| # Serialized Items A serialized item is a physical occurrence of a standard item that is given a unique lifetime serial number. This enables tracking of the individual item throughout its lifetime, for example, through the design, production, testing, installation, and maintenance phases. A serialized item can consist of other serialized components. In Service, a serialized item can be a customer-specific or owner-specific installation. Installation groups are a group of installations/serialized items such as photocopiers, computers, air conditioners, forklifts, lathe machines, and even aircraft. A serialized item is identified by the combination of the item code and the serial number. You can set up the mask used to generate the serial numbers in such a way that the serial number includes some fields of the item data, such as the item group and the manufacturer. In a multicompany structure, the companies can share the serialized item data. All the service departments in the various companies can refer to the same serialized items. The serialized item can originate from a sales order or from a project. The details of a serialized item indicate their origin, for example, by using specific sets of serial numbers for items that originate from sales orders and from projects. Serialized items can also originate from an as-built structure or directly from the production bill of material in Manufacturing. In Service, serialized items can start their respective life cycles in As-Built mode or As-Maintained mode. Each serialized item, with or without its installation group, can be covered by a service contract or a warranty. The serialized item status Serialized items can be status controlled. Each serialized item can have the following status: Startup The serial number has been assigned, but the item is not yet included in a service order or contract. You can only change the status to Active. Active The serialized item is part of a service order or contract. You can only change the status to Revision. Revision You can only change the status to Active. Serial numbers A unique serial number is assigned to every manufactured item or purchased item. The serial number is assigned to track the item in its life cycle. You can define a dummy serial number for an item. The dummy serial number is a temporary number and can be used to monitor the item until a permanent number is assigned. For each serialized item, you can define an alternative serial number for customer reference. You can use the alternative serial number to search for items when you register calls, create service order activities, or register parts lines for a maintenance sales order. Serialized item groups You can group serialized items by serialized item groups. A serialized item group is a group of serialized items with similar features. You can define the serialized item groups that you need, for example, to categorize the skills required for the maintenance of the items, or as a basis for enquiries and reporting. For example, you can select service engineers on the basis of their skills for a specific serialized item group. Serialized items in physical breakdown structures Serialized items are the building blocks of physical breakdown structures. A physical breakdown structure is the relationship definition of a set of serialized items with their underlying parts and assemblies. Some serialized items, such as a photocopier, have a simple structure whereas other serialized items such as a ship or an aircraft have a complex structure. A top serialized item occurs at the highest level in the physical breakdown structure, while the underlying structure consists of assemblies that are either effective or outdated. Use the Tree View option to display a graphic view of the structure. Each serialized item in the breakdown can be linked to a functional element, with a common function across the entire structure, and can be used to group serialized items based on the functional importance. Related topics To define serialized items |