Attribute: Supplier Part Number

A supplier (also known as vendor) part number is a unique identifier assigned by a supplier for a specific product or item. This number is crucial for identifying and managing items in various systems. This part number is used in Item Recommendations to show differences between the provider's data and the curated GHX data.

The terms supplier and vendor are used interchangeably, depending on which system is used.

Data Sources

Here are the sources of data for vendor part numbers:

Primary Source

Supplier and distributor catalogs.

Alternate Sources

GHX My Exchange (i.e. EDI)
FDA's AccessGUDID
Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN)
Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs)

Standardization

Vendor part numbers are standardized based on GHX survivorship rules. This means the vendor part number in GHX can vary from a manufacturer's catalog or website.

Considerations

Many suppliers have multiple, different databases for their master catalog. This makes it hard to determine which set of product information is best, as these data sets often vary, such as in online catalogs, FDA's AccessGUDID submissions, Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs)-fed data, and others.

GHX uses a combination of AI-based learning and survivorship rules to determine the best value when multiple iterations exist in the marketplace.

The main purpose of curating supplier part numbers is to ensure successful electronic order transactions across the GHX Exchange.