How you can Match Vendor Merchandise Codes to Stock in NetSuite

It is a widespread AP problem that you’ve got in all probability seen earlier than – in terms of shopping for items and providers, no two individuals (or corporations) will use the identical language.

Whilst you can create uniform merchandise codes and UPCs (Common Product Codes) in your NetSuite setting, your distributors all have a thoughts of their very own – and can not often (if ever) observe the identical terminology.

If the identical stock gadgets are procured from a number of suppliers, or in case your buying division is sourcing from a number of areas – it provides to the complexity.

Fortunately, there’s multiple approach out. On this information, we’ll cowl a number of methods you may map vendor-specific merchandise codes to your NetSuite gadgets.

We’ll particularly take a look at:

1. Mapping a number of Vendor Merchandise Codes to 1 NetSuite Merchandise
2. Mapping a single Vendor Merchandise Code to a NetSuite Merchandise
3. Utilizing CSV Imports for Bulk Mapping
4. Storing SKU Mappings Outdoors NetSuite (for eg. if you’re utilizing OCR)
5. Utilizing Workflow Automation to mix the very best components of options 1 – 4

These options will differ a bit – some are extra guide whereas some options are extremely automated and good for scale. You may decide what’s greatest for your corporation relying in your scale of operations.

Mapping a number of Vendor Codes to 1 NetSuite Merchandise

Should you work with a number of distributors for a similar merchandise, one of the best ways to retailer vendor SKU codes is within the ItemVendor Desk. This lets you hyperlink every merchandise to a number of distributors together with their particular merchandise codes.

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That is the commonest situation – many widespread stock gadgets will fall into this class. For instance, in the event you’re buying standardized components/equipment as a part of a small manufacturing setup, you will in all probability need to supply from a number of distributors to get the very best worth.

Here is how one can set this up and fetch the info by means of a Saved Search or SuiteQL question.

Steps:

1. Allow A number of Distributors for an Merchandise:
   • Go to Setup > Firm > Allow Options.
   • Underneath the “Objects & Stock” tab, allow A number of Distributors for gadgets.
2. Enter Vendor Codes:
   • Open the merchandise document and navigate to the Buying/Stock tab.
   • Within the Distributors subtab, you’ll discover a discipline so as to add vendor-specific merchandise codes. Enter the seller SKU code for every vendor supplying the merchandise.
3. Create a Saved Search to Show Vendor Codes:

• Go to Experiences > Saved Searches > New.
• Choose Merchandise as the kind.
• Within the Outcomes tab, choose the next fields:
  • Merchandise > Identify
  • Vendor > Identify
  • Vendor > Vendor Code
• Run the search to get an inventory of things and their vendor-specific codes.
1. Utilizing SuiteQL to Fetch Vendor SKU Codes: SuiteQL is a strong question language that enables extra superior retrieval of information. You need to use SuiteQL to extract vendor SKUs for gadgets straight. This technique can be utilized in the event you’re utilizing the NetSuite API.

SELECT 
   Vendor.CompanyName,
   ItemVendor.vendorCode,
   ItemVendor.purchasePrice
FROM 
   ItemVendor
INNER JOIN 
   Vendor ON ItemVendor.vendor = Vendor.Id
WHERE 
   ItemVendor.Merchandise = 'YOUR_ITEM_NUMBER';

On this question, we’re utilizing the itemVendor desk to get the checklist of all distributors which have that merchandise listed, and their respective codes for that particular merchandise.

Mapping a single Vendor Code to a NetSuite Merchandise


Should you solely work with one vendor per merchandise, utilizing a customized discipline or an Merchandise Alias is a less complicated technique. This lets you retailer the seller’s SKU code straight within the merchandise document.

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That is extra helpful in situations when the merchandise can solely be sourced from one specific vendor – an instance is automotive components or digital chips that may often be bought straight from OEMs (Authentic Gear Producers) like Apple or Tesla.

Here is the best way to implement this mapping:

Steps:

1. Create a Customized Area:



• Navigate to Customization > Lists, Data, & Fields > Merchandise Fields > New.
• Create a customized discipline referred to as Vendor SKU Code (Textual content discipline kind).
• Add this discipline to your merchandise data.
1. Enter Vendor SKU Code:
   • Go to every merchandise document and populate the Vendor SKU Code discipline with the respective vendor’s SKU.
2. Use the Vendor SKU in Transactions:
   • As soon as added, this tradition discipline can be utilized in transactions like buy orders and payments to point out the seller SKU subsequent to your inner merchandise code.
3. Show the Vendor SKU on Types:
   • If you need the seller SKU to point out up on printed buy orders or vendor payments, you may customise the transaction varieties to incorporate this tradition discipline.

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For single-vendor gadgets, you would possibly wish to think about using UPCs (Common Product Codes). A UPC quantity lets you determine particular person items of stock – as an illustration, you would possibly wish to monitor serial numbers of things like laptops or cell phones.

Utilizing CSV Imports for Bulk Mapping

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It is a one-time fast repair if you do not have a really complicated stock setup on NetSuite – you might discover it troublesome to do that repeatedly.

If in case you have a lot of gadgets and distributors, manually coming into every SKU code could possibly be time-consuming. On this case, you need to use NetSuite’s CSV Import characteristic to bulk replace vendor SKU codes on your gadgets.

Steps:

1. Put together the CSV File:
   • Create a CSV file with columns for Merchandise Identify/ID, Vendor Identify, and Vendor SKU Code.
2. Go to the CSV Import Device:



• Navigate to Setup > Import/Export > Import CSV Data.
• Select Merchandise because the document kind and observe the prompts to add your CSV file.
1. Map the Fields:
   • In the course of the import course of, make sure that the CSV columns are accurately mapped to the suitable fields in NetSuite (Merchandise, Vendor, and Vendor SKU Code).
2. Run the Import:
   • After mapping, run the import to replace all of your merchandise data with the seller SKU codes in a single go.

Storing SKU Mappings Externally

Should you’re utilizing an exterior device to course of invoices — akin to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) or AP Automation software program — you would possibly desire to retailer the SKU mappings in an exterior system or CSV file quite than in NetSuite.

This technique is helpful if you use an OCR/AP resolution and wish to map vendor codes to your inner merchandise codes on the time of coding an bill, BEFORE it’s imported into NetSuite.

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Keep in mind that many OCR/AP options will NOT deal with stock gadgets by default. You will want to retailer the mapping of vendor codes to inner merchandise codes in a separate location (like a Google Sheet or CSV) and write a customized integration to lookup from that database.

How you can Implement:

1. Retailer Mappings in an Exterior CSV or Database:
   • Preserve a CSV or database with the next columns: Vendor SKU, Inside SKU, Vendor Identify.
   • This may be saved in your native system or in a cloud-based storage like Google Sheets.
2. OCR/AP Integration:
   • When an bill is available in, use your OCR device to extract the seller’s SKU from the bill.
   • Write a script or use an integration device (most OCR or AP instruments permit customized integrations with Python) to search for the seller SKU in your exterior file and retrieve the corresponding inner SKU.
   • When importing the info into NetSuite to create the Vendor Invoice, use the interior SKU code that you just simply fetched from the lookup in step #2.

Right here’s a easy Python script to match the seller SKU from a CSV file:

import csv

def get_internal_sku(vendor_sku, csv_file):
    with open(csv_file, mode="r") as file:
        reader = csv.DictReader(file)
        for row in reader:
            if row['Vendor SKU'] == vendor_sku:
                return row['Internal SKU']
    return None

# Instance Utilization
vendor_sku = 'ABC123'
internal_sku = get_internal_sku(vendor_sku, 'vendor_mapping.csv')
print(f'Inside SKU: {internal_sku}')

When processing vendor payments in NetSuite, now you can use the interior SKU returned by your script or integration to make sure the right merchandise is used.

• Keep in mind that you’re going to in all probability nonetheless need to do knowledge validation when coming into the seller payments into NetSuite (except your OCR/AP device already does this). Not doing this may imply damaged knowledge going into NetSuite.

Utilizing AI-Primarily based Workflow Automation

There’s one other approach to do that that’s each faster + extra scaleable.

It includes utilizing an AI workflow builder like Nanonets, which lets you arrange the precise workflow wanted to match vendor merchandise codes together with your NetSuite merchandise codes, earlier than syncing it with NetSuite.

That is what a typical workflow will appear like:



1. Use a Nanonets AI mannequin to extract knowledge from invoices and payments – this mannequin will extract vendor merchandise codes from every vendor invoice
2. Arrange a NetSuite integration on this mannequin and create lookups to get the interior merchandise codes



3. Nanonets then does the beneath for each vendor invoice that you just course of:

1. Learn the seller merchandise code on the invoice
2. Discover a matching inner merchandise code utilizing a mixture of AI studying from reinforcement + SuiteQL + pure language processing (NLP)
3. If no match is discovered, then the mannequin will ask the consumer to pick out an inner merchandise code, and study from that call

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Over time, this course of trains the AI mannequin to recollect 80-85% of all vendor merchandise codes. There’ll at all times be exceptions – nonetheless your AP crew nonetheless finally ends up saving an enormous chunk of time.

However why even do that?

Utilizing AI automation like Nanonets has vital benefits:



Keen on studying extra? A brief 15-minute intro name with an automation professional is one of the best ways to get began.

Conclusion

Mapping vendor SKU codes to your inner merchandise codes in NetSuite could be dealt with in a number of methods, relying on your corporation setup. You may go for one thing that’s extra guide and offers you extra management, or you may absolutely automate it utilizing the API (with considerably increased effort and a few coding concerned).

By combining the very best of each worlds utilizing a no-code resolution like Nanonets, you may confidently handle vendor merchandise codes, streamline knowledge entry, and scale back guide errors, saving beneficial time on your procurement and finance groups.

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API/SuiteQL References: