Product cross reference types

Auto Pricing (Type T)

Used to find a real product from a pricing service number. Automatic pricing is price information that is updated by a pricing service bureau or a manufacturer. These partners provide product pricing and enable you to maintain competitive, up-to-date price and cost information in your inventory control records.

Barcode (Type B)

Used to find a real product. Special barcodes, given to you by your manufacturer or supplier, can be interchanged with your product numbers. Barcodes can include alphabetic characters and numbers. After the barcode is specified in Sales Order Entry or Transfer Entry, either manually or scanned, it is interchanged with your product number. Your product number is stored on the order.

Interchange (Type I)

Used to find a real product. Interchanges can be catalog products set up in Product Catalog Setup, or nonstock products. Interchanges provide the ability to define a character string that represents a real product. You can specify the interchange product in the Product field when you add a line in Sales Order Entry or Transfer Entry. The product is automatically converted to the product set up in Product Setup or Product Warehouse Product Setup.

For example, if your company has a product catalog, the interchange product can be made up of the catalog page numbers and positions on the pages. Customers can then use the page number or position to refer to a product. This chart shows examples using interchange as a way to cross reference products.


Product Catalog	Cross Reference File
101. 2x1/3 holt	Interchange Product:	56.101
2" by 1/3" Fastener	Our Product:	2x1/3 holt
102. 2x1/4 holt	Interchange Product:	56.102
2" by 1/4" Fastener	Our Product:	2x1/4 holt
103. EM-100 Bulk Cable	Interchange Product:	56.103
	Our Product:	EM-100

Optional (Type O)

Used to tie optional real products to a real product. These optional products are also called an add-on sell.

Optional products are complementary items that can be sold along with a regular inventory product. Some products are rarely sold alone. Exhaust pipes are always sold with clamps, computers require cables to hook up printers, certain products must have installation kits. Sales and revenue can be lost if your sales representatives are not aware of these relationships.

Substitute (Type S)

Used to tie substitute real products to a real product. These substitute products are also called a replace sell.

Substitute products are not 100 percent interchangeable. They are temporary substitutes for the existing products. In Purchase Receipt of Inventory Entry, a substitute product may be received even if this cross-reference record does not exist. In Sales Order Entry or Transfer Entry, you can select a substitute product if the net available quantities of the specified product are depleted.

Supersede (Type P)

Used to tie an old real product to a real product. Superseded products are not 100 percent interchangeable. They supersede the existing products and are interchangeable in most situations. Superseding generally occurs when a product becomes obsolete or is not manufactured anymore and is replaced with a different product. After an existing product is superseded, it is automatically be marked on the Product Setup record as a superseded product. The Product Warehouse Product Setup Status field is changed to Do Not Reorder. If the product being superseded is already an order as needed product, it is not changed to do not reorder.

Note: You can create recursive supersede records to accommodate valid business scenarios. Recursive products are two products that are superseded to each other. It is your responsibility to do the research on the existing supersedes and cross references so that the chain is set up properly. If there is no quantity available for all of the items in the recursive loop, a supersede is not found.

Upgrade (Type U)

Used to tie substitute real products to a real product. These optional products are also called an up sell.

Upgrade products are generally 100 percent interchangeable with the regular product but also offer more features than the regular product. Even though it is 100 percent exchangeable, it is a one-way exchange. If a customer orders a 3,000 PSI valve, you can exchange it for a 5,000 PSI valve. You cannot exchange a 5,000 PSI valve for a 3,000 PSI valve. Both products are normally carried in your inventory. An exchange is usually only made when there is not enough quantity available to fill the order.

Customer Product (Type C)

Used to find a real product. If you cross reference record a customer's product number with your product number, the customer can use their product number when they place an order. For example, customer # 101's product number for a cover plate is 1014. Your product number for the same product is pl-5045. You do not want to look up the cross reference each time your customer orders the product, or expect them to remember your product number. Instead, you set up a cross reference record in Product Extended Product Cross Reference Setup. When you specify 1014 in Sales Order Entry, your product number is loaded on the sales order line. Both part numbers are printed on the order acknowledgment, pick ticket, delivery note, and invoice. The customer’s product number is clearly defined to avoid any confusion or delay in payment.

You can set Require Customer Product in Customer Setup to require that the customer product number is always used. During Sales Order Entry, the specified product is validated against all customer product cross reference records. If a cross reference record does not exist, the sales rep is required to create one. The Customer Product window is displayed and the Product Extended Product Cross Reference Setup record can be created directly from Sales Order Entry.

Ship To Product (Type H)

Used to find a real product. This type identifies cross references products specific to a customer's ship to location with your products. The product number in each ship to is independent of the customer and other ship tos. You can specify the ship to's product number in Sales Order Entry. Your product number automatically replaces the customer's product number. The ship to location must be set up in Customer Ship To Setup.

Alternate Vendors (Type V)

The Alternate Vendors product cross reference type is used to find alternate sources for a product. Set up alternate vendors for a specific product so you can order the products from an alternate vendor instead of your regular vendor. Alternate vendor products can be tied to a warehouse product in Product Warehouse Product Setup.

If you use a cross referenced alternate vendor, that vendor's information can be included on the Purchase Entry Recommended Replenishment Action Report. You can also view Alternate Vendors in Purchase Demand Center Entry.

To limit the alternate vendor products than can be viewed or sold by employees in a location (warehouse), select the Limit Alternate Vendors option in SA Administrator Options-Products-Alternates/UPC. Then, assign the Product Extended Product Cross Reference Setup record for each alternate vendor product to a warehouse product in Product Warehouse Product Setup.

Hierarchy

This hierarchy is used to determine which product to display on the line in Sales Order Entry. The first category that qualifies is selected. This hierarchy is important when you use customer product numbers that may overlap your product numbers.

Product Extended Product Cross Reference Setup: Customer Product
Product Setup: Our Product
Product Extended Product Cross Reference Setup: Bar Codes
Product Extended Product Cross Reference Setup: Supersedes
Vendor Product Number
Product Extended Product Cross Reference Setup: Interchanges. If a one-to-one match is found in the cross-references, that one-to-one product match is chosen over multiple matches for Interchange types.
Product Catalog Setup: Catalog Product
Product Extended Product Cross Reference Setup: Auto Pricing