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Basics of serial number tracking

Use serial number tracking in Katana to track a product's full history.

Dayvid Lorbiecke avatar
Written by Dayvid Lorbiecke
Updated yesterday

Serial number tracking provides a unique identifier for each finished product, enabling you to trace every item from production or purchase to sale or assembly.

This feature is available through the Full Traceability add-on, automatically included in Professional plans.


Why use serial numbers?

  • Achieve end-to-end product traceability, ideal for warranty, quality assurance, and recalls.

  • Monitor individual items across manufacturing, purchasing, sales, and stock transfers.

  • Supports batch/lot and serial tracking, giving full visibility into your inventory.


How to enable serial number tracking

Screenshot of a product card showing serial numbers activated
  1. Open the Product card for a finished product.

    1. If Make is selected under Usability, you can define the serial number format.

  2. In Product tracking, select Serial numbers.

    1. Optionally: define a serial number format (e.g., {ORDER_NO}-{SEQ_START}-ZZ).

  3. This setting applies to all variants of the item.


How serial tracking works in practice

When receiving purchased products

Screenshot of a purchase order highlighting the tracing column
  • A Tracing column appears on PO/OPO item lines.

  • If serials haven’t been added, a warning icon 🔶 prompts you to assign them.

  • Click it to enter or paste serials (up to 1,000 per field, 32 characters max).

During production

  • You’ll find a Traceability tab in the relevant MOs.

    Screenshot of a manufacturing order, highlighting the Traceability tab
  • The Shop Floor app will prompt operators to scan or enter serials for completion.

At sales

  • For Make‑to‑Stock, manually select serials when packing or delivering.

  • For Make‑to‑Order, serials are auto-assigned from the MO.


Managing serial numbers

  • View all tracked items in Stock screen → Serial numbers tab for full traceability, including source documents and statuses.

    Screenshot showing where the Serial numbers tab inside the stock screen is

  • Use stock adjustments to add/remove serials for existing inventory.


Important limitation

  • Once enabled, you cannot switch from serial back to batch tracking on an item. You can disable it, but disabling it will delete existing serial records.

  • Serial numbers can only contain numbers, letters, spaces, and special characters (_ /). There is a 32-character limit, and only 1,000 numbers can be entered at a time.


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