3D Printing Serial number suggestions

I use a series of numbers, where the position in the sequens have different meanings.
So for example you could do something like the first two numbers for size, the next two might be colour, the next two the mold and so on, for as much information as you need and then a final couple of numbers that are unique to the individual doll.
This works well for my needs. It's not obvious to anyone else exactly what the number means and that makes it dificult to reverse engineer a plausible number sequence if someone should want to to do so, but I can see at a glance if a given number match a certain doll. And I keep a database of the dolls numbers, so I can go back and match up the unique number to the mold etc. if I need to.
Using only numbers and no letters is a tip I picked up from industrial pattern construction, where the patterns often are sent to be produced in asian countries. Numbers are usually available on key boards and being only ten of them, they are reasonably easy to learn and identify even if you use a different writing system. This makes them less likely to be missinterpreted than letters. I figure that with the international nature of the BJD hobby, the same idea seems sensible for dolls.

 

I have a master document saved in one place and a few back ups here and there. Depending on your level of comfort and how you intend to use the numbers (just to keep track vs. using it to be able to later authenticate a specific doll or buyer) it may or may not be a good idea to use a cloud service or to host the document the same place you host any home page or shop that your project use. Anything works, really. Just think through the safety of it, make sure there is a back up and if there is any reson at all to keep the document secret, don't host it anywhere that you don't have full control over (such as a using a google service, a shared computer or similar). This is a company secret, after all. You also probably want to keep the key for what the different parts of the number mean in a separate document.
Likewise, make sure you control who has access to the document, if you work alone this may not be a problem today, but suppose that you later on want to hire an asistant or you have friend helping out, make sure you have thought through what they need and don't need access to and store your document accordingly.
What format you use doesn't really matter, use whatever works for you and just keep it simple and clear. You can always rework it into a different formast later if you need to.

For that reason, I'd rather not go into detail of exact what information I save through the number or in the database, but if you intend to save any kind of personal information (name, adress, e-mail or even username; anything that can be directly connected to the person) about the buyer of a certain doll, make sure you understand the local laws about handeling such information and if you sell internationally, being aquainted with the other large actors such as the EU and China and their laws on the matter is a good idea as well. People often assume that their data will be stored in accordence with the laws they are familliar with.

I generqte new numbers as I go. When ever I have finished a doll or doll part that could potentially get a CoA I make up their number and add it to the database. I don't actually write out the CoA for dolls I make for my own collection, but they still have their numbers.

 

i used for serial nr. year of production, doll number, color, i engrave the numbers by hand after casting. since i only had a limited edition its pretty easy, on larger productions it becomes confusing. I made of all my coas a copy for my documentation.