Manufacturer Groups (Manufacturer Cleanup)
Manufacturer Groups are used to standardize manufacturer names.
When BOMs are imported, the same manufacturer may appear under multiple names, such as:
Abracon
Abracon LLC
Abracon Corporation
These all represent the same manufacturer, so they should be grouped into a single Manufacturer Group.
Purpose
Manufacturer Groups help:
Clean up inconsistent manufacturer naming
Consolidate duplicate manufacturer records
Create a single source of truth for manufacturer data
Ensure supplier routing is applied consistently
Example
Manufacturer Name Found on BOM | Manufacturer Group |
Abracon | Abracon |
Abracon LLC | Abracon |
Abracon Corporation | Abracon |
In this example, all manufacturer variations roll up to the same Manufacturer Group.
Important: A manufacturer spelling can only belong to one Manufacturer Group.
Line Card Groups (Supplier Routing Rules)
Line Card Groups determine which suppliers are associated with manufacturer groups for a specific quoting scenario, region, site, or business unit.
While Manufacturer Groups answer:
"What manufacturer is this?"
Line Card Groups answer:
"Which suppliers should be considered for this manufacturer in this situation?"
Example
The Manufacturer Group Yageo may exist once in the system, but supplier relationships can vary by region.
North America Line Card Group
Arrow
Avnet
DigiKey
Mouser
APAC Line Card Group
TTI
Regional Brokers
The manufacturer is still Yageo, but the suppliers available for bidding differ depending on the selected Line Card Group.
How They Work Together
Think of the process in two steps:
Step 1: Clean the Manufacturer Data
Manufacturer variations:
YAGEO
Yageo Corp.
Yageo Corporation
are grouped into:
Manufacturer Group: Yageo
Step 2: Define Supplier Relationships
Line Card Groups determine which suppliers support that Manufacturer Group.
North America Group
Arrow → Yageo
Avnet → Yageo
APAC Group
TTI → Yageo
Broker A → Yageo
When bidding, the system uses the selected Line Card Group to determine which suppliers will receive a bidsheet for each manufacturer.
Why This Matters for Imports
When preparing your import file:
First, ensure manufacturer spellings are cleaned and assigned to the correct Manufacturer Group.
Then, define the supplier relationships within the appropriate Line Card Group.
Verify that every manufacturer spelling maps to only one Manufacturer Group.
Verify that the correct suppliers are assigned within each Line Card Group.
Keeping these two concepts separate will make imports easier to maintain and help prevent supplier routing issues later.
Manufacturer Groups = Data cleanup/Normalization
Line Card Groups = Supplier bidding/Routing logic