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How to Trace a serial number in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Where did it GO!? Have you ever been asked (or required) to track a serialized item or component from its receipt into the warehouse through the finished product? Alternatively, where that item went when transferred from one location to another? How about determining if that item(as part of a finished product) has been shipped to an end customer? Searching and tracking items through your production and shipping processes can be time consuming and stressful. Often there is an urgent need by someone in your organization, or potentially a regulatory body, to determine the precise location of a particular item or part. In this article, we walk through how to trace a serial number in Dynamics 365 Business Central to answer that very question – where did it go?

To begin item tracing, click on the search icon and enter Item Tracing.  Select the related link.

From the Item Tracing screen, you may search by Serial No., Lot No., or Item.

For example, to search by serial number, enter the serial number in the Serial No. filter field. Select Process and the Trace.

The system retrieves information based on the Trace Method selected. We can choose to see how a unit was brought into Business Central and where it has been consumed (origin to usage), or we can start with usage and trace back to origin.

In our example here, we can see that this bicycle chain was received on purchase receipt #10738, consumed with other components on assembly order A0001, output to finished good item number 1000, and shipped to the end consumer on sales shipment #102043.

We can open and review related documents, such as sales shipments, by selecting Navigate -> Line -> Show Document.

To learn more about tracking serialized inventory and lot
tracked inventory – here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/walkthrough-tracing-serial-lot-numbers

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