Dynamics F/SCM Customer Experience (CRM) Dynamics GP Dynamics Business Central (NAV) Dynamics SL Power Platform Fabric Copilot

[Jeffrey Mantz]

For those who have experience with serial numbers, how do you handle items with more than one serial #? For example, we have some Item Numbers that contain 5 items inside with a serial number we need to track.

Currently what we do is during manufacturing we record all the serial numbers as components, then assign the finished good a lot number. While that gives you trace-ability, its cumbersome if people call a year later for a warranty issue and they only have 1 of the items and a serial number to go on. Its not a very clean process to figure out when it was sold.

Does anyone else have situations where they have more than 1 serial number in an item?

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Jeffrey Mantz
Zefon International
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[David Wiser]

As long as you are only selling the one main unit and not the individual serialized components, I’m not seeing an easy solution.  One way I do see is to use the Item Tracing function to find the item sold which will give you the sales date for warranty purposes.  Just open the Item Tracing page, enter the serial number, make sure the trace method is Origin to Usage, and the trace should result in the Sales Shipment Header for the order.  You could probably modify this page to also include the sales order number if that would be helpful.

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Dave Wiser
Controller
Beckwith & Kuffel
Seattle WA
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[Ben Baxter]

It will take you an extra step because they are not providing the Finished Good’s Serial Number, but NAV’s Item Tracing should make this a quick process.

1.) Run a Trace on the Serial No. provided.
2.) Open the Production Order (via link in Trace)
3.) Open Item Tracking Lines on the Finished Good line.
4.) Copy Tracking Code (Lot or Serial No.)
5.) Close windows back to Item Tracing window.
6.) Paste FG Tracking Code and Trace.

Now you have the complete picture of the Finished Good, including who it was sold to, when it was shipped, what is inside it, and who you bought those components from.

P.S.  Is there a reason you using Lot No. on the Finished Good instead of a Serial No.?  If you are producing just one Item, it is more common to use a Serial No. rather than a Lot. No.

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Ben Baxter
Consultant
Accent Software, Inc.
Carmel IN
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[Jeffrey Mantz]

Ben,

Yes I know how to trace it. My question is related to how you could document the multiple serial numbers contained within a quantity of 1 on a single SKU so when you sell it to the customer you have an exact record of the customer/serial number relationship.

 

Why do we use Lot for the Finished Good?

I think you misunderstood the situation. The easiest way to explain it would be to take for example a finished good consisting of a case of multiple items. Assume our finished good is a case of handheld barcode scanners. The case includes 5 scanners and related accessories that are shared among all 5. Each handheld scanner has a different serial number. When we sell it, the sales order must be for a single sku for a quantity of 1 that includes all 5 scanners.

 

Technically I could assign the finished good a single serial # or a lot#, we just chose lot over serial because either way we are not getting the serial/customer relationship setup. My problem is trying to find a better way to associate the sale to the customer of each of the 5 serial numbers inside. I am wondering if anyone else has run across this and how they handle it.

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Jeffrey Mantz
Zefon International
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[David Wiser]

Unfortunately, base NAV does not handle this scenario.  This would require some customization.  You may be able to tie an assembly order to the main item which would then consume the child items with the serial numbers.  Your invoice print would also have to include links back to the related assembly order to get the child item for the print.  Just an idea.

We had our partner create parent/child lines on the sales lines so we could designate one parent and then have one or more children underneath the parent.  The pricing could be individual by child line but roll up to the parent line for the invoice print.  Works well for us.

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Dave Wiser
Controller
Beckwith & Kuffel
Seattle WA
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[Ben Baxter]

Thank you for further clarifying your requirements.

As Dave mentioned, this is most closely related to Assembly Orders (kitting) if you are trying to stay within NAV’s base functionality.

There are other ISV products that provide a licensing plating option, but this is generally used to make the movement of the product easier.  You would have to review the products to see if it matches with your requirement.

Best Regards,

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Ben Baxter
Consultant
Accent Software, Inc.
Carmel IN
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[Amanda Mayer]

Jeffrey,

Have you considered using the Service functionality and selling those items in a different unit of measure? For instance, if you have 5 of one item in a Box, you could sell it as a box and automatically create the service item. You can see the sale directly on the Customer card, but it will also create 5 service items for that box, each with it’s own serial number. I’m not sure if you’d want 5 items, but if you service them as well, that may actually be a good option.

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Amanda Mayer
New View Strategies
Milwaukee WI
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