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Serialized items: Setup

Serialized items – a series of 6 articles. Read them in this order:

  1. Understanding the concept
  2. Setup (this article)
  3. Picking
  4. Returning
  5. Service
  6. Tracking

What you can do

Create a serialized item in the Admin Portal and assign it to a storage device on the Shop Floor Interface, so each unit is tracked by its own serial number. Use it for high-value durable tools that need traceability, condition tracking and service history.

Before you start

  • You need Administrator access to the Admin Portal to create and configure the item.
  • You need Stock management permission on the Shop Floor Interface to assign items.
  • The item must be classified as Durable — only durable items can be serialized.
  • Know the item’s ID, name, and the storage device and location where it will be stored.

Important: Serialized can only be ticked while the item’s status is Defined. Tick it before you change the status: as soon as you pick Phase in or Released, the checkbox locks, even before you save. A released item cannot go back to Defined.

Quick start

Experienced users — create and assign a serialized item in 6 steps:

  1. Open the item in the Admin Portal under Data management → Items.
  2. Tick Serialized while the item is still Defined, then set Status to Released and Save item.
  3. Go to the SFI and tap Stock management → Assign item.
  4. Select the item, storage device, and location.
  5. Set max quantity, min quantity and order point, tap Confirm, then set the quantity and tap Place items.
  6. Tick the item, create a serial number for each unit, and tap Finish.

Need more detail? Follow the full steps below.

Steps

Step 1 — Configure the item as serialized in the Admin Portal

  1. In the Admin Portal, click Data management in the left navigation menu.
  2. Click Items.
  3. Find and double-click the item you want to make serialized. You can use the Search field to filter by item ID.
Admin Portal items list with (1) Data management menu, (2) Items submenu, and (3) item 5924287 highlighted
The Items list in the Admin Portal. Navigate to Data management (1), click Items (2), and find the item you want to serialize (3).
  1. On the item detail page, check the Serialized checkbox in the Classification section. The item must still have the status Defined.
  2. Then change the Status dropdown to Released (or Phase in if you are still setting up).
  3. Click Save item.
Item detail page with (1) Serialized checkbox, (2) Status dropdown, and (3) Save item button highlighted
The item detail page. Tick Serialized (1) while the status is still Defined, then set the status (2) and click Save item (3).

Note: If the item was imported from a catalog, it may already have Durable selected. The order matters: if you pick Released or Phase in first, Serialized is greyed out at once. To serialize an item that is already released, create a durable, serialized copy of it, the same way as in How to change an item from consumable to durable.

Step 2 — Open the assign item wizard on the SFI

  1. On the Shop Floor Interface home screen, tap Stock management.
SFI home screen with (1) Stock management tile highlighted
The SFI home screen. Tap Stock management (1).
  1. Tap Assign item.
Stock management submenu with (1) Assign item tile highlighted
The Stock management submenu. Tap Assign item (1) to start the assignment wizard.

The assignment wizard opens. Its progress bar shows six stages: Assign item, Item selection, Storage device, Location selection, Device options and Location options.

Step 3 — Select the item

  1. In the Item selection step, type part of the item ID in the search field, or scroll the list.
  2. Tap the item row.

Assign item to location list filtered on 592428, with item 5924287 highlighted (1)

Typing part of the item ID narrows the list. Tap the item (1).

If you type or scan the complete item ID, the wizard selects the item and moves on by itself. Either way, it continues with the Storage device step.

Step 4 — Choose the storage device and location

  1. In the Storage device step, tap the storage device, for example A.

Select stock location screen listing storage devices A, B, C and D, with A highlighted (1)

The storage devices of this device. Tap the one that holds the location (1).

  1. In the Location selection step, tap the location, for example A-01-01-01. Items assigned shows how many items each location already holds.

Location list of storage device A with location A-01-01-01, 0 items assigned, highlighted (1)

Tap the location (1). Here A-01-01-01 is still empty.

Tip: If you need a new location, tap Create new location at the bottom of the location list.

Step 5 — Set device and location options

  1. In the Device options step, set Max quantity, Min quantity and Order point with the + and − buttons. Unlike a consumable, a durable item has a Min quantity: its safety stock.
  2. Tap Confirm. It stays disabled until all three have a value.

Device assignment screen with Max quantity 10 (1), Min quantity 1 (2), Order point 2 (3) and Confirm (4) highlighted

Max quantity (1), Min quantity (2) and Order point (3) for the whole device. Confirm (4) once all three are set.

  1. In the Location options step, set Physical max quantity, or tick Unlimited physical quantity.
  2. Set Quantity to the number of units you put in the location now. Each of them gets a serial number in step 6.
  3. Tap Place items.

Location assignment screen for A-01-01-01 with Physical max quantity 10 (1), Quantity 3 (2) and Place items (3) highlighted

Physical max quantity (1), the quantity you place now (2), then Place items (3).

Note: With Quantity at 0 the button reads Save instead. That assigns the location without placing any units.

Step 6 — Create serial numbers and finish

  1. On the Assign item summary, tap the checkbox next to the item.

Assign item summary with item 5924287, location A-01-01-01 and quantity 3, with its unticked checkbox highlighted (1)

The summary lists what you are placing. Tap the checkbox (1) to confirm the placement.

Because the item is serialized, the Create serial number(s) for item dialog opens. The counter under its title shows how many you have created, for example Created: 0/3.

  1. Type a serial number in the Serial number field and tap Create.
  2. Repeat until every unit has a serial number. Each one is listed with the condition New.
  3. Tap Confirm.

Create serial numbers dialog with the Serial number field (1), Create (2), the serial numbers CB-26-001 to CB-26-003 (3) and Confirm (4) highlighted

Type the serial number (1) and tap Create (2). The created serial numbers are listed with condition New (3). Tap Confirm (4) when the counter reads 3/3.

  1. The checkbox is now ticked. Tap Finish.

Assign item summary with the item ticked and Finish highlighted (1)

Tap Finish (1) to save the assignment and the serial numbers.

Important: You must create a serial number for every unit in the assigned quantity. The dialog will not let you confirm until all serial numbers are entered.

The Shop Floor Interface then shows Assigned items on DEVICE1, the list of items assigned to the device.

Success: The item is assigned to the selected location with its serial numbers. Each unit appears on the item’s Serialized item tab in the Admin Portal with the status New, and can be tracked individually through picks, returns and service.

Add more serial numbers later

Serial numbers are not only created when you assign the item. When more units of an assigned serialized item arrive, restock them and create a serial number for each one. The example adds a fourth unit of item 5924287, serial number CB-26-004, without a purchase order.

Do this on the Shop Floor Interface with an account that has Stock management.

  1. Select Stock management, then Restock.
  2. Select Without order.

Restock screen with the Without order button highlighted (1)

The Restock screen. Without order (1) adds stock that did not come in on a purchase order.

  1. Search for the item and select it.
  2. Select Restock.

Select item to restock with the 5924287 row (1) and the Restock button (2) highlighted

The item (1) and the Restock button (2).

  1. Leave the quantity at 1.
  2. Under Select condition, select New.
  3. Select Confirm.

Select quantity screen with the quantity (1), the New condition (2) and Confirm (3) highlighted

Quantity (1), condition New (2) and Confirm (3). Confirm stays disabled until a condition is selected.

  1. On Restock items, put the item in the location shown and tick its row.
  2. In Create serial number(s) for item, type the serial number.
  3. Select Create. The serial number appears in the list with the condition New.
  4. Select Confirm, then Restock finished.

Create serial numbers dialog with the serial number field (1), Create (2), the new serial CB-26-004 (3) and Confirm (4) highlighted

Type the serial number (1), select Create (2), check it in the list (3), then Confirm (4).

In the Admin Portal, the new instance is listed on the item’s Serialized item tab. Double-click the serial number to open the instance detail.

Admin Portal instance detail of CB-26-004 with Status New (1) and Location A-01-01-01 (2) highlighted

The instance detail: status New (1) and its stock location (2).

Next steps

After completing this task:

  1. Review serial numbers — open the item in the Admin Portal and click the Serialized item tab to see all serial numbers, conditions, and locations.
  2. Pick it — operators pick a serialized item by its serial number, see Serialized items: Picking.

Troubleshooting

Problem Likely cause Fix
Serialized checkbox is grayed out The item is Consumable, or its status is no longer Defined Only durable items can be serialized, and only while they are Defined. Tick Serialized before you change the status. For an item that is already released, create a durable, serialized copy.
Serial number dialog does not appear when tapping the checkbox The item’s Serialized flag is not enabled in the Admin Portal A released item cannot be made serialized afterwards. Create a durable copy, tick Serialized while it is Defined, then release and assign it.
“Quantities must match package size” error The quantity you entered is not a multiple of the package size Adjust the quantity to match the package size shown on screen.
Item does not appear in the SFI assign item list The item’s status is Obsolete or Defined Change the item status to Released or Phase in in the Admin Portal.
Cannot change status to Released Required fields are missing, often on the Supplier tab Fill in the required fields. An invalid Supplier tab can stop Save item without any message, so check that tab first.
A new item is missing from the Assign item list The device has not synchronized since the item was released Wait for the next synchronization, or ask an administrator to force a synchronization of the device in the Admin Portal.
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