Rentman uses items and serial numbers. An item is a specific type of equipment, which can consist of a number of unique serial numbers.

Example: One of your items is a Martin Atomix 3000 DMX strobe light. When you have five of these strobe lights, you have five unique serial numbers.

Serialized vs. Bulk
Using serial numbers is optional. You can also have items without serial numbers (bulk items), such as less expensive equipment like cables. For these items, it's less important to track the location or status.

Why use serial numbers instead of bulk items?
With serial numbers, you can track the location and status of a specific (and unique) piece of equipment. You may also set up QR codes and barcodes to do this by scanning your equipment. You cannot track individual bulk items or assign a unique QR code to an individual bulk item.

In this article, we explain how to add your serial numbers in Rentman. You can add a single serial number or multiple serial numbers at once. Serial numbers can be added to physical items and physical combinations. 

Add your serial numbers

You can add serial numbers to a physical item or a physical combination.

Note: You cannot add serial numbers to a virtual combination because the content of a virtual combination is flexible and therefore doesn't allow for locking and tracking a unique serial number.

New equipment Existing equipment
  1. Go to the category Equipment module
  2. Click on + Add equipment
  3. Fill in the information, and for the Stock calculation method, choose Serialized. Screenshot 2023-07-28 at 14.06.11.png
  4. Click on Save . Based on the quantity you put in, the serial numbers will be automatically generated.
  5. (Optional) You can edit serial numbers' information. Navigating to the Serial numbers tab of your equipment and double-click on a serial number to edit. 

Screenshot 2023-07-28 at 12.03.14.pngSee below for other options you can fill in.

Other options

  • Internal reference
    • Code or phrase to refer to your serial number internally. This reference will also be shown in Rentman when a serial number is marked for repair in the build Maintenance module, for example.
  • Date of purchase
  • Purchase price
  • Depreciation per month
  • Remark
  • Calculate book value automatically
    • If you select this, you can fill in the Depreciation per month. This information is necessary to let Rentman automatically calculate the current book value. The book value is calculated as follows:
      Book value = Purchase price - (Depreciation per month * Months since date of purchase)
  • Active
    • If you select "No", the serial number will become inactive. It will be unavailable and cannot be planned on projects. This will also happen if you mark a serial number as lost in the Maintenance module.

View history of serial numbers

When booking equipment with serial numbers, Rentman keeps an overview of all projects that your serial numbers were planned on. This is useful to pinpoint when an item got lost or when it became defective.

Serial numbers for physical combinations

Not only can equipment items have serial numbers, but you can also add serial numbers to physical combinations. Take these steps to assign a serial number to a physical combination: Add your serial number.

Let's say you have a "DJ Booth Combination". After completing all the steps, you have added a serial number for one specific physical combination. If you have 5 combinations in your stock, you could add 4 more serial numbers (one for every combination) to distinguish your different "DJ Booth combinations". 

Add content for serial numbers in physical combination

After doing the steps already mentioned to create serial numbers, you can now add specific content for each specific serial number. This can be useful to create a "prime combination" for example. Taking the "DJ Booth Combination" as an example again, you can fill this physical combination with all the newest equipment items from your inventory to make sure an important customer has the best experience they could get.

  1. Go to the Serial numbers tab of the physical combination.
  2. Select a physical combination, click the More options more_vert button and select "Assign serial numbers".
  3. Select for each item the correct serial numbers
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  4. Confirm

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to use serial numbers?
No, serial numbers are optional. You can also have items without serial numbers, such as less expensive items like cables. For these items it's less important to track the location or status.
How do I import equipment with serial numbers?
Read our article about importing equipment for instructions.
How do I use QR codes with serial numbers?
Read our article about setting up QR codes and barcodes for more information.
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