Vendor.VendorID has a maximum length of 8.
Customer.CustID has a maximum length of 10.
We need to use the same value in both places in some cases, but a CustID of length 10 won’t fit. In some cases, we have multiple customers whose CustID only differs after the 8th character, so only putting in the first 8 characters is ambiguous.
Can we increase the length of the VendorId field? If so, how?
it would probably be best to put in a BPM that restricts the length of a customer ID to only 8 so that you dont blow out the length of Vendor ID… It is very difficult to extend the length of a field.
That ship has probably sailed, as we have over 2,000 customer IDs longer than 8 characters.
Ahh… but the good thing about Customer IDs in Epicor is they are allowed to be changed. Since most records within the system only retain the Customer NUMBER (and not the Customer ID), when you change the customer ID, you dont loose history.
Seriously… it is very very difficult if not impossible to change the length of any field, and you will need to find another source for the idea. One possible way is to use a DATA TAG to link the two. You could create a datatag for CustomerID on the Supplier ID and this would allow you to search by the data tag to find them. This would be easier, and you could create a customization to automate this.
Customer has the ability to have a related vendor ID typically used for rebates and AR/ AP Netting and other things so there shouldn’t be a need for them to be the same you can just relate them
Not gonna lie, I’ve never noticed that box and now that my obliviousness has been revealed, I’m going to write an email to accounting later today.
Some have joked that I have forgotten more than most people have learned… this is one of those things… I knew about this feature AND have used it in the past… But Alas… i had forgotten. This is an obviously great answer to the problem. The Customer and supplier do NOT need to have the same ID just because they are related (just like the Sales order and the JOB and the packslip ID and the Invoice Number do not need to be the same).
I need you to come to my company and beat everyone over the head with that!
I asked one customer why they didnt create a new part number that matched their order for every order… i was trying to make the point that things dont need to match, and should NOT match.
YEARS ago, i worked at a Make To Order company where we DID have a job number that matched the sales order number. This was fine for those items that were truly make direct… but then we started down a line where we had one job that made parts for multiple orders… whoops… now how do we number the orders? How do we put the “customer name” on the job (there were multiple customers). People on the shop floor would ask: “Who is the customer” and the answer had to get to a point of “IT doesnt matter… make the parts to the schedule that we specify” (our company had an old style concept that the big customers mattered more than the small ones, and the shop floor knew the names of the big customers).
I think you might have worked here!!! 
Sometimes we just need to follow Bob Newhart’s advice… STOP IT. (watch video for clarity) hahaha Bob Newhart-Stop It - YouTube
No, all job numbers must be an indecypherable code requiring both Indiana Jones and Dr. Daniel Jackson to figure out. This is the way. So say we all.
