Serial numbers play a pivotal role in the product lifecycle, whether it’s an automobile, equipment, or an electronic item (such as a laptop, cell phone, or TV). Industry best practices dictate the assignment of serial numbers to facilitate complete traceability. Serial numbers enable tracking of product lifecycle, warranty management, service history, complaint analysis, and recall management. Additionally, in regulated sectors like medical instruments and pharmaceuticals, capturing serial numbers is mandatory to maintain end-to-end traceability.Â
Below example shows a typical bill of material for a machine. This shows the sub-assemblies & components used with their sr. no. so that there is bottom to top or top to bottom visibility.
In the context of bulk production, especially in industries like pharmaceuticals, food, and chemicals, meticulous tracking is essential. Let’s break down the key aspects:
1. Lot and Sub-Lot Tracking:
Products are often tracked using lot numbers and sub-lot numbers (or a Combination of lot and serial numbers).
Each manufacturing batch captures the lot number of raw materials consumed. This practice establishes traceability throughout the production process.
2. ERP and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES):
These systems play a crucial role in capturing data.They have the capability to record serial numbers for each transaction.
Whether it’s the components supplied by external suppliers or subassemblies manufactured in-house or by third-party suppliers, the unique serial numbers are logged.
3. Complex Bill of Materials (BOM):
In intricate manufacturing scenarios, there can be 20-30 levels of bill of materials.
Thousands of components are assembled to create the final product.Each component and subassembly may have its own warranty provided by the manufacturer.
4. Importance of Serial Numbers and Traceability: Without robust serial numbers and traceability features:
Complaint Analysis: Investigating and analyzing complaints related to specific components or subassemblies becomes challenging.
Product Recalls: Identifying faulty components or subassemblies for recalls becomes a herculean task.
In summary, effective serial number management and traceability are critical for maintaining product quality, ensuring safety, and streamlining processes in complex manufacturing environments.
Implementing effective serial number tracking involves several considerations.
1. Inventory Management and ERP System:
To successfully manage serial numbers, it’s crucial to implement an inventory management system or an ERP system that can handle both serial numbers and serialized manufacturing.
These systems provide the necessary infrastructure for tracking and maintaining accurate records.
2. Compliance Requirements:
Different industries have specific compliance requirements related to serial number tracking:
Automotive: Compliance with safety standards and recalls.
Medical Instruments: Regulatory requirements for patient safety and traceability.
Pharmaceuticals: Ensuring product authenticity and preventing counterfeiting.
Food Industry: Traceability for quality control and safety
Tire Manufacturing: Compliance with safety standards and recalls.
3. Selective Tracking:
Not all products and components need to be tracked individually.
It’s advisable to identify critical items that require serial number tracking.
Keeping the number of tracked items minimal reduces the workload for inventory management staff.
4. Serialization Process: Define a clear process for serialization:
Generation Logic: Decide whether serial numbers should follow a straightforward sequence or incorporate intelligent logic (e.g., batch information, manufacturing date).
Scanning and Data Entry: Ensure that serial numbers are scanned or entered accurately during transactions.
Integration with Business Requirements: Align the serialization process with your software implementation and overall business needs.
Remember, effective serial number management enhances traceability, quality control, and compliance across the entire product lifecycle.
When it comes to serialization, following best practices ensures efficiency, accuracy, and maintainability. Here are some key guidelines:
1.   Consistent Format:
Maintain a consistent format for serialized data. Whether it’s alphanumeric, numeric, or a combination, stick to a predefined structure.
Consistency simplifies data handling and reduces errors during processing.
2.    Unique Identifiers:
Ensure that each serialized item has a globally unique identifier.
Avoid clashes or duplicates by using a robust generation mechanism.
3.    Human-Readable Codes:
While uniqueness is crucial, strive for human readability.
Intuitive codes facilitate manual checks, audits, and troubleshooting.
4.    Scalability and Performance:
Consider scalability when designing serialization systems.
Opt for efficient algorithms to handle large volumes of data.
5.    Integration with Systems:
Integrate serialization seamlessly with existing systems (e.g., ERPs, CRMs).
APIs and data exchange protocols should support serialization.
6.    Security and Privacy:
Protect serialized data. Encryption and access controls are essential.
Be mindful of privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR) when handling personal data.
7.    Error Handling:
Implement robust error-handling mechanisms.
Detect and address issues promptly to maintain data integrity.
Remember, serialization isn’t just about numbers; it’s about maintaining a reliable and traceable system.
When managing serial numbers, there are two common approaches:
1. Supplier-Provided Serial Numbers:
When receiving components from suppliers, the serial numbers they provide are captured during the receiving process.
These supplier-provided serial numbers are essential for traceability and record-keeping.
They allow you to track the origin of each component and establish a link between the supplier and the final product.
2. Manufacturer-Generated Serial Numbers:
Alternatively, manufacturers often generate their own serial numbers for components.
These internal serial numbers are unique to the manufacturer’s production process.
Manufacturers may also apply identification marks or stickers directly to the components.
These marks serve as visual indicators and facilitate efficient handling during assembly, quality control, and maintenance.
In summary, a combination of supplier-provided and manufacturer-generated serial numbers ensures comprehensive traceability throughout the product lifecycle.
Oracle manufacturing & service cloud does support Serialised manufacturing functionality & it helps in auto creating an install base for warranty & service tracking for discrete manufacturing. Pl. refer below hierarchy of Install base which shows only serialised components. Non serial controlled items will not be visible here.
Oracle Manufacturing cloud, review Product genealogy feature, helps in drill down to the lower levels of subassembly & component serial no.s. It helps in establishing end to end traceability, product recall management and drastically reduce the time required to do customer complaint analysis. This also helps in tracking no. of times the product was serviced, warranty tracking, counterfeit products, Repeated failures, services history etc. & can help taking corrective & preventive actions within manufacturing plant or at supplier end.
Oracle Supply chain execution cloud supports serialization to facilitate ease of transactions handling & minimising the data entry.
Purchased item serial no.: At times, the volume of components is high & its too much of work to the stores person to receive the component by serial no. In this scenario, the serial no. generation or entry can be captured at the time of consumption (Work order/Sales order issue). The inventory transactions may record only the quantities but when it is consumed, its serial no. are recorded.
Final assembly, Sub assembly serial no.:-. There are multiple ways of capturing the traceability.
1. Assigning serial no. at WO completion: The serial no. can be generated at the time of completion of work order (Production declaration). This has certain limitations. If the WO has more than 1 quantity, tracking components used in each assembly can be difficult as there is no one to one relationship. The components are issued upfront to the work order, or they are backflushed (After capturing their serial no.) The products are then completed in bulk hence relating the component serial no. to the final assembly is a challenge. To overcome this, WO is required to be created only for 1 quantity. This is used for where only product sr. no. are captured & not the components consumed. E.g. piece parts manufacturing.
2. Assigning Serial no.s at the start of work order: As soon as the WO is released, product serial no. to be assigned or generated. The components are then issued to every individual product serial so that hierarchy is maintained for every serial no. This option is used for Automobile, equipment’s, electronics products manufacturing as the traceability is very important. Eg. In Automobiles, the assembly starts with chassis no & rest of components are built around it, so capturing engine serial no, gear box no. battery serial. No. WRT to chassis helps in maintaining in end-to-end traceability.
If you are in manufacturing business & looking for adopting serialization solutions & complete product traceability, Calfus can help. We help customers in assessing the current solution footprint, options for extending the solution, Bar coding/QR coding the labels, scanning them & capture the details for every transaction using the right technology.
Calfus also has solutions for tracking the tools, molds that are used by the machining/fabrication manufacturers. These solutions can help in accurately tracking the tool utilization, costing, their remainder life & planning the replacement.
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Calfus is Oracle certified partner offering cloud solutions for capturing the opportunity lifecycle, sourcing, manufacturing, Sales & service, subscriptions, financial accounting. Oracle ERP cloud solution is a scalable & can fulfil business requirements across Discrete, process, project, contract manufacturing industries.