What is serial number tracking?
Serial number tracking records a unique identifier for each individual unit of an item, so the warehouse knows where that exact unit is and where it went.
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What serial tracking covers
A serial number belongs to one physical unit, such as one laptop or one infusion pump. Tracking serials in the warehouse means scanning that number at set points, so every move of the unit is recorded against it.
The cost is more scanning. Most warehouses only track serials on high-value or regulated items and leave everything else alone.
Worked example
In this example, 50 laptops arrive. The receiver scans 50 serial numbers. An order for 3 laptops needs 3 serial scans at picking and the same 3 at shipping.
Two months later a customer returns one laptop. Its serial history shows the receiving date, the storage location, the order it left on and the shipping date.
How Waresify handles it
Serial number tracking is a module on the Professional and Enterprise plans. It is set per item, and items without serial tracking need no serial scans.
Each serial-tracked item uses one of two modes. Full mode scans serials at receiving, picking and shipping. Boundary mode scans them at receiving and shipping only, and the serials move with their LP in between.
Questions
Do all my items need serial numbers?
No. Serial tracking is switched on per item. A warehouse can track serials on a few hundred high-value SKUs and handle the rest by quantity.
When is boundary mode enough?
When you need to know which serials came in and which went out to each customer, but not which shelf each unit sat on in between.