Item-Supplier Mapping

For items you buy from multiple suppliers, the Item Supplier table on each Item record links them — with each supplier's part number, price, lead time.

Where to add suppliers to an item

Open any Item → Item Supplier child table at the bottom.

Adding a supplier

For each supplier that carries this item, add a row:

Field	What
Supplier	The supplier
Supplier Part No	The part number they use (often differs from your internal Item Code)
Price	Their list price (optional — can also use Price Lists)
Lead Time	Days from order to delivery

Why this matters

Auto-matching incoming invoices: when you receive a PEPPOL invoice from a supplier, ERPNext matches their product names / IDs against the Item Supplier table to find the right ERPNext Item. Without this mapping, the matcher falls back to product names, which is fuzzier.

Default supplier per item: when creating a Material Request, ERPNext can suggest the default supplier for each item — typically the first one in the Item Supplier list.

Comparison shopping: when creating a Request for Quotation, ERPNext can email all suppliers listed against the items, collect their quotes, and present a side-by-side comparison.

Supplier-specific pricing

You can express supplier-specific pricing two ways:

Price on the Item Supplier row — simple, just one price per supplier
Supplier-specific Item Price — full Item Price record with a Buying Price List per supplier, supports time-limited prices, volume breaks

For most setups, the simple row-level price is enough. Move to Item Prices when you need volume or seasonal pricing.

Default supplier for receiving

When a Purchase Invoice arrives without a clear supplier match (via PEPPOL or manual upload), ERPNext checks the Item Supplier mapping in reverse: "which suppliers carry these items?" and uses that to suggest a supplier.

Bulk mapping

For migrating many items × suppliers:

Data Import → New → Document Type: Item Supplier
Download template — needs Item Code, Supplier, optional Supplier Part No, Price, Lead Time
Upload

Common situations

Multi-source critical items — list multiple suppliers in priority order; ERPNext defaults to the first
Single-source items — only one supplier listed
Supplier with different part number — supplier uses "ABC-123-RED"; your Item Code is "ITEM-042"; the Item Supplier row carries the mapping
Replacing a supplier — add the new one, set as primary, remove the old when transition is done