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Create a recall case

Define an affected population, preview the exact units and orders, and activate a stable recall ledger.

Last updated: August 22, 2026

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A recall case turns one or more selectors into an exact set of serialized units and affected orders. Nothing is published while the case is a draft.

What you'll accomplish

  • Define the product population that may be affected.
  • Preview exact unit and order counts before committing a ledger.
  • Activate the case only after the preview matches your source evidence.

Requirements

  • Recall creation must be included in your plan or early-access entitlement.
  • The serial registry must contain the units you want to resolve.
  • Product and sold-date selectors require order-linked unit history.
  • Keep the source notice, engineering decision, or incident record beside you. Serial Trail does not decide which products require a recall.

Quick checklist

  • Confirm the affected serial boundaries, pools, products, and sale dates.
  • Normalize any explicit serial list before upload.
  • Decide whether selectors should form one union or separate cases.
  • Record who approved the affected-set definition.

Create and preview the case

  1. Open Recalls and select Create recall.
  2. Enter a short operational title and an internal reason. Do not put customer instructions in the internal reason.
  3. Add one or more selectors:
    • Serial range for a bounded family with comparable fixed-width serials.
    • Pool for every eligible unit in a serial pool.
    • Product window for a product or variant sold during an inclusive date range.
    • Serial list for explicit values from a controlled source file.
  4. Select Preview affected set.
  5. Compare matched units, affected orders, unmatched serials, and sample rows with your source evidence.
  6. Correct the definition and preview again if any count is unexpected.
  7. Select Activate recall only when the preview is approved.

Selectors are combined as a union. If multiple selectors match the same unit, it appears once; the first matching selector records its provenance.

How a serial range decides coverage

A serial range compares all digit positions as one number, read left to right. Both endpoints must have the same length, the same fixed text, and digits in the same positions. Those digits are then read together as a single value and compared against the same positions in every serial.

This matters when a serial contains more than one group of digits. For the range AB-10-CD-20 to AB-12-CD-80:

  • AB-11-CD-90 is covered, because 1190 falls between 1020 and 1280.
  • AB-12-CD-81 is not covered, because 1281 is above 1280.

Each digit group is not bounded on its own. A trailing group can hold a value outside its own two endpoints while the serial as a whole still falls inside the range. If you need every group bounded independently, use a Serial list, or create one range per leading group.

Always confirm coverage in the preview before activating.

⚠️
A zero-match case can be intentional, but it is not proof that no affected units were sold. Check serial formatting, pool coverage, order history, and date boundaries before activation.

What success looks like

  • The case status is Active.
  • The affected-unit and affected-order counts match the approved preview.
  • Each affected row shows how it matched the definition.
  • Unit passports show the active recall badge.
  • The case can be exported without recalculating its historical evidence from current product data.

Troubleshooting

A serial range is rejected

Symptom: The range cannot be previewed.

Likely cause: The boundaries use incompatible prefixes or numeric widths, such as SN-99 and SN-100.

Fix: Use equal-width boundaries such as SN-000099 and SN-000100, or upload an explicit serial list.

Confirm: Preview succeeds and the first and last expected serials appear in the sample or export.

Expected units are missing

Symptom: The preview count is lower than your source record.

Likely cause: The serial is absent, voided, outside the selected pool, or not linked to an order inside the sold-date window.

Fix: Search the serial in Serials → Units, verify its pool and lifecycle, then adjust the selector or use an explicit list.

Confirm: A new preview records the unit and its expected selector provenance.

The preview is still running

Symptom: Counts do not appear immediately for a large definition.

Likely cause: Resolution is queued and processed in chunks.

Fix: Keep the page open or return later. Do not create a duplicate case for the same source decision.

Confirm: The run reaches a terminal status and exposes stable counts.

Responsibility and recordkeeping

Serial Trail provides unit resolution and operational evidence. Your organization remains responsible for hazard assessment, regulator reporting, stop-sale decisions, notice approval, remedies, and legal advice.