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First of all it'll get picked up by the people who set up the serial number printer. They don't just set it to a random number - the factory will have a procedure to make sure the number is set right.Printer ran out of toner and nobody noticed until the next shift.
> Then it'll get picked up by the end-of-line testing, as test reports are filed by serial number.
Nah, test report operator was out sick that day and product needed to be pushed anyway. Manager assumed they're all good and overrode tests.
> Then it'll get picked up when the first part comes off the production line and gets checked by the factory's most conscientious testers and engineers.
Those testers and engineers don't have all day to test every single product. They only tested the first 100.
> Then it'll get picked up at goods inbound, when they count the items and check them in, and find the system says some of them are used, or there's a discrepancy in the number of items.
Counted by total weight divided by individual weight.
> Then it'll get picked up at acceptance testing, when they find the shipment's test records aren't in order.
Counted total number of UPCs.
> Then it'll get picked up by accounts payable, when the manufacturer bills for parts they've already been paid for.
Accounts payable sees a box, of 1000 parts and they're labeled and the top 100 appear genuine... pay it.
> Then depending on the numbers and costs involved, you either send the bad units back for relabelling or trash them, in either case at the manufacturer's expense.
Manufacturer thinks you're trying to defraud them and won't authorize a return without a serial number.