How can I track a serial number after it's assembled into a BOM?
Suppose product A with component B. Products A and B have a serial number and tracking options enabled. When manufacturing product A, the system will ask for the serial of A and B. Then, I sell product A to a customer. Now, product A's serial is shown at the customer's location. But, product B is shown at a "virtual production" location.
To show a serial's location, I use the menu: Reporting > Inventory Analysis > Group by Lot + Location
Also, I can see the serial's location in Warehouse > Traceablility > Serial Number.
Example: A car has a serial number. The car's engine has a serial number. The engine is assembled into the car. How can I find the car s/n for a given engine s/n.
If there's no way to track a serial number once it goes through a BOM then I think it's fair to say that OpenERP has not implemented serial numbers into manufacturing. It only covers shipments (purchasing, sales, internal movements), and treats manufacturing only if its basically a shipment from one location to another. The "production virtual" location is a programming shortcut, a dumping ground for serial numbers undergoing anything else.