What is the Product ID?
Understanding product identification
The product ID is the code that identifies one product in the app. It is usually the barcode printed on the packaging, so scanning fills it in for you, but any unique code works. It has to be unique within your company, because every transaction refers to it.
The Product ID is a unique identification of a product. This can be a unique name or a barcode. When using barcode scanning, the product ID must match the barcode content.
Product Information
Press the Products button on the main screen to view your products and product details.
You can enter additional information about a product, such as a name and description.
Choosing a good Product ID
The Product ID is the one field that has to be right, because everything else hangs off it. If your products already carry a barcode from the supplier, use that barcode as the Product ID: it is unique, it is printed on the packaging, and it can be scanned without typing. If there is no barcode, use your own article number or SKU. What matters is that the same physical product always resolves to the same ID, on every device and in every screen. Avoid IDs that describe the product rather than identify it, such as "blue box" or "screws", because two different articles will eventually collide.
Barcode scanning
When you scan a barcode, the app compares the scanned characters with the Product ID exactly as it is stored. There is no fuzzy matching, so the two have to be identical. If a scan does not find a product, the usual cause is that the ID was typed by hand at some point with a space, a leading zero or a different capitalisation than the barcode carries. Scanning also works from the web app on a phone or tablet through the device camera, so a warehouse does not need dedicated scanning hardware to get started.
Common mistakes
Three problems account for most Product ID trouble. The first is entering the same physical product twice under two slightly different IDs, which splits your stock across two lines that never add up. The second is reusing an old ID for a new article after the original is discontinued, which makes historical transactions misleading. The third is using a supplier order number instead of a product identifier, because that changes with every purchase. If you do end up with a duplicate, book the stock out of the wrong one and set that product to inactive rather than deleting the history.
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