A return with no history
A dealer brings back a washing machine. Nobody can say which invoice it was on, or whether the warranty still runs, so the counter takes their word for it.
Appliances & Electronics
Every unit by its serial. Every return to its invoice.
Appliances and electronics are sold one unit at a time, even when they ship by the pallet. Warranty, returns and supplier claims all depend on knowing which unit went to which customer, and when. OrbitWix records the serial at receipt, carries it through every movement, and dates the warranty from the day the unit was delivered.
The problem
Where a serial number goes missing.
Each unit is worth something on its own. Lose track of one, and the cost is the unit, the claim and the customer’s patience.
Serials recorded at the end, if at all
Units go out by the pallet and the serials are typed in later from a photo of the labels. Some are never typed in.
Last year’s model sits in the back
A new model arrives every season. The old one is still on the shelf, and nobody sees it until it has to be cleared at a loss.
Supplier claims that can’t be proved
The manufacturer will replace a faulty unit, but only with its serial, the receipt it came in on and the date it was sold.
Typical workflow
How a unit moves.
One serial, from the supplier’s carton to the customer and, sometimes, back again. Every step is on its record.
A serialised unit moves through six stages: received with its serial, reserved for an order, scanned onto the delivery, invoiced, under warranty, and returned and credited.
-
01 Receipt
SN-TV55-30418
Serial recorded
-
02 Order
SN-TV55-30418
Reserved
-
03 Delivery
SN-TV55-30418
Scanned
-
04 Invoice
SN-TV55-30418
Invoiced
-
05 Warranty
SN-TV55-30418
Until Oct 2027
-
06 Return
SN-TV55-30418
Credited
The solution
What OrbitWix puts in place.
Six parts, all hanging off the serial number.
Serials from the first receipt
Each unit gets its serial when it is received, so stock is a list of units rather than a count.
Scanned onto the delivery
The delivery note carries the serials that left, so the record says exactly which units each customer has.
Warranty dated from delivery
A warranty period on the item, and an end date on each serial set from the day it was delivered.
Dealer prices and schemes
Price lists per dealer group, with seasonal schemes that have a start and an end date.
Returns against the original invoice
A return is found by its serial and credited against the invoice it was sold on, at the price it was sold at.
Back to the supplier by serial
A faulty unit is returned against the receipt it came in on, with its serial, so the claim carries its own proof.
Example
One television, one season.
An illustration of one unit’s life on the record. The names are made up; the sequence is the ordinary one.
- 8 Oct A container of 120 televisions is received. Each serial is scanned on the receipt, so stock is 120 known units.
- 10 Oct A dealer, Harbour Electronics, orders 24. They are reserved, and the serials are scanned onto the delivery note as they are loaded.
- 12 Oct The units are delivered and invoiced. Each serial now shows its dealer, its invoice and a warranty end date one year out.
- Feb One unit comes back with a dead panel. The serial finds its invoice in seconds; it is under warranty, so it is credited at the price it was sold at.
- Feb The unit goes back to the manufacturer against the receipt it arrived on, serial and dates attached.
Visibility
Reports you read, and work you stop doing.
Both read the same records the work is done on, so neither needs an export to stay current.
Reports
- Serial historyEvery movement of one unit, from receipt to return.
- Units by customerWhich serials each dealer holds, with their warranty dates.
- Warranty endingUnits whose warranty ends in the next 30, 60 or 90 days.
- Stock by model ageHow long each model has sat, so the old ones are cleared before the new ones land.
- Returns by modelWhich models come back, how often, and why.
Automation
- A warranty end date is set on each serial when it is delivered
- A delivery cannot be submitted without the serials of the units on it
- A watch on models that have not sold in 60 days while a newer one is in stock Early access
Items marked early access run on Watcher, which is still being finished.
Recommended apps
Where to start.
Appliance and electronics distributors usually start with these four on the Core OS, and add Purchase for supplier returns once the serials are flowing.
Inventory
Serial numbers from receipt, warranty dates and stock by model.
Sales
Dealer price lists and seasonal schemes with their dates.
Dispatch
Serials scanned onto the delivery note as units are loaded.
Finance
Returns credited against the invoice they were sold on.
FAQ
Questions from appliance and electronics distributors.
Do we have to track every unit by serial?
Only the items you choose. Serial tracking is switched on per item, so a television can be serialised while its wall bracket is counted in pieces.
How is the warranty date worked out?
The item carries a warranty period. When a serialised unit is delivered, its warranty end date is set from the delivery date, and it stays on the serial’s record.
Can we find a unit from its serial alone?
Yes. The serial shows where the unit is now and every movement it made — the receipt it came in on, the delivery it left on and the invoice it was sold on.
Does it run repair and service jobs?
The serial’s history and warranty date are on the record, which is what a service desk needs. How repair jobs themselves are run differs a lot between businesses, so talk to us about yours.
Have a different question? Talk to us.
See one of your units, end to end.
Bring a serial number from a return you handled last month. We will show what the record would have said about it, and how long it would have taken to find.