diff --git a/svc/product_series_auto_scheduler.go b/svc/product_series_auto_scheduler.go
index e80e52b..e1e8c14 100644
--- a/svc/product_series_auto_scheduler.go
+++ b/svc/product_series_auto_scheduler.go
@@ -92,6 +92,15 @@ func productSeriesFallbackEnabled() bool {
 	return raw == "1" || raw == "true" || raw == "on" || raw == "yes"
 }
 
+func productSeriesFallbackAutoCreateEnabled() bool {
+	// Default on: avoid manual intervention by auto-creating the fallback dfgrp row when missing.
+	raw := strings.TrimSpace(strings.ToLower(os.Getenv("PRODUCT_SERIES_FALLBACK_AUTO_CREATE")))
+	if raw == "" {
+		return true
+	}
+	return raw == "1" || raw == "true" || raw == "on" || raw == "yes"
+}
+
 func productSeriesFallbackCode() string {
 	code := strings.TrimSpace(os.Getenv("PRODUCT_SERIES_FALLBACK_SERIES_CODE"))
 	if code == "" {
@@ -141,13 +150,61 @@ LIMIT 1
 `, code).Scan(&id, &gotCode)
 	if err != nil {
 		if err == sql.ErrNoRows {
-			// cache negative for a short period too
+			if !productSeriesFallbackAutoCreateEnabled() {
+				// cache negative for a short period too
+				productSeriesFallbackMu.Lock()
+				productSeriesFallbackCachedCode = code
+				productSeriesFallbackCachedID = 0
+				productSeriesFallbackCachedAt = time.Now()
+				productSeriesFallbackMu.Unlock()
+				return 0, code, nil
+			}
+
+			// Auto-create the fallback series definition (best-effort) to avoid manual steps.
+			// We guard with the same mutex to avoid duplicate inserts within this process.
 			productSeriesFallbackMu.Lock()
+			defer productSeriesFallbackMu.Unlock()
+
+			// Re-check under lock in case another goroutine created it while we were waiting.
+			if productSeriesFallbackCachedCode == code && productSeriesFallbackCachedID > 0 &&
+				productSeriesFallbackCachedAt.After(time.Now().Add(-10*time.Minute)) {
+				return productSeriesFallbackCachedID, code, nil
+			}
+
+			var createdID int64
+			createErr := pg.QueryRowContext(ctx, `
+INSERT INTO dfgrp (code, title, is_active, typ, master, parent_filter, sort_order, is_required, notes)
+SELECT $1, $1, TRUE, 'opt', 'zbggseri', '', 0, FALSE, 'auto-created fallback series'
+WHERE NOT EXISTS (
+  SELECT 1 FROM dfgrp WHERE master='zbggseri' AND code=$1
+)
+RETURNING id
+`, code).Scan(&createdID)
+			if createErr != nil {
+				// If RETURNING didn't return because it already exists, select it now.
+				var sid int64
+				var scode string
+				selErr := pg.QueryRowContext(ctx, `
+SELECT id, COALESCE(code,'')
+FROM dfgrp
+WHERE master='zbggseri' AND code=$1
+ORDER BY id
+LIMIT 1
+`, code).Scan(&sid, &scode)
+				if selErr != nil {
+					// still missing; treat as disabled for now
+					productSeriesFallbackCachedCode = code
+					productSeriesFallbackCachedID = 0
+					productSeriesFallbackCachedAt = time.Now()
+					return 0, code, nil
+				}
+				createdID = sid
+			}
+
 			productSeriesFallbackCachedCode = code
-			productSeriesFallbackCachedID = 0
+			productSeriesFallbackCachedID = createdID
 			productSeriesFallbackCachedAt = time.Now()
-			productSeriesFallbackMu.Unlock()
-			return 0, code, nil
+			return createdID, code, nil
 		}
 		return 0, code, err
 	}