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Hi All,

 

I have following situation with a customer. They sell modular equipment, so the complete equipment is produced as a part serial, and it contains multiple modules that are also Part Serials. All Part serials are defined as Serial Objects (the complete machine and the individual modules). 

 

So after Delivery of the machine, IFS creates the Serial Object structure based on ‘Create SM Object’ functionality on the CO line. So all Serial Objects of the modules receive ‘Current Position’ = ‘Contained’.

 

Now: after X months, a module breaks down. They work with local service partners that remove the module from the equipment and replace it with a new one (the replacement itself is not tracked in IFS, no WO exists, you only see a sale and shipment of a new module). The old module needs to return to their HQ for breakdown analysis and possible repair. They want to do this with RMA so they can easily track all modules that are coming back from all over the world. 

 

problem: when you try to receive a Serial Object in Current Position = ‘Contained’ through RMA this generates an error. 

I also cannot use ‘Disconnect from parent’ on the Part Serial since my object has been reported to Service Management.

 

The only method I currently know is to return the part using a Work Order. That removes the Serial Object from the structure and puts the part ‘In Inventory’. But as I mentioned, the customer would like everything that returns tracked and received through RMA. So currenlty I am obliged to issue the Serial Object back to customer, removing it from my stock and now has ‘Current Position’ = ‘Issued’. And we can do a receive on the RMA.

 

Is there another method to deal with this situation in an easier way? I find the whole process tedious and time-consuming. I wonder if there is an easier method to get a Serial Object returned that is in ‘Current Position’ = ‘Contained’

 

best Regards

Roel

Hi @Timmermans Roel did you manage to figure this out? We have the same situation. Sell a whole unit and the customer wants to ship back individual modules (serial tracked)  back for repair. Not the whole unit. We cant receive these in via CRO as they are contained. We do have the option to disconnect from parent but we are unsure if this is the best thing to do/ what the impact is.

Dear @Burt84 ,

 

Yes, we managed to find an easier way. We navigate to the relevant Serial Object (which has ‘Current Position’ = ‘Contained’) and use the ‘Move Serial Object’ Functionality to move the Serial Object from it’s current position to a functionak object that represents the Customer’s stock.

 

So for example is you have customer 123456, we create a Functional Object 123456 (same number so it is more easy to remember and day-to-day use) and we move the Serial Object to this Functional Object. With that action it receives the Current Position ‘In Facility’.

 

The above only works when your modules are ‘Serial Objects’ off course, when they are not Serial Objects but only Pat Serials, I believe the ‘Disconnect from parent’ is rhe only option. That was my initial problem - the disconnect is not available for Part Serials that are also Serial Objects.

 

Best Regards

Roel

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