Item No. Schemes

An item no. scheme decides which number an item gets when it is created from supplier data. There are three types:

Type	Number comes from	Example
No. Series	one Business Central No. Series	`ART000123`
No. Series per Manufacturer	one No. Series per manufacturer, its code formed from a pattern	series `ART-CITIZEN` → `CIT00042`
Pattern	a pattern of placeholders	`68.0042.00`

Why is a No. Series not enough?

A No. Series always counts up the last digits. 68.0001.00 would become 68.0001.01, not 68.0002.00. When the running number sits in the middle and an option number follows it, you need a pattern.

Which scheme applies?

The scheme is determined for every item in this order:

Chosen in the wizard: a scheme or No. Series chosen in the Create Items from Supplier Data wizard applies to all items of that run.
Item category: the scheme of the item category. If it has none, the scheme of the nearest parent category that names one.
Setup: the Def. Item No. Scheme Code in the merchantCENTRAL setup.

A Proposed Item No. entered by hand on the item proposal always wins.

Placeholders in a pattern

Placeholder	Meaning
`{PFX}`	Item No. Prefix of the manufacturer, e.g. `68` for Citizen. Maintained on the Manufacturers page.
`{MFG}`	Manufacturer code as on the item (e.g. `CIT`).
`{SEQ:n}`	Running number with n digits, counted per scheme and prefix.
`{OPT:n}`	Option number with n digits. Starts at `00` and counts up when the number is taken.
`{ATTR:Name:n}`	Value of the item attribute Name. Numbers are rounded to whole units and padded with zeros to n digits.

{PFX} and {MFG} need a manufacturer that exists in Business Central. It is found by the manufacturer name from the supplier data, after the manufacturer mappings are applied. If Business Central does not know the manufacturer, the item proposal names it so you can create or map it.

Everything else in the pattern is taken as written. Letters, digits and the characters . - _ / are allowed.

Examples

Scheme	Pattern	Result
Trade goods	`{PFX}.{SEQ:4}.{OPT:2}`	`68.0042.00`
Labels	`{PFX}.{ATTR:Width:3}.{ATTR:Length:3}.{OPT:2}`	`68.100.150.00`
Ribbons	`{PFX}.{ATTR:Width:3}.{ATTR:Length:3}.{OPT:2}`	`68.110.450.00`

A second label of the same size but a different material automatically gets 68.100.150.01.

Option number together with a running number

When the pattern contains {SEQ}, every new item gets a new running number and option 00. To create a variant of an existing item (e.g. 68.0042.01 next to 68.0042.00), enter the number as the Proposed Item No. on the item proposal.

Running numbers

The running number counts per prefix: Citizen (68.…) and Zebra (71.…) each have their own sequence. You do not need to set up a No. Series per manufacturer for this.

On first use, the counter starts after the highest number that already exists in the item master. A scheme introduced into an established item master therefore continues it. Numbers assigned by hand in between are skipped.

The Counters action shows the counters. You can also move a running number forward or back there.

Patterns with item attributes

Item attributes exist only once the item does. An item whose scheme uses {ATTR:…} is therefore created under a provisional number from the scheme's Provisional No. Series first. The item proposal marks it as Provisional No.

Specify a provisional No. Series

Without it, an item with attribute placeholders cannot be created. The item proposal then shows an error saying so.

Renumbering

As soon as the attributes are filled – by hand or by the Icecat enrichment – the item gets its final number. The Provisional Item Nos. page (search, or the action on the Item No. Schemes page) shows the New Item No. for each item, or what it is still waiting for:

an item attribute without a value,
a manufacturer, if the scheme needs one,
ledger entries – the item has already been posted under the provisional number,
a marketplace listing – a marketplace or shop knows the item by the provisional number.

Items with ledger entries or a listing are never renamed, because the link to the outside would silently break.

Action	Effect
Renumber Selected Items	Renames the selected items that are ready.
Renumber All Ready Items	Renames every item in the list that is ready.
Schedule Renumbering	Creates an hourly job queue entry, e.g. for after the Icecat run.

Renaming uses Business Central's own item rename: attributes, dimensions, comments, item vendor numbers and open document lines follow along.

Fields

Field	Description
Code	Short name of the scheme, e.g. `STANDARD` or `LABEL`.
Description	What the scheme is used for.
Type	No. Series, No. Series per Manufacturer or Pattern.
No. Series Code	The No. Series for the type No. Series.
Series Code Pattern	Forms the series code for the type No. Series per Manufacturer, e.g. `ART-{MFG}`.
Pattern	The pattern for the type Pattern.
Provisional No. Series	No. Series for items whose pattern uses item attributes.

Opening the page

Via search (Alt+Q): Item No. Schemes
From the merchantCENTRAL setup via the lookup of the Def. Item No. Scheme Code field