To me, it depends on "what kind" of Item it is:
-- most Items can have a one-to-many relationship between "what it is" (think the Item Description) and who makes it/what the manufacturer part number is. For example, let's use a fairly-common machine screw. I'm just thinking of this as
a fastener that meets certain basic specs like Diameter, Length, Head Shape, Driver Type, etc. (so this example may not make sense if you
really have to worry about certain specs like shear strength, tensile strength, etc. -- if so, please just pretend that's not a requirement for you). This could have several manufacturers, and even within a single manufacturer, they may use multiple part numbers, such as if they package this as a box of 50 and a box of 100. And regardless of which brand I buy, or which package quantity I buy,
as far as my Inventory needs go, they are all the same. This is why the manufacturer part number is at the INVVENDOR level, and, as others have said, this is what the MODELNUM field is for.
--some items probably
shouldn't have a one-to-many relationship like that. Let's use as our example a 32-ounce bottle of Windex. To me, that's a specific Item record that I don't want to make generic, such as just having the Item record defined as "Glass Cleaner" because I want to know
exactly which chemicals we use. I need to know that it is Windex so that I have the correct Safety Data Sheet (SDS). Also, I need to know that it is 32-ounce, because for inventory's sake, that is different than a 19-ounce bottle of Windex. Anyways, I would still use INVVENDOR.MODELNUM as the place that holds the manufacturer's part number; just that
every INVVENDOR entry possibly/probably has the same value for the MODELNUM. (And, FWIW, I really appreciate this about Maximo's architecture, that you can support one-to-many when it makes sense, but allows you to choose to act like it's a one-to-one relationship when that makes sense. I've worked with other systems where it was always a one-to-one relationship; that makes my previous 'screw' example difficult to handle.)
--then you have Rotating Items. For INVVENDOR, I'd still use INVVENDOR.MODELNUM likely all having the same value (like in the Windex example). But also, there's the Asset record side of things. For the Asset records, there's the field ASSET.PLUSCMODELNUM that
probably isn't shown in your UI by default. I added it to the UI beneath the Manufacturer field. This field also exists in Asset Templates, so you could use it there too.
INVVENDOR.CATALOGCODE is the supplier's part number, not the manufacturer's part number, as has been mentioned by others.
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Travis Herron
Pensacola Christian College
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-02-2022 20:48
From: Tejaskumar Soni
Subject: Manufacturer Part Number
Hi,
Any opinions on how Manufacturer Part Number should be captured in Maximo for the items?
We have place to capture Supplier Part Number (catalog code) at INVVENDOR level but I did not see any thing for Manufacturer part number!
Would it make sense to use Model number to capture Manufacturer Part Number?
#Inventory
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Tejaskumar Soni
IBM
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