Serial matching and shipping

Serial matching records which component serial numbers went into which parent serial number. It’s what lets you open a finished unit’s serial months later and see every serialized part inside it. It is also the step most likely to go wrong, because it only works at a certain point in the job.

Where matching happens

There are two places to match:

• At job receipt. With full lower-level tracking, receiving a serialized job (for example in Job Receipt to Inventory) asks for the component serials that went into each parent serial as part of the receipt. This is the flow Epicor expects: matching happens as the finished unit leaves the job.
• In Serial Matching. The Serial Matching screen lets you match before receipt, or fix matching afterwards. Enter a parent serial that belongs to a job and it works in job mode, offering only component serials issued to that job; enter one with no job and it works in serial mode.

The site’s serial matching warning setting decides whether unmatched components at receipt are ignored, warned about or block the receipt.

The order that works

1. Assign parent serials to the job (Serial Number Assignment, or at the serial-required operation).
2. Issue the serialized components to the job, selecting their serials. They now show as WIP on the job.
3. Match components to parents, in Serial Matching or during job receipt.
4. Receive the finished units to inventory (or ship them from the job).

The rule to remember: match while the component serials are still in WIP. Once they have moved to Consumed without being matched, they no longer appear as available to match.

Available to Match shows nothing

Symptom: in Serial Matching, on the Available to Match tab for a material, Retrieve returns no serial numbers, even though the components were issued with serials. The job can’t be closed, or its demand filled, because matching isn’t complete.

Cause: labor was reported before the matching was done, and the component serials changed from WIP to Consumed. Consumed serials aren’t offered for matching.

Fix:

• If you can, recall the labor. Reversing the labor transactions returns the component serials to WIP. Match them, then re-enter the labor.
• If the labor can’t be recalled:
  1. In Serial Number Maintenance, change each affected component serial from Consumed back to WIP. Make sure Fully Matched is not selected.
  2. In Serial Matching, go to the material’s matching details, enter the component serial number and click Unmatch to clear any partial link.
  3. Retrieve on Available to Match again, select the serials and match them normally.

Prevention: make matching part of the routine before the completing labor is reported, or rely on matching at job receipt, and train the people reporting labor on that order.

A serialized job won’t ship

Symptom: shipping a serialized part from a job, or from stock, fails because serial numbers are needed, and none are offered when you try to select them.

Cause: the serials the shipment needs were never created or never reached the right status. Two common reasons:

• The job’s method has Serial Numbers Required From This Operation on an operation, and the units were completed there without serials being recorded, or the flag is on the wrong operation.
• Nobody assigned serials to the job at all, so there’s nothing for the shipment to pick.

Fix:

1. Check which operation on the job has Serial Numbers Required From This Operation selected, and whether labor at that operation recorded serial numbers.
2. Check the job’s serials in Serial Number Assignment or the Serial Number Tracker.
3. Assign or correct the serials, then return to the shipment line and use the Serial Numbers button to retrieve and select them.

Related

• How serial tracking works: statuses and the serial-required operation flag
• Troubleshooting serial numbers