Use Customer Item Maintenance (1.16) to set up a cross-reference between your item numbers and those used by a customer. A customer may have more than one number that references a single internal item number. If so, you can set up multiple relationships.

When a customer item number is specified on a sales order, the system accesses the price, description, and other information associated with your item number. Both item numbers appear on all sales and shipping paperwork.

In scheduled orders, you can specify a customer item number in the Customer Ref field as part of the set of values that identifies a scheduled order line. This lets you set up multiple lines for the same internal item number, ship-from site, ship-to address, and PO number. To require valid customer items in the Customer Ref field, set Customer Ref is Customer Item to Yes in Customer Schedules Control (7.3.24) or Container/Shipper Control (7.9.24).

Customer item numbers appear in reports, inquiries, and browses and under a Customer Ref heading in programs that manage scheduled orders and shipper data.

You can also use Customer Item Maintenance to set up a cross-reference between internal numbering systems. For example, your sales department may have catalog numbers that differ from the item numbers used by manufacturing. To set up an internal cross-reference, leave the Customer/Ship-to field blank.

The same need to cross-reference numbers may exist for your suppliers. Use Supplier Item Maintenance to create a cross-reference between your suppliers’ numbers and your item numbers, as well as track the quoted price and lead time. Specify supplier item numbers in Blanket Order Maintenance, Purchase Order Maintenance, and Supplier Scheduled Order Maintenance. Both your number and the supplier number displays on reports, as well as in Purchase Order Receipts (5.13.1).