---
title: "Hardware Tracking"
section: "Catalog & Folders"
order: 26
availability: oryn
excerpt: "Follow every piece of hardware by its serial number: receive it into stock with a scanner, assign it to a folder line, print delivery and return notes, and find any unit and its history in seconds."
alternate_slug: suivi-materiel
alternate_slug_de: hardwareverfolgung
---

## 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](/en/docs/product-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](/en/docs/folders-configuration): 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](/en/docs/warehouses) 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:

| View | Shows |
|---|---|
| **All** | Every unit (default view) |
| **In stock** | Units available for a customer |
| **At customers** | Allocated, sold or deployed units |
| **Returned** | Returned units waiting to be checked |
| **Defective** | Units declared defective |
| **Ordered** | Units ordered but not received yet |

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:

| Status | Meaning | Can move to |
|---|---|---|
| **Reserved** | The unit is set aside for the line | Shipped, In place, Cancelled |
| **Shipped** | The unit has left, delivery not confirmed yet | In place, Cancelled |
| **In place** | The unit is at the customer's | Return pending, Returned |
| **Return pending** | A return was requested | Returned, In place |
| **Returned** | The unit came back | — |
| **Cancelled** | The reservation was cancelled before delivery | — |

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.

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| **Date of delivery note** | Printed on the note |
| **Contact** | The customer's on-site contact |
| **Delivery address** | Free text, printed on the note |
| **Other lines (without serial number)** | Lines delivered without serial numbers (cables, accessories…), with their quantity |
| **Notes** | Printed in the comments |
| **Delivery confirmed now** | On: the units go straight to *In place*. Off: they are *Shipped*, and you confirm the delivery later with **Change status**. |

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.

| Condition | The unit becomes |
|---|---|
| **OK** | **In stock**, ready to be assigned again |
| **To check** | **Returned**, waiting to be checked |
| **Defective** | **Defective** |

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

| Where | What you find |
|---|---|
| **Global search** (top bar) | Type a serial number or an IMEI (or its beginning): every customer and folder the unit went through, with its status, plus the unit itself when it is in stock |
| **Folders list** search | Folders by the serial number of a unit they hold or held |
| **Customer page**, **Hardware** section (under Invoices) | The customer's hardware across all their folders. Turn on **Include returned** to see the returned hardware with its return details |
| Folder's **Hardware** tab | The folder's hardware, grouped by line. Searchable by article name or reference, serial number and IMEI |
| **Item units** list | All your units, by article name or reference, serial number or IMEI |
| **Unit page** | The full assignment history of one device |

## 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](/en/docs/warehouses)** to set up your storage locations, or **[Folders & Configuration](/en/docs/folders-configuration)** for how folder lines work.