Managing Duplicates

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Managing inventory items, it was previously known as Remove Duplicates. You can manage duplicate inventory items records from IBM® Maximo Inventory Optimization. Use the Manage Duplicates function to merge duplicate records and to combine associated receipt and issue histories into a single record.

About this task

When you select the Manage Duplicates function, duplicate records are merged into a single item. One item is referred to as the source record and the other as the destination item.

When merged, the consumption and receipt histories are transferred from the source item to the destination item, and when completed, the source and destination records state are changed to Duplicate and Merged respectively.

Important Notes

  • You can merge only items that are in the same location.
  • Managing duplicates as a feature is now available with PLM.
  • No changes can be made for an item in a Duplicate State but notes. User can approve and commit.
  • If an item is deleted in the ERP before merging items in IBM Maximo Inventory Optimization and a Delta Update runs, then the deleted item (source) will no longer be present in IBM Maximo Inventory Optimization to merge with the destination item. It means that no merge can take place- this is a process issue and needs to be considered in terms of timing. -The source and destination items are calculated at the time of merging by using the merged issues, while calculating the issue size and receipts. If merged, the issue size and receipts calculate a new lead time, and recommend new stocking levels.
  • The source item will always remain in a Duplicate state, as this is an invalid state(?), it should be deleted in the ERP and then it will be removed from IBM Maximo Inventory Optimization. The destination item remains in a merged state until it is exported, or a data refresh runs.
  • Destination Items in a merged state can be edited.
  • Source Items in a duplicate state cannot be edited (only notes can be added) as it is expeected that they should be removed from the ERP.

Procedure

  1. Select the duplicates that you want to Merge.
  2. Click the actions menu and then select Manage Duplicates. The Manage Duplicates window displays.
  3. In Source, enter the invalid Material Number and for Destination enter the valid item number to merge into.
  • The data in the proceeding fields, including Description Line 1 are autofilled with the data from each item. The records in the tables correspond to matching business keys, for example, company Code, plant, storage location, etc.
  1. Select the records that you would like to merge by ticking the checkbox on the far left of each row. You can also add a filter by clicking the filter icon with the following options- Show All, Show paired sourced items only, and show unmatched source items only.
  2. Optionally, to merge the duplicate items without copying any of the receipt histories deselect Copy Receipts.
  • When you select the source item records, the arrow between the lists changes from gray to blue, which indicates that those records are to be merged.
  1. Click Merge
  2. When prompted, click Confirm to complete the item merge.

Removing Duplicates and maintaining record history

  • When you merge a source item with a duplicate destination item, a link is established between the new destination items issues/receipts to the original source item. The source stock code link is retained, so you know which issues and receipts belonged to the source, and are not originally from the destination item.
  • The source stock code for issues and receipts can be seen on the Issue history, and receipt history widgets. For more information, see History and Receipts widget