Product Identifiers in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management
Unique Product Number / Product ID
In Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, the primary identifier for a product is the product number (the unique product ID). This can be automatically generated by a number sequence or manually associated with a product. For product variants, numbers can be defined through the product nomenclature template.
In many cases, the product number originates from an external Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) or Product Data Management (PDM) system and is imported into Supply Chain Management via data entities.
Best Practices for Product Numbers
- A good product identifier should be 20 characters or fewer, ideally fewer than 10 characters
- Include no more than five classifying characters
- Use search names to enable quick searches — a search name is an additional name representing the classifications of a product
When using Microsoft Dataverse, the product number in Supply Chain Management is also the product number in Dataverse. Product variants are synchronised to Dataverse as distinct products.
Item Number and Product Dimensions
The item number is the product identifier used by a specific legal entity. Ideally, the item number should be identical to the product number. If the nomenclature differs per legal entity, it becomes difficult to follow a product throughout the supply chain, introducing burdensome relabelling and referencing processes. This model has been preserved for compatibility with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 and earlier, but Microsoft recommends eliminating legal entity-specific identifiers wherever possible and using the unique product number as the primary identifier.
A product variant cannot be uniquely identified by an item number alone — it always requires the combination of an item number and all product dimensions defined on the product master. For this reason, using the unique product number is preferred over the item number.
Enabling Product Number Search
Navigate to Sales and marketing > Setup > Search > Search parameters to change the search lookup to use product numbers instead of item numbers. Set the Enable lookup for product search option to Yes to show both product masters and product variants in lookups. This enables searching and filtering on product number, product name and description, and product dimension IDs.
Note: The item number for a product cannot be changed once one or more transactions exist for that product.
Product Name and Description
Product names and descriptions are human-readable identifiers that can be maintained in many languages. By default, the client displays product information in the default company language rather than the user's language. Translated product names and descriptions are used in all communication with customers and vendors, based on the language code of the customer and vendor accounts.
For product variants, the product name can be generated through a product nomenclature template. Product names do not need to be unique.
Product and Item Search Names
Supply Chain Management offers a secondary search name for both products and released products. This search name does not need to be unique and can be changed after creation. Search names enable quick searches, especially in sales and purchase processes, and can contain a customer or vendor product ID or other external product ID if that is the primary search criterion.
External Product Identifiers (Customer and Vendor)
For released products, you can maintain item numbers, item names, and item descriptions used by customers or vendors. These are shown on external documents such as sales orders, purchase orders, packing slips, and invoices.
Maintaining External Item Descriptions
On the Released products page:
- For customers: Action Pane > Sell tab > Related information group > External item description
- For vendors: Action Pane > Purchase tab > Related information group > External item description
The following information can be captured on the External item descriptions page:
| Field | Customer Information | Vendor Information |
|---|---|---|
| External item number | Customer's item number | Vendor's item number |
| Description | Name the customer associates with the item | Name the vendor associates with the item |
| External item text | Customer's item description | Vendor's item description |
Customer and Vendor Groups for External Items
For scenarios where many customers or vendors share the same item numbers (e.g. purchase associations or commerce groups), you can create groups to simplify maintenance:
- Customer groups: Sales > Setup > Items > External item description. Associate customers via Accounts receivable > Customers > All customers > Sales order defaults FastTab > Item - customer group field.
- Vendor groups: Procurement and sourcing > Setup > External item description group. Associate vendors via Accounts payable > Vendors > All vendors > Purchase order defaults FastTab > Item - vendor group field.
Bar Codes
Product identifiers used with bar code scanners must meet the requirements of the bar code standard being used. Bar codes typically do not contain the raw product number but a number generated specifically for the selected bar code technology. Multiple bar codes can be maintained per bar code type, and the same bar code can be associated with multiple products.
Bar code setups should be defined first to validate that bar codes follow required guidelines for effective printing and scanning. Special bar codes for specific product quantities can also be maintained.
Navigate to Released products page > Action Pane > Manage inventory tab > Warehouse group > Bar codes.
GTIN Codes
The Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), facilitated by GS1, is essential for e-commerce where all parties need a common set of identifiers. GTIN can be maintained as a bar code or on the Item - GTIN page (Released products > Action Pane > Manage inventory tab > Warehouse group > GTIN codes).
Key points about GTIN in Supply Chain Management:
- GTIN is maintained per legal entity, not as a global number
- Packaging variants are defined by specific units of measure (pieces, bundles, trays, pallets)
- Multiple GTIN codes can be maintained per product and unit of measure
- The same GTIN code cannot be used more than once for different items or product variants within a legal entity
External Codes
External codes can be defined for many entities, including products and released products, and can be used to associate statistical codes or tax codes with released products and variants. External codes are defined by legal entity and code type and must be unique by legal entity, code type, and table reference.
Note: There is no standard functionality to search for products by external codes.