Error: Numeric Overflow Data Was Lost

ACTION:
This error is usually not as serious as it sounds, as the data that is lost is merely a summary of transactions that are not lost. If you receive this error, you should press Ignore or Continue and then resolve the situation using the methods in this document.

CAUSES:
There are 2 likely causes for the error.

1. The inventory has not been rolled for many months and the transactions can no longer be summarized into the available field size.
2. The on hand inventory has been allowed to go negative which has skewed the average on hand cost of the item.

ISSUE IDENTIFICATION:
Scrap Dragon summarizes all inventory transactions for the current inventory period in the Inventory Master File. This information is accumulated based on the last inventory roll.

This summary data can be viewed on any item by going into Back Office; Master Files; Inventory; Inventory Maintenance, Inventory Status. Alternatively, you can print inventory report 03 – MTD Inventory Status. Examine the summarized data to find any inventory item that has asterisks where numeric data should appear, indicating a Numeric Overflow condition. If the asterisks appear in the quantity fields, and the inventory hasn’t been rolled in several months, then you have condition 1 below. If the asterisks appear in the value fields and the inventory has been rolled recently, then you have condition 2 below.

1. UNROLLED INVENTORY ISSUE
   When the inventory is rolled at the beginning of a new month, the process will:
   • compute the ending on hand quantity and value as of the end of the current month,
   • make that the beginning on hand quantity and value as of the beginning of the new month,
   • increment the current inventory month date to the next month,
   • summarize the inventory transactions since the new beginning of month date.

   If the inventory is not rolled regularly, then the summarized inventory transactions may not fit in the available field sizes and this will result in the Numeric Overflow error. The solution is to roll the inventory regularly, or to disable the updating of the perpetual inventory file. The perpetual inventory updating can be turned off in Back Office; Maintenance; Setup; Program Options.

2. SKEWED AVERAGE COST

If the on hand inventory is allowed to go negative then the average price can become skewed. Negative inventory can occur either by shipping more material than is on hand, or by an inventory adjustment.

If the item with the overflow is identified, and there are asterisks where the inventory value should be numeric, then you know that you have a skewed average cost. You will have to use inventory adjustments to correct the negative inventory. Once the negative inventory situations are resolved, the average cost will be computed correctly. To identify what adjustments are required and when they are required, you will need to run Inventory Report 8. This is a report of every inventory transaction in chronological order (date & time order). This is important, because average cost calculations are done in strict date & time order. If you sell before you buy, you will have negative inventory and bad average cost information.

Once you have identified when the inventory went negative, you can enter an inventory move or an inventory adjustment to resolve the negative inventory. Be sure to enter an adjustment date & time that will prevent the negative inventory. In real life, inventory cannot be negative and the Scrap Dragon inventory model should reflect what is occurring in real life. Run Inventory Report 8 again to see the effect of your adjustments. Repeat the process until all negative inventory has been removed.