Hardware Tracking

Overview

Hardware tracking follows each physical device (phone, headset, router, copier…) by its serial number, from the moment it is received into stock until it comes back from the customer.

Each device is recorded as an item unit: an article of your catalog, a serial number, an optional IMEI, a supplier price, a warehouse and a status. A unit is then assigned to an initial or recurring line of a folder: this assignment is what tells you which customer has which device, since when, and under which mode (sale, rental or loan).

The typical lifecycle:

1. Receive the hardware into stock, by scanning the serial numbers.
2. Assign the units to the folder lines once the quote is accepted.
3. Deliver: print the delivery note listing every serial number.
4. Replace or return a unit when needed, with a return note.
5. Receive the return: the unit goes back to stock, or to the "to check" or "defective" pile, and stays visible in the folder history.

Prerequisite: create at least one warehouse and make sure the articles you track have a supplier price: every unit is linked to one.

Receiving Hardware into Stock

Go to Configuration → Catalog → Item units and click Receive units. You can also start from an article's page, on its Item units tab.

1. Choose the article, its supplier price, the warehouse and the reception date.
2. Scan the serial numbers one after the other with your optical scanner: each scan adds a row. You can also type a code and press Enter.
3. For devices with an IMEI, turn on Serial then IMEI scan mode: the scan that follows a serial number fills that unit's IMEI.
4. Confirm. All the units are created in stock in one go.

The whole batch is checked before anything is created: a serial number the article already has, an IMEI already used by another unit, or a code scanned twice is reported and nothing is created until it is fixed.

For a single device, the Create button opens the full unit form (serial number, IMEI, warehouse, buying price, notes).

Finding Your Stock

The Item units list has ready-made views at the top:

The table shows the article, serial number, warehouse, status and current customer. The IMEI, internal reference, supplier, buying price and current folder can be shown from the columns button. Search works on the article name and reference, the serial number and the IMEI, even when those columns are hidden.

Click a unit to open its page: its details and its assignment history, i.e. every customer and folder it went through, with its dates and delivery and return notes. The article name links to the article page.

Assigning Hardware to a Folder

A unit is assigned to a folder line: an initial line for a sale, a recurring line for a rental. A unit can only be assigned if it is in stock, belongs to the same article as the line, and the line has room for it: a line of quantity 3 takes at most 3 units.

There are three ways to assign units. Use the one that matches how you work.

From the Folder Line

When creating or editing an initial or recurring line, the Item units field (Assign a unit from stock) lists the in-stock units of the line's article. Pick as many units as the line quantity. They are reserved when the line is saved.

If the device is not in stock yet, click + next to the field: enter its serial number (and IMEI), supplier price and warehouse. The unit is received into stock and selected straight away.

From the Folder's Hardware Tab

Open the folder and its Hardware tab, then Assign units:

1. Choose the selling line. The list shows, for each line, how many units it already has out of its quantity.
2. Optionally choose the mode. By default: sale for initial lines, rental for recurring lines. Choose Loan for a device lent temporarily.
3. Pick units in In stock units, or scan them. A scanned serial number that does not exist yet can be created on the fly: keep Create the unknown units on and choose their supplier price and warehouse.

Everything is done in one go: if one unit cannot be assigned, none is.

From the Stock

In the Item units list, the Assign button on an in-stock unit lets you choose a folder (only folders with a line for this article are offered), then the line and the mode.

Note: the Allocated, Sold and Deployed statuses cannot be set by hand. They always come from an assignment to a folder line, so a sold unit is always attached to a customer.

Statuses

An assignment goes through these statuses:

The unit's stock status follows automatically: Allocated while reserved or shipped, Sold (sale) or Deployed (rental, loan) once in place, back to In stock when the assignment is cancelled or returned. Use Change status on a row (or in bulk) to move an assignment, for instance to confirm a delivery: only the allowed moves are offered.

While a unit is assigned, its status, article and warehouse are locked on its own page: they follow the folder. A unit that went to a customer can no longer be deleted, so that its history is never lost.

Delivery Notes

In the folder's Hardware tab, select the reserved units to deliver and choose Create delivery note in the bulk actions.

The note is numbered automatically (BL + year + sequence) and its PDF lists each article with all its serial numbers and IMEIs, with two signature boxes ("Delivered by" and "Received by the customer"). It is printed in the customer's language, or else your organisation's default language, or else the language of the user creating it.

The note number appears in the Delivery note column, and the PDF can be opened from there or from the folder's documents.

Replacing a Unit

On an assignment at the customer's, Replace swaps the device for another in-stock unit of the same article (picked or scanned), with a return reason. The new unit takes the old one's place on the line, and the old one goes to Return pending, waiting for its return.

Returns

Return Notes

Select the units to bring back in the Hardware tab and choose Create return note. The units must be In place, or Return pending without a return note yet (after a replacement, for instance). Enter the date, the contact, the return reason (defective, end of contract, wrong item, replacement, other), the pick-up address and a comment.

The units go to Return pending. The PDF (numbered BR + year + sequence) lists the serial numbers, the reason and the return instructions for your customer.

Tip: the return instructions are set in Configuration → Organisation → Organisation settings, section Documents, field Return instructions. When the field is empty, a default text asks the customer to pack the hardware with its accessories and to put a copy of the note in the parcel.

Receiving a Return

When the hardware comes back, select the units and choose Receive return: enter the reception date, the condition and the warehouse where it is stored.

The assignment becomes Returned with its return date. It is no longer counted on the line, but it stays in the folder: in the Hardware tab, the Returned / archived filter shows the returned hardware with its return date and return note.

Finding Hardware and Its Folders

Permissions

• Seeing hardware requires the right to view articles.
• Assigning, changing, replacing or returning units requires the right to edit both the folder and the articles.
• Receiving or creating units requires the right to create articles.
• Delivery and return notes are only visible to users with the View delivery/return notes right on folders.

Next Steps

See Warehouses & Stock to set up your storage locations, or Folders & Configuration for how folder lines work.