Alternate Item ID vs GTIN

[acody_tillamook]

A recipient reached out to say that our "items were updated to show the GTIN as your item number. I have updated our system back to the 5 digit item number."

There hasn't been any changes to the item numbers that are published to the recipient. My guess is that the data is flowing through into their system and overriding data that they may have changed by hand in their system at some point in the past.

The only attribute I can think of that may be appropriate to have our internal item number in place of the GTIN would be "Alternate Item ID." What is the purpose of this attribute? Would a 5-digit internal ID be appropriate data to populate this with? If yes to the last question, what would the appropriate input for "Alternate Item Identification Agency" be? 

[jcharles]

Hello,

We can certainly help you with this answer.

Alternate Item Identification Agency

"A trade item identifier, usually associated with a specific business need, that is in addition to the GTIN, for example, a buyer's or seller's item number."

Assigned By Manufacturer is usually the Valid Value that is applied. What kind of error or feedback are you receiving from your trading partners?

[acody_tillamook]

Hi @jcharles,

They communicated through email rather than in the recipient responses. Their feedback was that they originally had our 5-digit number for the item entered and then it was replaced by our 14-digit GTIN. They've asked me to change this back to the 5-digit number, although the attribute has always been populated with the GTIN.

[jcharles]

Hello,

You can put the five-digit code back in but we need to bear in mind that all of your trading partners would get the changes. This would be a business decision for whether or not it is practical for you to make this change for one supplier.

[acody_tillamook]

I appreciate your response! Thank you, @jcharles!