Serial Number Edits

Minimum of one and maximum of 20 alpha and numeric characters. Single zero only, run of zeros only, single alpha only, or run of alphas only, indicating the Article Serial Number is not known, cannot be used. Serial Number and Owner-Applied Number cannot be identical.

When there are three or more article records on file in NCIC with matching data in the Serial Number (SER) Field, the Type (TYP) Field, and the Brand (BRA) Field, the NCIC Quality Control Staff cancels the non-unique serial number records and enters an “ATTENTION” message containing the same SER, TYP, and BRA to alert NCIC users concerning the non-unique SER. The duplication of the SER indicates the number may be a stock control number, model, production, or catalog number rather than a unique manufacturer-assigned serial number. After this “ATTENTION” message has been entered into the Article File, any subsequent entry with the same SER, TIP, and BRA will be rejected:

The same reject message and caveat will be furnished to any modify transaction changing an article record to the same SER, TYP, and BRA.