Serial Number Generation
I can be as much as you want it to be.


  Since I never saw a device with serial number 1, 2, 3


That's why we start at 1001 and increment. But an example of a serial number that contains some lifecycle data is that of an eWON unit:


  eWON Serial Number: 0607-0003-88
  The first 4 digits denote the production year and week. (0607 = YYWW)
  The next 4 digits represents a sequential production number. (0003)
  The last 2 digits denote the product code which identify the eWON type. (88 = eWON 4001)


This tells you something about the age, the location and batch of production, and the specific type is was configured to (if applicable).  Obviously you can expand this with checksum digits or anything you like.

Above serial number can be really helpful if you know that units produced between week 6 and 7 have a problem. You can lookup which customers bought units that match 1806-xxxx-xx to 1807-xxxx-xx and issue RMA.

But you can also hide this data behind 1402 in a database.