ANTE User ManualSKU Numbering
SKU Numbering is your company's naming convention for item codes. With it switched on, ANTE gives every new item its SKU automatically when the item is saved — so codes are consistent and nobody has to invent or look up the next one. Open it from Assets → Settings → SKU Numbering.
Anyone who can open the page can read the convention. Saving it, and using the legacy tools, needs the Assets configuration access right; without it the page tells you that you can view the convention but not change it.
Turning Automatic Numbering On
- Open Assets → Settings → SKU Numbering
The page shows the current convention and who last changed it (or that it still uses the defaults).
- Switch on Automatic SKU numbering
Off: everyone types the SKU, as before. On: ANTE assigns the SKU when an item is saved.
- Build the pattern, then click Save
Set the pattern, digits, starting number, restart rule and what to do when a category or brand is missing (next sections). The Next SKU will be preview updates as you type; fix anything listed under Fix the convention before saving, or click Discard changes to start over.
Building the Pattern
The pattern is a mix of parts that ANTE fills in and fixed text you type. Click a part button to add it. Fixed text may use A–Z, 0–9 and - _ . /. The Running number must appear exactly once.
| Part | Fills in | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Running number | The next number in the sequence | 0001 |
| Year (4 digits) | The year the item is created | 2026 |
| Year (2 digits) | The last two digits of the year | 26 |
| Month | The month, two digits | 10 |
| Day | The day, two digits | 02 |
| Category code | The item's category code | DRL |
| Top category code | The code of the item's top-level category | TOOLS |
| Brand code | The item's brand code | MAK |
| Item name (first letters) | The first letters of the item name (A–Z and 0–9 only); the chip adds four letters, you can choose 1 to 20 | HEXD |
| Pattern | Digits | Running number | SKU |
|---|---|---|---|
| {SEQ} | 4 | 1 | 0001 |
| ACME-{SEQ} | 5 | 12 | ACME-00012 |
| {CATEGORY}-{SEQ} | 4 | 1 | DRL-0001 |
| {YY}{MM}-{BRAND}-{SEQ} | 4 | 7 | 2610-MAK-0007 |
| {NAME:4}-{SEQ} | 4 | 3 | HEXD-0003 |
| {SEQ} | 4 | 9999 → next | 9999, then 10000 |
When Numbering Restarts
Numbering restarts only matters when the pattern contains a category, brand or date. It decides whether those groups share one running number or each count from 1.
| Numbering restarts | Drill | Cutter | Drill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Never | DRL-0001 | CUT-0002 | DRL-0003 |
| For each category / brand / date | DRL-0001 | CUT-0001 | DRL-0002 |
Restarting for each group while the pattern uses the item name gives nearly every item its own counter. The page warns you; Never is usually better there.
When an Item Has No Category or Brand
If the pattern uses a category or brand and an item doesn't have one, choose what happens.
GEN. Also used when the item name has no usable A–Z / 0–9 letters (for example a Japanese or Thai name). Needs at least one letter or digit.| If the item has no category | Result |
|---|---|
| Block the save | Not saved — "The SKU convention needs the item's category. Pick one, then save again." |
| Use fallback text (GEN) | GEN-0001 |
The Next SKU Preview
Next SKU will be shows what the next item would get under the convention as it is on screen now — even before you save, and even while numbering is off (it then says how SKUs would look once you switch it on). To see how a particular item fills the pattern, enter a Sample item name, Sample category and Sample brand. The preview never takes a number.
The SKU Field on Item Forms
Once the convention is on, the SKU field on the Add Item, Edit Item and quick-add forms changes.
| Situation | What the user sees |
|---|---|
| Convention off | A required SKU box — type the code, as before — or, on a new item, tick Auto-number: the SKU is assigned on save with the next number from this page's pattern (a plain running number unless you change it; no category is needed unless the pattern has a category part). The link Turn on automatic SKU numbering opens this page. The form remembers your last Auto-number choice. |
| Convention on, user cannot enter their own SKU | A read-only field showing Assigned automatically when saved, with a hint "Next SKU: … (final number given on save)". When editing, the current SKU is shown read-only. |
| Convention on, user has Enter own SKU | An editable field that is optional on a new item — Blank = next number. |
| Item already used on a document | Read-only for everyone, with the reason: the SKU can't change after use. |
Typing your own SKU is a role permission, Enter own SKU (Settings → User Levels → Assets → Items), not a setting on this page. Items show a badge for how they got their SKU: Auto or Legacy.
Legacy Items
At go-live, existing items keep their old SKUs exactly and are tagged Legacy. You choose whether and when to move them to the new convention; the old code stays searchable. The Legacy items panel shows three counts — assigned by the convention, typed, and legacy.
Good to Know
- Gaps are acceptable: a cancelled or failed save may skip a number. SKUs are identifiers, not legal document numbers.
- Changing the convention never renumbers existing items — it applies to items created from now on.
- An item's SKU can't change once the item is used on any document (quotation, order, receipt, stock, BOM…).
Pick the pattern before the first item is saved under it — you can change it later, but codes already issued stay as they are.
How It Connects
Set up first
- Item Categories — a pattern that uses the category code reads it from the item’s category.
Gets its data from
- Settings → User Levels — grants the Assets configuration access to change this page and the Enter own SKU permission.
Feeds into
- Items — the SKU field on Add Item and Edit Item follows this convention.