How to Match Vendor Item Codes to Inventory in NetSuite

It is a widespread AP problem that you have most likely seen earlier than – relating to 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 surroundings, your distributors all have a thoughts of their very own – and can not often (if ever) comply with the identical terminology.

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

Fortunately, there may be multiple method out.

On this information, we’ll stroll via alternative ways you’ll be able to map vendor-specific merchandise codes to your NetSuite objects. We’ll particularly take a look at:

1. Mapping A number of Vendor Codes to One Merchandise Code
2. Mapping a Single Vendor Code to an Merchandise Code
3. Utilizing CSV Imports for Bulk Mapping
4. Storing SKU Mappings Exterior NetSuite (for eg. once you’re utilizing OCR)
5. Utilizing Workflow Automation to mix one of the 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 choose what’s greatest for your enterprise relying in your scale of operations.

Mapping A number of Vendor Codes to One Merchandise Code

For those who work with a number of distributors for a similar merchandise, one of the simplest 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 most typical state of affairs – many widespread stock objects will fall into this class. For instance, in case you’re buying standardized components/equipment as a part of a small manufacturing setup, you may most likely need to supply from a number of distributors to get one of the best worth.

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

Steps:

1. Allow A number of Distributors for an Merchandise:
   • Go to Setup > Firm > Allow Options.
   • Beneath the “Gadgets & Stock” tab, allow A number of Distributors for objects.
2. Enter Vendor Codes:
   • Open the merchandise report and navigate to the Buying/Stock tab.
   • Within the Distributors subtab, you’ll discover a area 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 Studies > 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 a listing of things and their vendor-specific codes.
4. Utilizing SuiteQL to Fetch Vendor SKU Codes: SuiteQL is a robust question language that permits extra superior retrieval of knowledge. You need to use SuiteQL to extract vendor SKUs for objects straight. This methodology can be utilized in case 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 an Merchandise Code

For those who solely work with one vendor per merchandise, utilizing a customized area or an Merchandise Alias is a less complicated methodology. This lets you retailer the seller’s SKU code straight within the merchandise report.

Here is the best way to implement this mapping:

Steps:

1. Create a Customized Subject:
   • Navigate to Customization > Lists, Data, & Fields > Merchandise Fields > New.
   • Create a customized area referred to as Vendor SKU Code (Textual content area kind).
   • Add this area to your merchandise data.
2. Enter Vendor SKU Code:
   • Go to every merchandise report and populate the Vendor SKU Code area with the respective vendor’s SKU.
3. Use the Vendor SKU in Transactions:
   • As soon as added, this tradition area can be utilized in transactions like buy orders and payments to indicate the seller SKU subsequent to your inside merchandise code.
4. Show the Vendor SKU on Kinds:
   • If you would like the seller SKU to indicate up on printed buy orders or vendor payments, you’ll be able to customise the transaction types to incorporate this tradition area.

Utilizing CSV Imports for Bulk Mapping

When you’ve got numerous objects and distributors, manually getting into every SKU code might be time-consuming. On this case, you should use NetSuite’s CSV Import function to bulk replace vendor SKU codes in your objects.

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 CSV Import Device:
   • Navigate to Setup > Import/Export > Import CSV Data.
   • Select Merchandise because the report kind and comply with the prompts to add your CSV file.
3. Map the Fields:
   • Through the import course of, be certain that the CSV columns are appropriately mapped to the suitable fields in NetSuite (Merchandise, Vendor, and Vendor SKU Code).
4. 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

For those who’re utilizing an exterior software to course of invoices — comparable to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) or AP Automation software program — you would possibly favor to retailer the SKU mappings in an exterior system or CSV file slightly than in NetSuite.

This methodology is beneficial once you use an OCR/AP answer and need to map vendor codes to your inside merchandise codes on the time of coding an bill, BEFORE it’s imported into NetSuite.

Easy methods to Implement:

1. Retailer Mappings in an Exterior CSV or Database:
   • Preserve a CSV or database with the next columns: Vendor SKU, Inner 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 software to extract the seller’s SKU from the bill.
   • Write a script or use an integration software (most OCR or AP instruments permit customized integrations with Python) to search for the seller SKU in your exterior file and retrieve the corresponding inside SKU.
   • When importing the info into NetSuite to create the Vendor Invoice, use the inner SKU code that you simply 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'Inner SKU: {internal_sku}')

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

• Keep in mind that you will most likely nonetheless need to do information validation when getting into the seller payments into NetSuite (except your OCR/AP software already does this). Not doing this may imply damaged information going into NetSuite.

Utilizing AI-Based mostly Workflow Automation

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

It entails utilizing an AI workflow builder like Nanonets, which lets you arrange the precise workflow wanted to match vendor merchandise codes along 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 information 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 inner merchandise codes
3. Nanonets then does the beneath for each vendor invoice that you simply course of:
   1. Learn the seller merchandise code on the invoice
   2. Discover a matching inside merchandise code utilizing a mixture of AI studying from reinforcement + SuiteQL + pure language understanding
   3. If no match is discovered, then the mannequin will ask the person to pick out an inside merchandise code, and study from that call

However why even do that?

Utilizing AI automation like Nanonets has vital benefits:

• You will find yourself saving greater than 80% of the time it takes to search for vendor codes.
• Nanonets has in-built information validation – for each bill that you simply export into NetSuite, each area is validated and formatted to make sure consistency with object information fashions in NetSuite.
• You get the benefit of the NetSuite API and SuiteQL within the backend, whereas additionally getting high-accuracy OCR and AI studying capabilities that enhance your workflow based mostly in your suggestions.

All in favour of studying extra? A brief 15-minute intro name with an automation skilled is one of the simplest ways to get began.

Conclusion

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

By combining one of the best of each worlds utilizing a no-code answer like Nanonets, you’ll be able to confidently handle vendor merchandise codes, streamline information entry, and cut back guide errors, saving helpful time in your procurement and finance groups.

API/SuiteQL References: