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Epiglossary

Serial numbers overview

Kinetic + Classic

Serial numbers give each physical unit its own identity. Where a lot number says “these fifty came from the same batch”, a serial number says “this one, and only this one”. Businesses serialize when they need to answer questions about a single unit: which components went into it, who it was sold to, when its warranty started, and which units are affected by a recall.

Epicor can track serial numbers through purchasing, manufacturing, inventory and shipping. It works well, but it’s strict: once a part is serial tracked, every transaction that moves it needs serial numbers, and mistakes are fiddly to undo. Most of the pain comes from not understanding the order things must happen in, so this section starts with the process.

The life of a serial number

Section titled “The life of a serial number”

A typical made-to-order serialized product goes through these stages:

  1. Created. Serial numbers are generated or entered when the unit first appears: at purchase receipt for bought-in parts, or on the job for manufactured ones (in Serial Number Assignment, or at the operation that requires serials).
  2. In production (WIP). The parent serials belong to the job. Serialized components issued to the job are recorded against it too.
  3. Matched. Component serials are linked to the parent serial they were built into, so you can later see exactly what is inside each unit.
  4. Received to stock. The finished unit is received from the job, carrying its serial into inventory.
  5. Picked, packed and shipped. The shipment records which serials went to which customer.
  6. After the sale. Returns (RMA), service and warranty work look the serial up again.

Each stage sets a status on the serial number (WIP, Inventory, Consumed, Shipped and so on), and Epicor only allows the next transaction if the status is right. See How serial tracking works.

Who does what

Section titled “Who does what”
Role Serial number work
Receiving Enters or generates serials for purchased serialized parts
Production / planners Assigns serials to jobs, reports labor at serial-required operations
Production / quality Matches component serials to parent serials
Shipping Selects serials on customer shipments
Engineering / system admin Sets up tracking options, masks and part settings
Service / quality Traces serials for RMAs, warranty and recalls

Where it lives in Epicor

Section titled “Where it lives in Epicor”

Screens: Site Configuration (tracking options), Company Configuration (mask characters), Serial Mask Maintenance, Part Maintenance (the Track Serial Numbers setting and serial format), Serial Number Assignment, Serial Matching, Serial Number Maintenance and the Serial Number Tracker.

Tables: SerialNo holds each serial number’s current status and location. SNTran holds the transaction history for serial numbers, one row per movement, which makes it the first place to look when you need to know what happened to a serial.

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