8.14: Inventory Blocking (SCM P1 M8L14)

Inventory blocking is part of the quality inspection process. During the quality inspection, items are automatically blocked from consumption or issue. Also, you can manually block items that you want to prevent from being issued or consumed.

You can block inventory items in three ways:

• Manually
• By creating a quality order
• By using a process that generates a quality order

Block Items Manually

You can block a quantity of an item by creating a transaction in the Inventory blocking form. Only items that are available as on-hand inventory can be blocked.

For manually blocked quantities, you must consider if expected receipts should be included in planning activities as an expected on-hand quantity. Expected receipts are blocked items that are expected to be available as on-hand inventory after inspection. For items that are blocked through a quality order, the Expected receipts check box is selected by default.

You can cancel blocking of a manually blocked quantity by deleting the transaction in the Inventory blocking form.

Procedure: Manually Blocking Items

To manually block items, follow these steps:

1. Click Inventory management > Periodic > Inventory blocking.

Figure 8.6 INVENTORY BLOCKING form

1. Click New to create a new blocking transaction.
2. In the Item number field, select the item that you want to block.
3. In the Quantity field, enter the quantity that you want to block.
4. If you want to include the blocked quantity in planning activities as an expected on-hand quantity, select the Expected receipts check box.

NOTE: If the item that you want to block has a specific serial number as indicated on the Inventory dimensions FastTab, you can only block a quantity of one.

To manually unblock inventory items, follow these steps:

1. Click Inventory management > Periodic > Inventory blocking.
2. Select the blocking transaction for the inventory items that you want to unblock and then click Delete.

Block Items by Creating a Quality Order

You can specify items for inspection by creating a quality order in the Quality orders form. When you create a quality order, the quantity of an item that you specify is blocked.

NOTE: The sampling plan that is associated with a quality order controls the quantity of an item that should be inspected. The quantity of blocked items, on the other hand, is not controlled by the sampling plan. Regardless of the quantity that is sent for inspection, as specified by the sampling plan, the quantity of the item that is entered on the quality order is the quantity that is blocked.

Block Items by a Process that Generates a Quality Order

A quantity of an item that is specified for inspection through a quality process is automatically blocked. Therefore, when a quality order is generated automatically, the item sampling plan that is associated with the quality order controls the quantity of items that are blocked and not only the quantity of items to be inspected.

NOTE: If the Full blocking check box in the Item sampling form is selected, the full quantity of, for example, a purchase order line is blocked during inspection regardless of the item sampling quantity.

Example: Inventory Blocking

In the following example, a quality order is generated when a purchase order packing slip is posted. In the Quality associations form, posting of a purchase order packing slip is specified as the process that activates the quality order.

Procedure: Automatic Blocking Setup

When you work with inventory blocking, you must consider the following setup options.

• Determine whether you want to block the full quantity of items in transactions that are covered by a sampling plan.
• Examine if you want to consider expected receipts for manually blocked items.

To set up a sampling plan, follow these steps:

1. Click Inventory management > Setup > Quality control > Item sampling.
2. Click New to create a new sampling plan and fill in information about the sampling plan.
3. Select the Full blocking check box if you want to block the full quantity of items in transactions that are covered by the sampling plan.

Consider expected receipts for manually blocked items

1. Click Inventory management > Periodic > Inventory blocking.
2. Click New to create a new blocking transaction, complete the information about the transaction, and select the Expected receipts check box.