Lot Splitting and Combining

• Lot splitting occurs when processing a single material lot at an operation results in two or more output lots.

• Lot combining occurs when two or more input lots are combined at an operation, resulting in one output lot.

If lot splitting or combining is an issue in your environment, clearly define your requirements. Consider whether you have a single requirement—you can or cannot split or combine lots, or multiple requirements—you can split or combine some lots, but not others. List these requirements by routing code and note any requirements that differ within each routing by operation.

Example: Routing 101 has five operations. Operation 30 can only process lots of 50 items. The lots produced by operation 20 consist of 100 items. This requires that lots of 100 be split into two new lots of 50 items each. All operations after operation 30 continue to process 50-item lots. You note in routing 101 that lot splitting is allowed for operation 30.

Allowing lots to be combined should be carefully considered. As lots are combined through the manufacturing process, quality control risks become greater and more expensive. For example, if you combine lots at an early operation and later determine that the material from one of those lots is defective, you may need to rework or scrap all WIP material and finished material that was manufactured with the defective material. The more lot combining that occurs, the more material is affected in this manner.

When you complete your analysis, use this information to create records in Routing Registration Maintenance (3.22.13.1) and BOM Registration Maintenance (3.22.13.4). The system uses these records to allow or restrict splitting and combining of WIP and component material lots.