Serial Numbers

For whom: stock, workshop and support · Where: Admin → Stock → Devices tab

A stock level of "7 terminals" does not say which seven. With serial numbers, DiKAS tracks each item individually: where it is, who owns it, until when the warranty runs and what has happened to it.

Prerequisite

The Devices tab appears with the merchandise management module. Serial numbers are switched on per article — not for the whole stock.

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1. Switch an article to serial numbers

Admin → Articles → open article → Stock tab

1. Tick "Track stock" (if not already done).
2. Tick "Track serial numbers".
3. Save.

The article decides bindingly

If an article tracks serial numbers, then every goods receipt for this article requires the numbers — this cannot be deselected when ordering. Conversely, you can additionally switch individual order items to serial numbers without changing the article master: handy for a device procured once.

"Track serial numbers" pulls "Track stock" along — without stock there would be nothing to number.

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2. Capture serial numbers in goods receipt

Admin → Stock → Orders → open order → "Goods receipt"

For an item with serial numbers, a scan field appears with a counter, for example 3 / 5.

1. Scan the barcode or type the number and press Enter — the number moves into the list, the counter rises, the input focus stays in the field.
2. Repeat until the counter is full.
3. Book the goods receipt.

Three aids in the scan field:

• A range can be spelled out. SN-001..SN-050 expands into 50 individual numbers — handy for consecutively numbered cartons. Same prefix, same number of digits and ascending order are required.
• Duplicate numbers are named. Anyone who scans the same number twice gets it reported by name instead of silently ignored.
• Empty inputs disappear. An accidental Enter does nothing.

One number per item, not per pack

The goods receipt requires exactly one number per stock unit. With 2 cartons of 3 devices each, that is 6 numbers, not 2. If the count does not match, the goods receipt is rejected — with the expected and the captured number in the message.

The internal number and the warranty

When capturing, each item additionally gets an internal number (e.g. DK-000001). You set its prefix under Admin → Settings → Operations → Stock in the QR prefix field.

The warranty period in months is there too (default 24). Goods receipt date plus period gives the warranty end on the device.

0 months means: no warranty

If it says 0, the device gets no warranty date — and the complaint later answers "Cannot be determined" instead of "expired". This is intended: a warranty statement that nobody has stored should not look like a verified one.

If the prefix is changed later, the counter continues (NEU-000124, not NEU-000001) — the internal numbers stay unique.

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3. Finding devices

Admin → Stock → Devices tab

The list shows serial number, internal number, article, storage location with shelf, customer, warranty and state. Above the list are a search field and a state filter:

Filter	Shows
In stock	In stock, Reserved, Back in stock
At customer	Delivered devices
In complaint	Running cases and devices at the manufacturer
Booked out	Scrapped devices

The search is case-sensitive

SN-1 and sn-1 are two different numbers. Anyone who finds nothing although the device is in the house first checks the spelling — best to scan the label instead of typing.

Clicking a row opens the device with master data, history and the possible next steps.

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4. The states of a device

State	Meaning	Counts in stock
In stock	Freely available	yes
Reserved	Reserved for a delivery note, but still here	yes
At customer	Delivered	no
In complaint	A case is running	no
At manufacturer	Out of the house for checking or repair	no
Back in stock	Came back, not yet released	yes
Booked out	Total loss or disposal — final state	no

The form always offers only the steps that are possible from the current state. An impossible step is rejected; the message names the source and target state.

A booked-out device remains findable

Scrapped does not mean deleted. Warranty cases, recalls and inquiries need the trail — the device stays in the list, just in the state Booked out and without effect on stock.

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5. Transferring and booking out

In the device detail:

• Transfer — select the target stock and confirm. The stock level moves along.
• Book out — the state changes to Booked out, the stock level falls by 1.

Both steps require the Manage serial numbers permission, see Permissions overview.

Every step lands in the device's history with time, user and plain text — the history can thus be read without gaps.

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6. Sale and customer linking

When a device is sold or delivered by delivery note, DiKAS links it to the customer: the state changes to At customer, the stock level falls, and customer and document appear on the device.

At the register, nobody selects an individual device

For a sale via the register, DiKAS assigns the devices automatically — the oldest first. The history then says "assigned automatically". A void returns exactly the devices that the receipt booked off.

This way the device search later answers the question that support really asks: "Who owns this serial number, and is the warranty still running?"

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A practical example

Five register terminals arrive, three go to the customer "Gasthaus Sonnenhof".

1. Open the order's goods receipt, scan the five labels in the scan field, book. → Stock 5, five devices In stock.
2. Create a delivery note for the customer and reserve three numbers. → three devices Reserved, stock level unchanged at 5.
3. Issue the delivery note. → three devices At customer, stock level 2.
4. A year later the customer calls: search for the number in Admin → Stock → Devices — customer, delivery date and warranty end are there.

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When something does not work

Message or observation	Cause	What to do
The Devices tab is missing	Merchandise management module is not switched on	Switch on the module
The goods receipt requires more numbers than expected	The pack factor counts — 2 cartons of 3 pieces = 6 numbers	Capture all individual items
"The number of serial numbers does not match the delivered quantity."	Too few or too many numbers	Check the counter in the scan field
The number is rejected as a duplicate	It is already assigned in the house	Check the label — two devices with the same number do not exist
The search finds nothing	Upper/lower case	Scan the number instead of typing
A state button is missing	The step is not possible from the current state	The offered buttons show what is possible
Transferring or booking out is not possible	The Manage serial numbers permission is missing	Permissions overview
The device has no warranty end	0 warranty months are stored for the business	Admin → Settings → Operations → Stock

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Next steps

• Delivery note — assigning devices to a customer and delivering them
• Complaint — what happens when a device comes back