer orders item A with quantity 35. The item is on bin place 1-2 with quantity 33 and on bin place 1-3 with quantity 2. If you create a picklist for this customer order, it is split in two parts and you get the message: "Picklist was split into multiple picklists to ensure proper batch management. It is recommended to process these connected picklists in a single picking operation."

The picklist log displays the reason for splitting a picklist, and in the Comment column (pixi Shipping application, Picklists tab) you can view which picklists need to be completed to ship the customer order completely.

Please be careful and do not mix the items of the different bin places and scan them separately at Scan-In according to their picklist number. Otherwise it can happen that the stock is not reduced properly.

Detailed example to explain the picklist splitting:

Item A is on 2 different bin places with mixed batches:

3 items have to be picked. The Picklist contains now the following items to pick:

If all items are picked within just one picklist, the following scenario can happen:

By accident the picker takes batch BN2 from bin plac B instead of BN1, i.e. the actual picking process results in the following items:

At Scan-In the last picked item is now scanned first, because it is on top of the pile of items in the trolley, i.e. batch BN2 from bin place B is scanned first. But the picklist had batch BN2 reserved for bin place A, i.e. the batch BN2 from bin place A is reduced from stock. Therefore the stock was reduced on the wrong bin place, because the actual item with BN2 that was picked from bin place A was not scanned.

That is the reason why pixi splits the picklist - so it is clear from which bin place a certain batch was picked:

Picklist - Part 1:

Picklist - Part 2:

The picked items mustn't be mixed on the way to the Scan-In station. Scan first the Picklist Nr. 1, then the two items, then Picklist Nr. 2 and then the last item. Even if the picker picked the wrong batch, pixi can still reduce the stock from the correct bin place - therefore it is not necessary to search for a certain batch number on the bin while picking.

This example is a simplified explanation of the basic logic. If you expand this by more items, bigger stock quantities and a lot of different batches per item, it gets clear that the picklist splitting is needed to prevent wrong stock in pixi. The example is also valid for items with a best before date.

When you view the details for a customer order in the Item Info, the table lists order details for all connected picklists. In case of a split picklist, the same order is displayed for each connected picklist and the Picklist Qty column displays the quantity of the selected item on a picklist:

There is a picklist parameter available. Selecting BBD is valid for at least x days allows you to ship out items which have a guaranteed shelf life for at least the amount of days you enter in the parameter value.

Items on the picklist are considered according to their BBDs. Items which have the closest BBDs are put on the picklist first. The other items are arranged in an ascending manner, according to the proximity of their BBD. A new picklist template was added, in order to print batch number and best before date of items to pick on the picklist. With the parameter selected, items which have a shorter BBD than the one defined, are prevented from being on the picklist. For items with the same BBD the existing SortBy parameter is used to define the order by which items are put on picklist. At Scan-In it is then checked if best before date of the scanned item is valid according to the parameter value.

Note: If Best Before date parameter is 0, expired items are not prevented from being on the picklist. The same applies to picklists for which the BBD function is not enabled. In that case even items without a BBD are put on picklist.

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Scan-In

pixi Desktop Scan-In

1. Start pixi Shipping application and select SCAN IN tab.

2. Scan-In item barcode. Enter Item Data window pops up.

   1. If all items of one binplace have the same best before date and/or batch number, the information is not requested at Scan-In. The values are entered automatically.

   2. If you scan items that are labeled with a GS1-128 barcode, pixi takes the available information for batch numbers and/or best before dates automatically. The pop-up window for entering item data only appears, if it's needed, e.g. if the item also requires a serial number.

3. Enter Serial number and/or Batch number and/or Best before date.
   
   
   

4. Click OK.

When using the picklist parameter BBD is valid for at least x days, the following special behavior occurs at Scan-In:

• If BBD is greater than or equal to "current date + X days" then item is put to box.

• If BBD is smaller than "current date + X days", an error message is shown ("MHD nicht zulässig" - BBD is not valid), and the item is not put to the box.

Notes:
- If there is old stock in the Bin, you can enter any batch number and/or best before date to reduce old stock on Scan-In.
- With direct Scan-In the stock is not reduced. Information for the batch number and best before date must be entered manually to assure traceability of the shipped items.

pixi Web Scan-In

1. Launch the web application, log in, and navigate to Scan-In under Logistics.

   1. Scan the item barcode. The Enter Item Data window will appear.
      If all items on a storage location share the same Best Before Date and/or the same Batch Number, no entry for BBD or batch will be requested during Scan-In — the values will be filled in automatically.

   2. If you scan an item that includes a GS1-128 barcode, pixi automatically retrieves the required data for Batch Number and/or Best Before Date.
      The Enter Item Data window will only appear when necessary.

2. (Optional) Now enter the serial number, batch number, and/or best before date as needed.

When using the picklist parameter “BBD expires in at least X days”, the following specifics apply for Scan-In:

• If the Best Before Date (BBD) of the scanned item is greater than or equal to today’s date + X days, the item can be placed in the box.

• If the BBD is earlier than today’s date + X days, you will receive an error message: “BBD not permitted”, and the item cannot be placed in the box.

Notes:

• If there are still items in your stock that are not yet assigned a Best Before Date and/or Batch Number, you can manually enter this information during Scan-In. pixi will reduce the stock quantity accordingly.

• In Direct Scan-In, stock levels are not reduced, but BBD and batch information must still be entered manually to ensure traceability of shipped items.

• If BBD and batch tracking is deactivated in pixi, item tags are not considered, and you cannot enter this information during Scan-In.

Direct invoice printing is not possible for orders that include items tagged with Serial Number, Best Before Date, or Batch Number.
You will receive a warning as soon as the affected order or order line is selected, or when using the assistant for direct invoice printing. This ensures that no orders are shipped without the necessary BBD, batch, or serial number information.Starting with pixi ELI Official: Direct invoice printing is now also supported for items with Serial Number, Batch Number, or Best Before Date tags — provided the database setting “Direct invoice printing, do not reduce stock” is enabled
(pixi Control Center > Database Settings > Invoices).

Mobile Data Capturing

pixi also supports Best Before Date and Batch Number management using mobile data collection devices.

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pixi Customer Service

After entering the best before date and/or batch number at Scan-In, they are visible in pixi Customer Service for the concerning order:

1. Open pixi Customer Service > Orders tab > Items tab.

2. Check values in the columns Batch number and Best before date:
   
   
   

3. Open pixi Customer Service > Invoices tab.

4. Check values in the columns Batch number and Best before date:
   
   

Values in the columns are displayed when you create a replacement for the item with the Batch number and/or Best before date tag:

Values in the columns are displayed when you return an item with the Batch number and/or Best before date tag in Returns Wizard:

Notes:
- Values are displayed when the Scan-In for the tagged item is done.
- If the functionality is disabled, columns are not displayed in grids.
- If you don't see columns, you have to reset the interface in Menu bar > Tools > Reset Interface.

Additionally, the search in Customer Service was extended by parameters for batch number and best before date:

• You can use the existing filter for serial numbers and also for searching for batch numbers.

• If you select the checkbox "Date", you can select the best before date from the dropdown. Enter the concerning date range and click on "Search".
  
  

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Invoice Template

You can add Batch number and Best before date variables on the invoice template:

Item Search

In various pixi applications, items can be searched using the GS1-128 code. pixi automatically interprets the code correctly and searches only for the 13-digit barcode associated with the item in the database.

The item search using the GS1-128 code is supported in the following applications:

• pixi Web Item Management

• pixi Shipping

• pixi Customer Service

Take Items with “Best before date expired”

1. Open pixi Inventory and select Take from Stock (F6).

2. Select BN/BBD, if item is tagged with such tag

3. Window Stock Movement pops up:
   
   
   

4. Select “Best before date expired”.

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POS

To enable complete functionality for Batch management, the following settings need to be configured:

• To allow selling from all bins and to ensure that tracking of BN/BBD is not needed, POS Location in pixi Control Center > Locations table needs to be set by pixi Support.

• Database setting Track BN/BBD in pixi POS is added in pixi Control Center > Database Settings tab > POS folder. This setting defines if batch numbers and best before dates have to be entered if a tagged item is added to an invoice in pixi POS application when batch management functionality is enabled. The following options are possible:

  • “No – Use general bin”: Batch number and best before date don’t have to be entered for tagged items; you have to set a general bin and return bin in pixi POS settings to define where items are released from stock. It is not possible to use several bins for selling via pixi POS application. If POS settings are not set, POS can’t be started, warning message is shown.

  • “No – Use separate location”: Batch number and best before date don’t have to be entered for tagged items; you have to set POS Location in pixi Control Center > Locations table. If this option is selected, batch numbers and best before dates are not tracked for the whole POS location. If POS location is not set, POS can’t be started, warning message is shown.

  • “Yes”: Batch number and best before date have to be entered/scanned for tagged items. Therefore it is possible to pick items from all available bin places.

Important: You must stop all running POS sessions before you enable Batch management.

Note: By default database setting Track BN/BBD in pixi POS is set to “No – Use general bin”.

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Tracking of BN/BBD for sold items in pixi POS

Add normal item to POS Invoice

1. Create new POS invoice.

2. Add item with tag BN/BBD to invoice:

   • Scan normal EAN code or add from item search (BN/BBD needs to be entered).

   • Scan GS1-128 code, if an item with such code is found only in one bin, it’s automatically added to the Invoice. If such a record doesn’t exist, a warning is shown and the item is not added to the Invoice. If some data is missing in GS1-128 code for this item, data is prefilled and filtered automatically for that BN/BBD in step 4.

3. Change quantity if needed.

4. Pop-up window opens which shows grid with available BN/BBDs for that item in the bins from used POS location:

   1. Select items with different BN/BBD, if no data is entered for BN/BBD.

   2. Enter BN/BBD, records are filtered according to inserted BN/BBD when you click Refresh.
      
      

   
   

5. Enter concerning quantity for the BN/BBDs that will be sold – stock is reduced according to selection.

6. New line is added to invoice for each selected record.

Add bundle item to POS Invoice

1. Create new POS invoice.

2. Add bundle item where at least one bundled item has BN/BBD tag:

   • Scan normal EAN code or add from item search

   • GS1-128 code can’t be used, since bundles don’t have stock.

3. Change quantity if needed.

4. Pop-up window which shows grid with items from bundle opens and OK button is disabled. BN/BBD icon is shown next to tagged item, for such items, bins, BN/BBD needs to be selected.
   
   
   

5. Click Change Bin to select bin, BN/BBD for tagged item.

6. Pop-up window which shows grid with available BN/BBDs for that item in the bins from used POS location opens:

   1. Select items with different BN/BBD, if no data is entered for BN/BBD.

   2. Enter BN/BBD, records are filtered according to inserted BN/BBD when you click Refresh.

7. Enter quantity for the BN/BBDs that will be sold – stock is reduced according to selection.

8. Selected bins and BN/BBD are inserted in pop-up for bundle item. When all needed data is inserted for tagged items, OK button is enabled.

9. New line with bundle items is added to invoice.

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Display Bin information

In pop-up Bin Info (Display Bin information – show picked info) columns BN and BBD are visible to check which BN/BBD for items have been put on the Invoice.

POS Invoice and POS Invoice Picklist

New variables for BN and BBD are available for the POS graphical ("BatchNumber" and "BestBeforeDate") and the POS text invoice template (<BATCH_NUMBER,nn>, <BEST_BEFORE_DATE>).

The “POS Invoice Picklist” template needs to be edited by pixi Support in pixi Report Editor > POS folder.

Reports

Display Ordered Items with Batch Number and Best Before Date Tags

In the pixi Reports you can access a report to track all ordered items with best before date and/or batch number. This report gives an overview over ordered items with TAGs for batch number or best before date. You have the possibility to search for orders and order lines with specific status. By using the parameter to select a date range you can filter the results of the report for a certain time frame. Additionally it is possible to show only orders or ordered items with specific batch number or best before date.

1. Open pixi Report and select Standard Reports > Logistics: Ordered Items with Batch Number and Best Before Date tags report.

2. Set filters to display report according to ordered date or to display specific items with the same batch numbers, best before dates, EAN, external order number or statuses.

Items in stock without information for BN/BBD

This report shows all items with TAGs for batch number or best before date that are currently on stock but information for batch number or best before date was not entered, yet. Therefore you can get an overview for which items this information still has to be entered, so that you can fully track a specific batch number or best before date over the whole internal logistics process from supplier delivery to Ship Out. It is possible to filter by location to show only items and their bin places on a specific location.

1. Open pixi Report and select Standard Reports > Logistics: Items on stock without information for BN/BBD report.

2. Select the location and click Load.

Items on stock with BN/BBD

Report Items on stock with BN/BBD is available in pixi Reports > Standard reports > folder Logistics. This report shows all items with TAGs for batch number or best before date that are currently on stock. It is possible to filter according to a certain time frame for best before date so that you can check which items on which bin places will expire soon. If you want to check the items with a specific batch number use the filter parameter for batch number. Filters for location and bin group allow to get a list of items for specific areas in your warehouse, TAG, category and supplier for a specific set of items.

Stock Movements for Items with BN/BBD

Report Stock Movements for Items with BN/BBD is available in pixi Reports > Standard reports > folder Logistics. This report shows the history of stock movements per bin and item with TAG for batch number and/ or best before date in custom time frame. With the different filter parameters you have the possibility to see stock movements of a certain location or stock movement type. Additionally you can select a user and the report will show you all stock movements of items that were made by one of your employees. Supplier price is from the time of the stock movement. Column "Summe EK" displays supplier price multiplied by moved stock quantity.

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