Talk:Stock keeping unit/Archives/2012

trereree?
Surely a mistake, yes? I removed it. Jeff

SKU as product line
Various definitions (e.g. here and here) define SKU differently, as the product, not the identifier. I think this is a less common use of the term, but it should be clarified here. JulesH 23:46, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Merger proposal
It was suggested by Kidburla on 5 June 2008 (diff) that Price Look-up code be merged into this article.
 * Disagree. It doesn't appear as though PLU and SKU are the same thing.  PLU (per the article) appears to be used only on food items, whereas SKUs are much more general and are used in many different industries.  Unless somebody wants to create a page called "stocking codes" or something like that, which contains all of these different things, e.g. PLU, SKU, UPC, etc., I think the pages should remain as they are.  Combining PLU code and SKU and leaving the others separate would likely just confuse readers.  --Lone Skeptic (talk) 18:00, 10 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Disagree. PLU is a specific system, SKU is a general type of system.  I'm pretty sure PLU is a type of SKU system, but even if that is not technically true, there doesn't seem to be any good reason to merge.  ike9898 (talk) 16:41, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

SKU's in specific industries
I hear SKU's are used a lot to identify different types of bacon. Maybe include a section on SKU's in specific industries such and meat, electronics, etc? Thx. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.65.43.211 (talk) 05:59, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

I have modified the following text, as a small portion was not true:
 * A goal of a warehouse or distribution center is to track items moving in and out, which is the purpose for using SKUs or product data, and can include product dimension, weight, and on-hand quantity.

I've replaced the bold text with color, because the Quantity is not a property which identifies a SKU. The Quantity is a property which determines how many of each SKU you currently have available. As they may be directly related, a SKU is presumed to never change, because it reflects an identification. In this case, whenever the Quantity changes, the SKU would change, which conflicts with the purpose of a SKU. Djjd47130 (talk) 21:58, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

I have modified the following text, as a small portion was not true:
 * for each distinct product and service that can be ordered from a supplier.

I've replaced the bold text with Purchased, becaue the SKU system is not unique to only suppliers. General retails stores and many other companies can create a SKU system of their own, it is not always from a 'supplier', and they are not always 'ordered'.Djjd47130 (talk) 22:25, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

I moved the following text to the example section:
 * For example, an item may be a can a soft drink with an item identifier number of 1234. If that item is held in stock in the warehouse and two retail stores, it is said that there are three items and one SKU to be maintained. An item in two different bin locations in the same geographical location is not seen as two SKUs as they are managed as a single unit. Djjd47130 (talk) 18:28, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

I summarized this article, made it a little more clear, moved content to its appropriate section, and removed some duplicated content. Djjd47130 (talk) 18:33, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

Reference to Guitar Hero
Text how it is currently in the article:

"For example, a retail store carrying Guitar Hero 3 might have six SKUs, two for each of the three platforms—one with and one without a guitar controller."

People may not know what Guitar Hero is. And even if they know about the game title itself (maybe after clicking the link it self), one might not know what "platform" is. Plus, as this is an example, readers expect to have a better understanding of what has previously been written without having to click on the link. So, I would either explain that Guitar Hero is a video game and that platforms are e.g., Sony Playstation, Nintendo Wii, ... or, my preferred option, just use another example involving more world-widely understood items, like car models and series (or whatever is universally well understood). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.150.243.2 (talk) 23:21, 3 September 2010 (UTC)

Agreed, the reference should be generalised to define a more relative industry, perhaps it should be defined as "A product may have 2 or more SKU's, one for the product itself, another for the product with promotional packing and finally a SKU for a the product at a discounted rate when purchased with another item". — Preceding unsigned comment added by Regraham (talk • contribs) 15:28, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Reality and theory
I have been discussing SKU at work and there is two thing happening here. The reality, 'with 20 years experience', is that mostly the SKU is associated to a UPC and therefore they don't set up new ones.

So if the manufacturer packs goods X in boxes of 10 and then starts packing in boxes of 20 then according to what I understand the SKU changes. However the warehouse system seems to allow different carton counts in different locations and the SKU is not changed.

The SKU only changes if the product changes dimensions, for example the bottle is 2mm shorter. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.171.5.4 (talk) 22:53, 20 October 2010 (UTC)