Growers

Purpose

To provide a method of entering product harvested from a specific location, track it and receive it into On-Hand Inventory for sale.

Workflow

A typical workflow would be:

1. There are two basic workflows considered for this process:
   1. Product is picked from the greenhouses/fields and entered in this program as a batch to be adjusted after the grading process or
   2. Product is picked and moved to the packing house for grading, tally sheets created and entered as a batch identifying the source.
2. Products are finished, in containers and grouped onto rolling tables to await transportation to the warehouse for sale to customers
3. Labels can be printed prior to product arriving at the warehouse to save time during the processing procedure.
4. The only report needed when posting is summary quantity of product by grade posted to on-hand inventory.

Overview

A grower may have several remote farm locations with, or without, internet access. The process will be for the farm locations to submit batches of products during the day and the next morning before the product arrives in the warehouse. If there is no Internet connection, then the batches may be entered in once they arrive at the warehouse and graded by the receiving warehouse personnel.

A printed list of each batch will be checked for product quality and adjust the number of stems entered if the batches were submitted by the pickers.

 

Step 1: The Batch Entry Screen 

The Batch Entry Screen is the starting point for this process.

 

Batch # is the current batch number and will automatically increment as new batches are added.  This cannot be changed.

Lot # is automatically assigned for each picker.

Date will automatically fill in with today’s date, and cannot be changed.

Source is the farm the product has been harvested from.  As a pre-requisite, you must enter the farm names into the Source Maintenance Table, and the Batch Entry column box must be checked.  The Source Maintenance Table is accessed through the Vendor Menu:

 

 

Picker is the person who is inputting the data

The Category, Sub-Category, Subset, Product Code Search and Description Search filters are to help locate the items being harvested so quantity may be entered.

Only Load Batch Entries checkbox will filter out and display only the items that have had quantities added to them when checked.

The inventory item’s cost is captured from the inventory item as either “landed costs or WAC” based on the System Control settings.

 

Step 2: Entering a batch of product

The Batch Entry screen is used to enter a batch of product picked in the field, sorted and graded.  A list of product variety/grade is made and entered. The filters are used to reduce the number of products on the screen to simplify entry of flowers harvested.

 

Using the filters, we are showing all the Callas with “hot” in the description to select/enter in the quantity that has been harvested.  Before the batches are entered into the system, the farm staff will grade the product and remove low quality products from the batch.

The picker will select the source farm from the drop-down list and will enter in their name.  They can then select the category, sub-category, and subset to narrow down the results.  They can also zero in on one specific item by using the product code or description search.

All flowers entered on this screen will be associated with one batch (Lot#).  The “DONE” button on the screen is used to complete the process which will start a new batch.

At the bottom of the QTY column you will see the accumulated total QTY entered.

Multiple product entries can be “saved” while entering without completing the batch. The batch will not be considered complete until the user clicks the “Done” button.

All records written within the batch will be assigned the same lot number.

All items in the batch can be edited until the point that the batch is marked as done.

Editing will allow the following:

1. Changing the quantity associated with an item in the lot.
2. Deleting an item in the lot.

The batches are sent down to the warehouse electronically, if there is Internet connectivity. Trucks with product are driven down to the warehouse where the products are received.

 

Step 3: Warehouse verification step

The warehouse staff does a quick count and verification step for the open batches not yet processed, using the Batch# as a reference.  In the case where there is no Internet connectivity, they will count and enter in the amounts for each batch as described above.

The warehouse staff person will open the Batch Production Data Entry program and select a batch #.  By checking the “Only Load Batch Entries” checkbox, only those items that have been added to that batch will be shown.

 

This screen will allow the warehouse staff to edit and delete specific line items in the lots in case of entry errors at the farm.  Using this screen, the warehouse staff will have the ability to:

1. Change Quantities
2. Change the product from one product to another.
3. Delete a line item from the lot completely.

To change a quantity, select the quantity that needs to be changed and simply type in the new amount.

To change the product from one product to another:

1. Locate the new product
2. Enter in the picker’s name in the top “Picker” field
3. Enter in the quantity
4. Click “Save.”
5. Locate the product you are replacing in the batch
6. Zero out its quantity
7. Click “Save.”

To delete a line item from the lot, simply zero out the quantity.  When “Save” is clicked, the product will be removed.

Clicking on the “Print Batch Data” button will generate a report of the batches for the warehouse. Each batch will sort by product description to keep all the same products together. This report shows:

• Date
• Batch Number
• Page #
• Detail lines:
  • Source code for this batch
  • Picker
  • Product code
  • Product Description
  • Selling Unit of Measure
  • Quantity
• The report’s header will also show the total items in the batch

Step 4: Posting quantities to on-hand inventory

Only Batch Production Managers can post harvested batches to on-hand inventory.

This setting is located in the person’s Staff record (Staff > Staff Entry) on the “Staff Options” tab.

Once a person is designated as a Batch Production Manager, a hidden button will be visible on the screen to “Complete Batch.”  Clicking on it will cause the quantities to get added to on-hand inventory with the original Lot# so product can be tracked back to the source.

When all changes are completed, click the button to “Complete Batch. The inventory will be posted to your on-hand amounts, and a batch report will automatically launch.

When viewing the “Inventory Detail Items” for each of the products received, each item within the batch will create a receiving lot with the batch number in the Internal Comments field to identify Batch Receiving.

 

 

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