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How does a application typically deal with SKU?

 
Greenhorn
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hi friends,

currently i'm writing a minor ERP, with a inventory Manager. each product has a SKU. But what i want to know is, in the real world, Does the application Generate SKU numbers or it expects the user to enter it manually?

thanks
 
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It depends on the industry. Generally it's preferable to have the application generate the SKU numbers, but the decision to use, say, the UPC or ISBN as the "SKU number" might also be made in some cases. That's because those identifiers are supposed to uniquely identify a product.

However if you don't have industry-specific requirements, I would suggest having your application generate the SKU numbers. Even in those industries where you do have allegedly unique identifiers, I would still recommend having an application-generated SKU number. "Unique" numbers have a bad habit of occasionally being not completely unique.
 
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Please don't use abbreviations without introducing them. I had to Google to find out what SKU means (StockKeeping Unit).
 
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If I had to take a guess (since you asked about the "real world"), there is likely already a mechanism that handle product information. I would look into that system.

If the system is to remain, then this is about integrating with that system. If that system is to be replaced, then you still need to get to the data that was previously entered (so still an integration issue). Also, if the later, you also need to both be similar and improve upon the previous system (as least, from the data entry perspective) -- as it will be a logistics (pun intended) nightmare to re-train lots of people, and/or deal with the many complaints of lost features.

Henry
 
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When I was working on an ERP package, we allowed the user to enter their own Inventory Item number (SKU) or have one auto-generated. (Disclaimer: that was over 10 years ago.)
 
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