Commodity Code - PEUPCM

The Person/Entity (PE) Commodity Code (PEUPCM) page is used to edit NIGP, UNSPSC, and Custom commodity code groups for use on the PE Product Information (PEUPPR) page and Bid Online. Bulk loading of commodity codes from a file can be accomplished using the Import Commodity Codes plug-in within the Administrative Console tool. Three types of commodity codes are supported: NIGP, UNSPSC, and Custom. Files containing the complete set of NIGP or UNSPSC may be purchased from the respective organizations. Custom commodity codes are any other values a site may choose to use.

A commodity code represents a group of items or products. For example, NIGP code 620-80 describes Pens (General Writing Types): Ball Point, Nylon Tip, Plastic Tip, etc. The inventory system may track multiple types of pens (multiple product codes) that all belong to the same commodity group. These commodity codes are a convenient way to track purchasing activity, and are a necessity for the Bid Online module. Each commodity type is expected in a certain file format. The 5-digit NIGP commodity code list is loaded using the Administrative Console. The file is expected to be tab-delimited and contain three fields per record.

Example of NIGP file:
005     00      ABRASIVES
005     05      Abrasive Equipment and Tools
005     14      Abrasives, Coated: Cloth, Fiber, Sandpaper, etc.

Run the Administrative Console and choose the Database Admin area. From the list on the left, choose Line Item Purchasing > Import Person Entity Commodities.  To load a file, first enter the file path or click the adjacent button to browse. Choose either NIGP or UNSPSC file type. Click Load File to load the file contents into the console and compare the records with the database. Click Update DB to update the database. Loaded Commodity Codes will appear in the PE Commodity Codes page. Codes may be manually entered. Three required fields are necessary to define a commodity code: Commodity Code, Code Type, and Description. The remaining fields are optional and are not used by the system; however, they can be useful for when developing custom reports. Codes from this database are used in defining Product IDs (PEUPPR). Additionally, these codes are used on the Associations tab of the PE Information (PEUPPE) page, when selecting BIDLIST in the Code Category field.

Commodity Code: This code identifies the commodity. The format of the code will depend on the type and should be consistent within each type. For example, 5-digit NIGP codes are formatted as XXX-XX and 8-digit UNSPSC codes are simply XXXXXXXX. The codes must be unique within their type. To prevent the standard commodity codes from overlapping any existing codes defined in PEUPPR, you may choose to use a prefix for the commodity code.

Code Type: There are currently three commodity code types are supported: NIGP, UNSPSC, and CUSTOM.

Description: A 50-character description of the commodity code. This is the description seen most often on reports and screens.

Part 1-5: Each of these fields holds a segment of the commodity code. In the example above the NIGP commodity 620-80 is comprised of two parts: 620 and 80. Each part should relate to the corresponding segments in the commodity code field.

Title: A 250-character field used to hold a longer description of the commodity code.

Definition: A 250-character field used to hold a longer description of the commodity code. Some commodity code sets (such as UNSPSC) have multiple descriptions and will make use of this field.