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Serial Inventory

Serial inventory tracks stock one unit at a time. Where batch tracking groups identical units under a lot number, serial tracking gives every single unit its own number so you can follow it from receipt to delivery — and, for returnable goods, back again. This page turns serial tracking on for our 50 L HDPE Drum, captures serials at goods receipt, and reads a single drum's history.

Serial-tracked units with custody history

When to serialise​

We sell the 50 L HDPE Drum on a returnable-deposit scheme: the customer pays a deposit, gets the drum, and the empty comes back for credit. To run that, every physical drum needs its own identity — so the drum is serial-tracked, while the granules inside it stay batch-tracked.

Batch trackingSerial tracking
GranularityA lot of many identical unitsEvery individual unit
Number carriedOne batch no. per receiptOne serial per unit
Good forHDPE Granules, chemicals, foodReturnable drums, high-value / warranty items

1. Enable serial tracking​

  1. Open the 50 L HDPE Drum item and set Track Serial on (Inventory tracking group).
  2. Save. From now on, every unit of that item needs a serial number to move — receipts must capture serials, and issues must name the exact serials going out.

:::caution Enable before the first receipt Turn Track Serial on before any stock exists for the item. Serialising an item that already has plain on-hand units leaves that quantity without serials, which can't be picked or shipped cleanly. :::

2. Capture serials at GRN​

We buy 200 ready-made drums from an OEM to seed the returnable pool. When receiving against the purchase order:

  1. On the Goods Receipt (GRN), enter the drum line and quantity 200 at Vatva WH-1, rack B2.
  2. Raya prompts for 200 serial numbers. Enter them one of two ways:
    • Auto-range — give a prefix and start, e.g. DRM-00001, and Raya generates DRM-00001 … DRM-00200.
    • Scan / paste — capture the supplier's own serials individually.
  3. Post the GRN. Each serial is created In stock at Vatva WH-1, and the stock ledger records a Purchase Receipt of +200 units carrying the serial list.
Purchase Receipt   50 L HDPE Drum   +200 Pc   @ Vatva WH-1 (rack B2)
  Serials: DRM-00001 … DRM-00200   →  status In stock, custody Vatva WH-1

3. Custody​

Each serial has a current custody — the location or party that physically holds it right now. As a drum moves through the returnable cycle, custody passes with it:

StatusCustodyWhen
In stockVatva WH-1After GRN or after a return is checked in
ReservedVatva WH-1Allocated to a confirmed sales order
ShippedCustomer (e.g. Neptune Polymers)On delivery — deposit charged
ReturnedVatva WH-1Empty drum received back — deposit credited

The custody chain gives a clean line from OEM → warehouse → customer → back to warehouse, which is exactly what you need to reconcile deposits and chase drums that never came home.

4. Scan history​

Every movement is captured as a scan event on the serial's timeline — received, transferred, picked, shipped, returned. Reading one serial shows its whole journey:

Serial DRM-00042 — 50 L HDPE Drum
  12 Jul  Received    GRN-5567   → In stock @ Vatva WH-1 (rack B2)
  20 Jul  Transferred WH-1 → Odhav Depot
  24 Jul  Reserved    SO-8891    (Neptune Polymers)
  25 Jul  Shipped     DN-3321    → custody Neptune Polymers (deposit charged)
  14 Aug  Returned    RMA-0210   → In stock @ Vatva WH-1 (empty, deposit credited)

:::tip Invaluable for warranty and traceability Because the timeline links each event to its source document (GRN, transfer, delivery note, return), a warranty claim or a "which customer had drum DRM-00042?" question is answered from one screen — no cross-referencing orders by hand. :::

:::note Serial-tracked issues name the unit On a delivery for a serial-tracked item, you don't just pick a quantity — you pick the specific serials leaving the building. That is what keeps custody and the scan history accurate right down to the individual drum. :::