Get UPC/SKU to print on inventory reports

[Courtright]

Hello, I can not find a way to get the UPC to print for inventory checks.  It should be easy but I cannot figure it out.  I go to Product Control and find the grouping I want to print, I make sure NOT to "hide" UPS so I see it there on my screen.  But when I print a report it excludes the UPC from the report.  The problem with this is I have for instance 10 Oakley sunglasses that are all the same style (let's call them GASCAN's), all with different UPC/SKU's and with different item numbers.  So when I print the report it may give me the item numbers 800 - 810 and it simply says they are all "GASCAN' in the description but I can't tell them apart because I am not getting a printed UPC.  Any help?  I greatly appreciate it!!!

[ronaldrwl]

You are using the File / Print Products ... options?  Do you only need the UPC?  If so, you can put the UPC value in the Item# field.  The only difference is the Item# field must be unique.  And different products can have the same UPC value.  So, you could use the Item# field to hold the UPC if all the UPC values are unique.  The problem is barcodes are not really intended for humans to read.  So, the reports only list the Item#.

[Courtright]

Gotcha and that is a smart way of doing it because they are all unique.  My problem is I may have 10 different styles of Oakley "Gascan" sunglasses so on the report it may list item #300 - #310 but it then just says "Gascan" in the description so we had no way of distinguishing on the report which exact one might be missing if we only counted 9 of them.  Sometimes I overlook the simplest solutions.  I just wasnt sure if it was possible to add it to the report somehow, but I will just make it the Item#.  Hopefully there is not a small max number of characters allowed for the item # and it can hold a UPC number.  Thanks for the tip!

[ronaldrwl]

How do you tell on the receipt between the different glasses?  It's not something you want to include in the product description?

[Courtright]

The majority of our glasses are cheap, about $12.  We do not inventory them or give them specific SKUs, they are simply put into the system as "1 Pair Sunglasses" with a price of $12.00.  The receipt shows "1 Pair Sunglasses".

However, we then carry Oakley, Ray Ban, Coach, Maui Jim, etc and they can run $200 - $300 so we inventory those glasses.  I would say 99% of customers will only buy 1 pair.  There is an Oakley style called "Gascan", in which they may have 10 different types.  They all look the same but are different colors or some are polarized.  They each have unique SKUs to tell them apart.  So on the receipt it simply says "Gascan".  Which I figured should be sufficient because I don't see many people purchasing multiples of the same sunglasses at $200 a piece. 

DO you have any ideas that come to mind or suggestions?  I was considering changing the ITEM# to the SKU, so it will print out on reports.  Thanks for any insight.

[ronaldrwl]

To me it makes sense to add more to the description.

[Courtright]

When I initially put the items into inventory I put their descriptive parts in the "Long Description"  I agree I need to go back through and redo them.  Thanks for the input.  It's been a big help. =)

[Psychochilli]

This might be of help to you...
What I've been doing is putting the suppliers order code in the Item # field.
This means I can export the product lists and they will then have a unique field I can cross-ref with supplier lists. (I use Microsoft Access for this)
I can then easily bulk check for RRP or cost price changes, create a csv with Item#, RRP, Cost Price and import it back in.
A bit of care is needed in case different suppliers use the same codes but I haven't found this an issue.
I use this system with another customer of mine (on a different EPOS system) and I can export/check and import 10,000 line pricelists in about an hour.

I also put full size/colour info into the Long Description and have set the Long Description to print on receipts. e.g.
Description (49 characters max I think)
Oakley Gascan SGlasses Pol Wht/Blk Irid
Long Description
Polished White Frame/Black Iridium Lens

If there isn't enough space to print the full short Description on a receipt,  a customer will have the long description printed out as well.

Cheers,
Stefan, Bike shops in the UK

[Courtright]

Thanks for the input Stefan!  Will do. =)