Our users would like the ability to design parts without consuming EPDM serial numbers which would give them the flexibility to create & delete parts as they go with their own desriptive file names, sign them in and out as needed and then once they are finished with their conceptual design and only have the parts needed (unnecessary ones deleted) they would then sign in and and somehow apply the EPDM serial numbers to their finalized design,

I believe I have seen something similar but am not sure how to get there.

Our current setup is designed to simply apply a serial number to all files on creation but this could leave us with lots of unused part numbers. The designers also like the ability to call their files whatever descriptive name they want, at least until their concept has been finalized.

We could, however, also simply create a conceptual serial numbering scheme which initially simply names all files with a conceptual sequential number and then once the design is finalized the files can be renamed and given part numbers with the final serial number schema.