Understanding Item Cross-Reference Setup

As you manage the inventory, you might decide to define relationships between the company's item information and the item information of the suppliers and customers. Additionally, you might set up substitute items, replacement items, and bar codes that are associated with an item.

Cross-references associate the internal item numbers with those from other trading partners. For example, customers can order items using their item numbers. If you set up item cross-references for a customer, you can easily convert the customer's item numbers into the company's equivalent.

This table provides examples of cross-referenced items:

Cross-Referenced Item	Usage
Vendor item numbers	Use when vendors require their part numbers for orders or communications.
Customer item numbers	Use when customers prefer to order using their part numbers.
Item revision level	Use for demand scheduling when customers order new parts for older items. In some industries, such as the automotive industry, a supplier manufactures new parts for current models and replacement parts for older models, while receiving a variety of orders for different parts. In this situation, you can use a combination of the values for customer item number and the customer item revision level.
Substitute items	Use when the item that is ordered has no quantity on hand.
Replacement items	Use when you or your vendors discontinue an item and replace it with a new item.
Bar codes	Use to associate bar code input with a specific item.
Associated items	Use to recommend an item as part of the sale.

When setting up cross-references for electronic data interchange, you should cross-reference each possible number that the trading partners might transmit.