Revision by batch and serial number: high-value goods

Phones, televisions, laptops, household appliances, medicines, cosmetics, car parts: for such goods "pieces" is not enough information. Two phones of the same model differ in colour or serial number, and two medicines with the same name differ in batch and expiry date. An ordinary count says "there are twenty", and the books say twenty too. But some of them may be a different series or an expired batch. A revision by batch and serial number reveals exactly this hidden difference.

When a plain count is not enough

In these cases even a count that gives the right quantity can be misleading:

• expensive electronics: the serial number (IMEI or S/N) is unique to each unit;
• medicines and cosmetics: batch and expiry date;
• spare parts: look alike but carry different article numbers;
• warranty: replacements and repairs tracked by serial number.

With such goods a mistake is costly. A swapped phone or a sale from an expired batch of medicine damages both the money and the customer's trust.

The serial register

For expensive goods, keep a register: model, serial number, receipt date, supplier, location and status (in stock, sold, under warranty, demo). On receipt, read and write down the serial number of each unit, and enter the same number in the document at sale. In a revision you inspect the units against the numbers in the register: if the number matches, the item is in place. Such a check takes longer than an ordinary count, but for the most expensive items it is exactly what works. Keep the register in a spreadsheet and fill it in at every new receipt. Do not delete the serial of a sold item; mark it "sold", so that if a warranty or return question arises later, the history survives.

Batch records

For medicines, food, cosmetics and chemicals, the batch number and expiry date should be written down on receipt. In a revision the count goes batch by batch: not "40 pieces of this item" but "25 from batch A and 15 from batch B". That way batches nearing their date become visible, and if necessary exactly that batch can be set apart or returned to the supplier. Noting batch numbers on receipt takes a few minutes but makes it much easier later to find and isolate goods with a shelf life.

Not everything needs a register

Tracking every item by serial number is wasted effort. A simple rule: keep serial records for high-value goods, batch records for goods where shelf life matters, and an ordinary count for the rest. You set the threshold yourself, for example goods priced above a certain sum. That keeps the register small and therefore always up to date. Start with the ten most expensive items and widen the list later.

Steps of the revision

1. Print the register or the batch list before the count.
2. For each item, inspect the units and compare the serial or batch with the list (with a scanner or a phone camera).
3. Write down separately the numbers that are on the list but not on the shelf, and those on the shelf but missing from the list.
4. Find a document for each mismatch: a sale, a warranty replacement, a return or a transfer.
5. Recount unexplained serials and obtain an explanation.

Typical causes: a warranty replacement was not recorded by serial number, a display sample was not transferred to sale, or a mistake was made when typing a serial number by hand.

A hypothetical example: 24 televisions in the records and 24 on the rack. Checked by serial number, 23 match the register and one has a number that is not in the books. The documents show it is a television replaced under warranty, and the serial of the replacement was never entered in the program. The register is corrected and the difference disappears. In an ordinary count this situation would have stayed invisible. Check the serial of returned equipment too: make sure the customer is returning the very unit that was sold.

Conclusion

For expensive goods and goods with a shelf life, counting pieces is not enough: the serial and the batch serve as an item's "personal document". A small register for the right items and a check of it during the revision help to uncover hidden differences. If a warehouse of electronics, medicines or spare parts needs a revision by serial and batch, the Reviziya team can organise the count and help put the register in order.