Items in Comarch ERP Enterprise system can be identified in various ways. The simplest identification method is reference to unique identification data of an item. Items can also be identified with other data, such as the European Article Numbering (EAN). Identification data is entered in different views (such as Sales, Financials) of the Items application.

In the Customizing application, it is possible to set item identifications applicable in the Purchasing and Sales frameworks.

Settings in the Customizing application

The priorities for searching item identification data are determined in the Customizing application → Base function → Items subfunction separately for Purchasing and Sales frameworks.

Search priorities for both frameworks are determined in the Search priorities for purchasing/sales items groupings for the following search criteria:

• Item identification
• EAN (European Article Numbering)
• Supplier/Customer item number

Selectable options in the Priority column:

• 1 – highest priority
• 2 – medium priority
• 3 – lowest priority
• 0 – ignore – this value means that the selected criterion will not be used when searching for items

In the Customizing application, you can activate the Change letters to upper case parameter. This parameter specifies whether upper case letters must be applied when entering an identification data. Upper and lower case letters can be defined with the use of Comarch ERP Enterprise system properties.[/alert]

Purchasing items

Purchasing items are identified with the following EAN numbers, next to unique item identification and supplier item number:

• EAN of an item (Items application → Base view → General tab)
• EAN of other item units (Items application → Base view → General tab → Other item units grouping)
• EAN of packaging units (Items application → Base view → General tab → Packaging grouping)
• EAN of purchasing item (Items application → Purchasing view → Delivery data grouping)
• EAN of supplier item (Items application → Suppliers view → Delivery data grouping)

In the Suppliers view, you can also enter supplier item number under the Delivery data grouping.

The data from the Base view is usually used in the system. Data from the Purchasing and Suppliers views depend on the relevant organization in multi-site environment.

Sales items

Sales items are identified with the following EAN numbers, next to unique item identification and customer item number:

• EAN of an item (Items application → Base view → General tab)
• EAN of other item units (Items application → Base view → General tab → Other item units grouping)
• EAN of packaging units (Items application → Base view → General tab → Packaging grouping)

The data from the Base view is usually used in the system. Data from the Customers and Customer classification views depend on the relevant organization in multi-site environment.

Customer item data applies only to selected customers, whereas customer classification item data applies to a selected classification. Customer data and customer classification data are used to identity items with customer item number.

Item identification

Description of item identification process

1. In the Customizing application, define item search criteria and priorities.

1. In Sales orders/Purchase orders application, add an item as order line item in the Item field of the line item editor. Once the data is provided, you can use any identification data, such as item’s internal identification or its EAN.
   The specified search criteria are processed by the priorities assigned to them. The search begins with the highest-priority criterion.
2. If the system finds a relevant item at the level corresponding to the priority, it is entered in the relevant field (such as the Item field in a sales order).
   If more than one item corresponds to the entered identification data, an error is displayed and the list of items with the specified identification data (e.g., with the same EAN) from which you can select a proper item is available under the [Value assistant] button.
3. If the system does not find a relevant item at the level corresponding to the priority, the identification process starts at the following level according to another highest priority.
   Once the item is found, its identification data and description is displayed in the Ordered item field in the line item editor of Sales orders/Purchase orders applications.
4. If the system cannot find a relevant item at any level, an error message is displayed.

Examples

Below described are the examples of item identifications with the help of individual identification data. Data inheritance must be supported for the needs of purchasing data in multi-site environment. Undisclosed inheritance must be supported in the case of supplier, customer and customer classification data.

Purchasing: Item identification with supplier item number

In the use cases described below, it is possible to select whether data will be searched for one or multiple organizations.

To identify items with supplier item number, the following items should be available in the system: I1, I2, I3, I4, I123, I456.

Only organizations O1 and O2 as well as suppliers S1 and S2 should also be available.

Entered supplier item data:

The highest priority for supplier item number

Below are the explanations of the results in various contexts, using the above-mentioned data.

Item search has been queued as follows in the Customizing application → Base function → Items subfunction → Purchasing item grouping:

• Supplier item number:  1 – highest priority
• EAN (European Article Numbering): 2 – medium priority
• Item identification: 3 – lowest priority

With the above settings, the system first checks whether the added entry corresponds to the specific supplier item number (Items → Suppliers view). This process also needs to handle undisclosed inheritance of supplier item data (detailed information can be found in article Items, Suppliers view). If none items are found, the second step is verification whether the search criteria correspond to EAN numbers. Item identification numbers are only verified in the third step. EAN number differs from item numbers of the user’s company or the supplier’s company. To make the example simpler, EAN numbers have been ignored.

Context: Organization O1 and Supplier S1

After the supplier item number I123 is entered in the search field, it is replaced with its corresponding item in the user’s company, that is I1. There isn’t any other supplier item in this example, which is why the entry will always be changed from I123 to I1. Since supplier item data always has the highest priority as specified in the Customizing application, this change will always be made despite the fact that the item I123 is available in the user’s company.

Items whose codes were entered as supplier item numbers are available. This does not, however, apply to the current context. There is, however, the item I456. If this being the case, the entry is correct, even though this item is not replaced due to the settings in the Customizing application.

Two correct records with supplier item data were found for the entry I789 in this context. Moreover, in relevant records with data of I2 and I4 items, the assigned supplier item number is I789. An error message is displayed in such a case and in the window opened with the [Value assistant] button, you can select a proper item. These items are I3 and I4 in this case.

If you enter the codes I1, I2, I3 and I4, the system will search for relevant items and will display the correct results without replacing them.

Other entries will not yield successful results.

Context: Organization O1 and Supplier S2

Entry I123 is not replaced. Even though the supplier item data exists for item I123, the system does not search for it in this context. Although the organization in the corresponding data records is the same, the supplier differs. There is, however, the item I123. The entry is thus correct.

No correct records with supplier item data were found for the entry I456 in this context. There is, however, the item I456. The entry is thus correct.

Entry I789 cannot be replaced with the correct item. Even though the supplier item data with supplier item number I789 exists, the organization and the supplier differ. An item with this number does not exist, either.

If you enter the codes I1, I2, I3 and I4, the system will search for relevant items and will display the correct results without replacing them.

Other entries will not yield successful results.

Context: Organization O2 and Supplier S1

Entry I123 is not replaced. Even though the supplier item data exists for item I123, the system does not search for it in this context. Although the supplier in the corresponding data records is the same, the organization differs. There is, however, the item I123. The entry is thus correct.

There is exactly one record with data for the entry I456 in this context, which is why the entry is changed to item I2.

Entry I789 cannot be replaced with the correct item. Even though the supplier item data with supplier item number I789 exists, the organization differs.

If you enter the codes I1, I2, I3 and I4, the system will search for relevant items and will display the correct results without replacing them.

Other entries will not yield successful results.

Context: Organization O2 and Supplier S2

Entry I123 is not replaced. Even though the supplier item data exists for item I123, the system does not search for it in this context. Neither organization nor supplier is consistent with the data of the relevant record. There is, however, the item I123. The entry is thus correct.

Two correct records with supplier item data were found for the entry I456 in this context. Moreover, in relevant records with data of I2 and I4 items, the assigned supplier item number is I456. An error message is displayed in such a case and in the window opened with the [Value assistant] button, you can select a proper item.  These items are I1 and I2 in this case.

Entry I789 cannot be replaced with the correct item. Even though the supplier item data with supplier item number I789 exists, the organization and the supplier differ.

The highest priority for item number

Below are the explanations of the results in various contexts, using the above-mentioned data.

Item search has been queued as follows in the Customizing application → Base function → Items subfunction → Purchasing grouping:

• Item identification: 1 – highest priority
• EAN (European Article Numbering): 2 – medium priority
• Supplier item number:  3 – lowest priority

Unlike to previous example, item identification in this example has the highest priority than the supplier item number.

Entries I1, I2, I3 are each time changed to a relevant item. Entries I123 and I456 are also replaced in this case, respectively.

Only the entry I789 is not directly replaced with an item. The exception here is determined by the context. Organization O2 and supplier S1 have two relevant items. The help window under the [Value assistant] button displays the items I3 and I4 as selectable options in this case.

Sales: item identification with customer item number

Organization and customer are required in order to identify an item with the help of customer item number. The procedure here is similar to that for item identification with supplier item number, except that existing customer classification data needs to be included additionally.

If customer item number is set in the Customizing application to identity items, then the records with customer data and customer classification data are used to identify items with the help of item number. Each customer is assigned to the relevant customer classification. If customer item number does not correspond to the user’s entry, a relevant customer classification is verified in the next step.

Moreover, undisclosed inheritance is required in this case. For a detailed description, refer to articles Items, Customer view and Items, Customer classification view.

In the use cases described below, by selecting one or multiple organizations, data will be searched for selected organization(s) only. This information is not repeated for each use case to simplify the example.

The following items should be available in the system: I1, I2, I3, I4, I123, I456.

Only organizations O1 and O2 as well as customers C1, C2 and C3 are available.

Customers C1, C2 and C3 are assigned to customer classification X.

Entered customer item data:

Entered customer classification data:

Interaction between customer and customer classification item

The example below presents the results displayed for various entries. The main emphasis is given to the interaction between customer and customer classification items.

Therefore, it will always be the organization O1 as organization context.

Context: Customer C1

Two correct records with customer item data were found for the entry I123 in this context. Moreover, in relevant records with data of items I2 and I4, the assigned customer item number is I123. An error message is displayed in such a case and in the window opened with the [Value assistant] button, you can select a proper item. These items are I1 and I2 in this case.

No correct records with customer item data were found in this context for the entry I456, although the customer C1 is assigned to the customer classification X. A record with item I2 data exists in the system for this customer classification. Entry I456 is thus changed to item I2.

Context: Customer C2

There is exactly one record with customer item data with for the entry I123 in this context, which is why the entry is changed to item I2.

No correct records with customer item data were found in this context for the entry I456, although the customer C2 is assigned to the customer classification X. A record with item I2 data exists in the system for this customer classification. Entry I456 is thus changed to item I2.

Context: Customer C3

Entry I123 cannot be replaced with an item in this context since no corresponding customer items or customer classification items are available.

Entry I456 is thus changed to item I3 in this context. Moreover, the customer is assigned to the customer classification X and there is a record with item data of customer classification, which is assigned to the item I2, however the direct entry for the customer is always considered more important.

Item identification with EAN number

Items are identified with EAN number in a similar way in both the Purchasing framework and the Sales framework. There is a number of EAN numbers for each item. They all have the same value. The difference is which EAN number will be used.

EAN numbers from the item master data are used in the Sales framework. These numbers depend on the organization, customer and customer classification.

EAN numbers in the Purchasing framework are retrieved from a purchasing item, depending on the organization in multi-site environment.

EAN numbers from supplier item data are also context-based. Context-dependence is, however, the same as for supplier item numbers.

If one of the EAN codes found in this way agrees with the user’s entry, then the item is considered identified with this EAN code. If it is specified in the Customizing application, that EAN numbers do not need to be unique (Base function → Unique EAN parameter), then various items can have the same EAN numbers. If this being the case, then during item identification with EAN number it may be necessary to select a proper item.

Special features in the Sales framework

Items in the Sales framework can be identified only with EAN numbers. The settings in the Customizing application are ignored in such a case. Since relevant EAN numbers are assigned to each unit in the Sales framework, they are presented via a special interface.

Organization-dependence hierarchy during item identification

Supplier items, customer items and customer classification items can be used not only for the purposes of organizations in which they were created, but in certain circumstances also for the purposes of child organizations.

The fundamental procedure is the same in both the Purchasing framework and the Sales framework. The example below illustrates this procedure in the Purchasing framework, but it works in the same way in the Sales framework.

To identify an item with supplier item number, an organization and a supplier need to be specified as context. The example described below shows the hierarchy of organization-dependent data.

There are three purchasing organizations in the system: O1, O2 and O3. Organization O1 is superior to organization O2 which, in turn, is superior to organization O3. By default, the settings in the Organizations application allow inheritance of purchasing data (in this example, it is irrelevant whether organizations manage purchasing data or they inherit them; the important is that data inheritance is possible for them).

To simply the example, only the supplier S1 is mentioned.

Entered supplier item data:

Context: Organization O1

In this example, organization O1 is superior to organizations O2 and O3. Only the entry I123 can thus be changed to an item – it will be the item I1 in this case.

Entries I456 and I789 cannot be changed to an item.

Context: Organization O2

Entry I123 cannot be changed to an item in organization O2. A relevant record of supplier item is, however, available in organization O1. Since organization O2 can inherit purchasing data of the organization O1, this record is used; thus the entry I123 is changed to item I1.

Entry I456 cannot be changed to an item in this context. After this entry is added, the system displays a relevant error message and allows the selection of available items – I1 and I2 in this case – in the search window opened with the [Value assistant] button.

Entry I789 cannot be changed to an item in this context.

Context: Organization O3

Entry I123 cannot be changed to an item in organization O3. A relevant record of supplier item is not available in the superior organization O2, either. It is, however, available in organization O1. Since organization O3 can inherit purchasing data of the organization O1, this record is used; thus the entry I123 is changed to item I1.

Entry I456 can be changed to item I3 in this context, although there are entries in organization O2 – they are irrelevant for the organization O3 in this case.

Entry I789 can be changed to item I4 in this context.