Manufacturers are a crucial component in Norce, serving as the foundation for product identity management and external integration. They work together with products and manufacturer part numbers to create an objective view of what a product is and how it's identified throughout the supply chain.
Manufacturers serve multiple purposes in Norce:
- For retail customers: Essential for working with suppliers through the supplier module
- For general use: Provide a quick and easy way to create organized navigation with brand identity
- For front-end: Enable building navigation structures using manufacturers as brands
To create a manufacturer, you only need two essential pieces of information:
- Name: Can be different for each language/culture
- Code: Always remains the same across all languages
Norce can automatically generate unique URLs for manufacturers, or you can create them manually to suit your specific needs.
The description field serves dual purposes:
- Display information on the front-end (if you want), or
- Document your solution within the admin tool
You can upload an image (logo) for manufacturers directly through the admin tool, enhancing the visual representation of your brands.
Additional fields are available for backward compatibility with earlier Norce implementations and customers who require extended functionality.
The main manufacturer page displays:
- A complete list of all current manufacturers
- Their corresponding codes
- Names in the selected language (defaults to primary language if translation unavailable)
When you select a manufacturer:
- Set all basic fields
- Click "Optional settings" to access additional data fields
- Use the translation tool by clicking language flags in the upper right
- View name and description fields side by side for easy translation
- Remember to save your changes
Switch between languages using the language flags to:
- View manufacturer names in different languages
- Translate fields side by side
- Ensure consistent branding across multiple markets
To remove a manufacturer:
- Click the "X" button on the right side of the manufacturer in the list
- Confirm your decision when prompted
- The manufacturer becomes inactive but remains in the system
Note: Products that are set to an inactive Manufacturer cannot be sold. Make sure to first see if you have any products on a manufacturer before you deactivate it.
Deactivated manufacturers:
- Are hidden from the main view
- Can be viewed by clicking "Show inactive"
- Have their codes replaced with unique IDs
- Can be reactivated if needed (requires setting the correct code again)
Why scramble the code? This prevents confusion when users forget about deactivated manufacturers and try to create new ones with the same code, which isn't allowed in the data model.
To restore a deactivated manufacturer:
- Click "Show inactive" to view deactivated items
- Select the manufacturer you want to reactivate
- Set the correct code again (since it was replaced with a unique ID)
- Save your changes
Use the search field in the list menu to quickly find manufacturers by:
- Name (in the current language)
- Code
This makes it easy to locate specific manufacturers in large lists.
- Use consistent naming conventions across languages
- Keep codes simple and memorable
- Utilize descriptions for internal documentation
- Upload brand images to enhance front-end presentation
- Regularly review inactive manufacturers to maintain a clean system