Assign serial numbers

Assigning serial numbers to individual products allows the for tracking of properties, expiration dates, and location throughout the supply chain, which particularly benefits manufacturers providing after-sales services.

In Odoo, serial numbers are assigned to products:

Display the Detailed Operations smart button and bulleted list icon on a receipt.

Display the Detailed Operations smart button and bulleted list icon on a receipt.

Configuration

To assign serial numbers to products, activate the Lots and Serial Numbers feature in Inventory app ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings.

Then, in the Inventory tab of an item’s product form, set the Tracking field to By Unique Serial Number.

Next, enable creating new serial numbers by going to Inventory app ‣ Configuration ‣ Operations Types.

From the Operations Types page, select the desired operation type (e.g. Receipts, Delivery Orders, or Manufacturing), and select the Create New option in the Lots/Serial Numbers section of the operation type’s configuration page.

Show "Create New" option is selected on the Receipts operation type.

Detailed Operations

Serial numbers can be assigned to products when entering stock for the first time, from the Detailed Operations page on the receipt. Receipts can be accessed by navigating to Inventory app ‣ Operations ‣ Receipts.

Important

Serial numbers can not be assigned to products on a request for quotation (RfQ) or purchase order (PO) — only on a receipt.

Show the purchase order and the Receipt smart button

Screenshot of a “Purchase Order” with the “Receipt” smart button at the top.

To record an item’s serial number before receiving the item, follow the steps in the next sections to assign serial numbers, but do not click the receipt’s Validate button, until the products are received from the vendor.

Assign a single serial number to a product by clicking the Detailed Operations smart button on a receipt.

In the Lot/Serial Number Name column, manually type in the serial number for a single product.

Add a line on the Detailed Operations page to assign serial numbers.

When finished, click the receipt’s breadcrumbs, and the assigned serial numbers are automatically saved.

Assign serial numbers

To generate new serial numbers in a sequence, click the + (plus) icon in the product line.

Show the plus icon in the product line.

Important

If the icon is not visible, ensure the Create New option is selected in the receipt’s configuration page.

Doing so opens the Assign Serial Numbers pop-up window. The Number of SN field is auto-filled based on the product quantity requiring serial numbers. Manually input the first serial number in the First SN field, and click Assign Serial Numbers to generate a sequence of serial numbers based on the first serial number entered.

Show Assign Serial numbers pop-up.

Stock move pop-up window

For various methods of assigning serial numbers in bulk, click the ⦙≣ (bulleted list) icon in the product line of a receipt.

Add a line

In the Open: Stock move pop-up window that appears, manually input the serial numbers in the Lot/Serial Number column.

Add a line on the Stock move pop-up.

Generate Serials

Assign multiple serial numbers at once by clicking the Generate Serials/Lots button in the Open: Stock move pop-up window.

Show generate serials button.

Doing so opens the Generate Serial numbers pop-up window, where the first serial number is entered in the First SN field to generate a sequence of serial numbers, based on the first serial number entered.

For more details on how to fill in this pop-up window, refer to this section.

Import Serials

Assign multiple serial numbers at once by clicking the Import Serials/Lots button in the Open: Stock move pop-up window.

Important

If the button is not visible, ensure the Create New option is selected in the receipt’s configuration page.

Doing so opens the Import Lots pop-up window. Enter each serial number on a separate line in the Lots/Serial numbers text field.

Tip

Copy/paste serial numbers from an existing excel spreadsheet and add them to the Lots/Serial numbers text field.

Show excel sheet to copy serial numbers from.

Tick the Keep current lines checkbox to add serial numbers to the list of products, and serial numbers in the Lot/Serial Number table, in the Open: Stock move pop-up window. To replace the serial numbers in the list, leave the Keep current lines option unchecked.

Finally, click Generate.

Example

For a receipt with a Demand of 3.00 products, one product has already been assigned a serial number in the Open: Stock move pop-up window.

So, in the Import Lots pop-up window, two serial numbers, 124 and 125 are assigned to the remaining products by entering the following in the Lots/Serial numbers input field:

124
125

The Keep current lines option is selected to add these two serial numbers in addition to the serial number, 123, that has already been assigned.

Show example of correctly inputting serial numbers in the text field.