Inventory Control > Setting Up Inventory Control > Item Structures > About Item Number Formats

About Item Number Formats

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About Planning Your Item Numbering System

Inventory Control uses item structures to format item numbers. Item structures control which segments are included in item numbers and the order in which the segments appear. You select the item structure you want to use when you add items to Inventory Control.

The general steps required to set up item number formats include:

Defining the segments to be used in the item numbers.
An item number can consist of up to ten segments. Use the segments in item numbers to organize items by common attributes. Also, you can sort reports by any segment of an item number.
Adding segment codes (optional) to control what the program allows you to enter in a segment of the item number.
Example: For the two-digit segment for color, you set up the following segment codes: 01 for red, 02 for white, and 03 for blue.
Setting up one or more item structures in Inventory Control.

The following sections provide more information and examples of segments, segment codes, and item structures.

Defining Segments
Defining Segment Codes
Setting Up Item Structures
Using Separator Characters

Defining Segments

Use the Items tab of the I/C Options screen to define the segments you want to use in your Inventory Control system.

You can define up to ten segments, any number of which you can then combine to set up item structures for formatting item numbers.

Example:

Item number #01-RED-L3401 has the following item number segments:

Segment	Length	Description
XX	2	Style
XXX	3	Color
XXXXX	5	Size

You can change the name of a segment after it is set up, but you cannot change or delete the segment itself.

Note:

Each segment can have no more than 24 characters.
An item structure can be no more than 24 characters long (including all segments, separator characters, and an optional prefix character).

Defining Segment Codes

Use the I/C Segment Codes screen if you want to define segment codes for the segments.

Defining segment codes is optional, as is using the codes once you have entered them. If you want to require that a segment always use one of the defined segment codes when you add a new inventory item number, select the Validate option for that segment on the Items tab of the I/C Options screen. (You can change the Validate setting for each segment code at any time.)

A segment code can contain upper-case letters and numbers. Segment codes can be neither longer nor shorter than the length of the segment for which they will be used.

Example:

The following table shows examples of segment codes (consecutive Xs denote a segment in an item structure):

Segment	Length	Segment Description	Segment Code	Segment Code Description
XX	2	Style	R1	Regular
			M1	Modern
XXX	3	Color	RED	Red
			WHI	White
			BLU	Blue

Note: You can add segment codes as needed, but you can delete segment codes only if they are not used by any item numbers.

Setting Up Item Structures

Use the I/C Item Structures screen to define item structures for your Inventory Control system.

You create item structures by combining up to ten segments (which you must set up first), in any order, and you can create as many item structures as you require for your item numbers. You must create at least one item structure before you can add items.

You should set up your item structures to format your item numbers in a way that meets your needs for sorting and grouping items for inventory reports and lists.

The following table provides samples of several item structures. Note the following about the table:

Consecutive Xs denote a segment in an item structure.
Characters appearing between the segments of an item structure or item number are called separator characters.

A character appearing at the front of an item structure or item number (such as the # in the fourth example in the following table) is called a prefix character.

Item Structure	Sample Item Number
XXXX	F605
XXX.X	120.5
XX-XXX/X	K1-501/A
#XXX-XXXXX-XX-X	#L31-GT213-8A-0

Tips:

While you design your item numbering format, consider the following suggestions:

Use numbers (rather than letters or combinations of numbers and letters) for all segments to make the order in which item numbers appear on reports and in lists more predictable.
Define item numbers so you have room to add items in the future. For example, assign large numbers such as 1100, 1200, and 1300 to a segment for consecutive items, rather than 1100, 1101, and 1102. Using large numbers leaves room to assign a new item number, such as 1150, between two existing numbers (1100 and 1200).
Assign item numbers according to the order in which you want items to appear on reports and lists. For example, use 1100, 1200, and 1300 for the style segment for men, and use 2100, 2200, and 2300 for the style segment for women.
Use segments of different lengths in an item structure so you can easily tell what each part of an item number represents.

If your current inventory item numbers already follow these rules for item numbers, you can create the item structures you need for entering item numbers into Inventory Control. Otherwise, design a new item number format before creating your item structures.

Using Separator Characters

When you define an item structure, you can select a separator character to appear between segments so item numbers are easier to read. For example, for a three-segment item number, it is easier to distinguish the segments in 5046-010-92 than in 504601092.

If you select a separator character for the last segment in an item structure, the character appears at the end of item numbers using that item structure. For example, 5046-010-92#.