Range Reporting

This guide explains the contents of the new range reports and how to interpret them, along with some helpful advice on best practices.

What is Range Reporting?

The Erudus data team is able to provide you with a range report as a follow-up to receiving your wholesaler product range. These reports have been designed to provide you with everything you need to increase your product matches on Erudus (saving both you and your customers time), as well as supporting you in identifying and resolving any potential data anomalies. 


Your new range of matching reports from Erudus covers topics including: 


  • New Matches
  • Data Quality Review (Duplicate or Missing Wholesaler Product Codes, Duplicate GTINs in Range, GS1 GTIN Errors, No Match Criteria, Unidentified Manufacturers & Unnamed Manufacturers)
  • Data Comparison (Current Products links vs the New matches, Redundant Live Codes, Potential Erudus ID Mis-Matches, Potential Live Code Issues)

Each report highlights specific information about your range or data. Some inconsistencies in the data highlighted within the reports may require updates to information in your own system as well as in Erudus.

Please note: This guide includes all possible reports. Not all may apply to your current range.

1. New Matches


REPORT NAME: New Matches


DESCRIPTION: Products identified on Erudus based on the data in your most recent range.


ACTIONS:

  • Check each ID on Erudus to ensure it corresponds with your product
  • Confirm matches with Erudus - who will add them en mass, OR manually link each Wholesaler Product Code to the product when checking its Erudus ID

NOTE: Wholesaler Product Codes will continue to appear on this report until they have been accepted and appear on your dashboard.

2. Data Quality Review


REPORT NAME: Missing Wholesaler Product Codes


DESCRIPTION: Any row without a Wholesaler Product Code will be removed from the range file and will appear on this Missing Wholesaler Product Codes Report. This is because every product in your range must have a Wholesaler Product Code, to allow Erudus to search the Data Pool.


ACTIONS:

  • Check each product line in this report in your internal database
  • Update the Wholesaler Product Codes in the range file sent to Erudus to ensure each product row has a unique Wholesaler Product Code

NOTE: This rule includes rows where the entry under Wholesaler Product Code is anything other than a code, such as  “not applicable”, “n/a”, a single zero “0”, or a clearly erroneous entry.

3. Duplicate Wholesaler Product Codes


REPORT NAME: Duplicate Wholesaler Product Codes


DESCRIPTION: This report is for when a single Wholesaler Product Code has been assigned to 2 or more products.


A Wholesaler Product Code should be a unique identifier and appear only once in a range - any rows with duplicate Wholesaler Product Codes will be removed from the range file and will appear on the Duplicate Wholesaler Product Codes Report, as Erudus can not determine which product is accurate.


ACTIONS:

  • Check each product line in this report in your internal database
  • Update the Wholesaler Product Codes in the range file sent to Erudus to ensure each product row has a unique Wholesaler Product Code and delete any rows that are purely duplication

NOTE: When using split codes, it is best practice to have unique Wholesaler Product Codes for each level of product, i.e, the case, pack, and individual.

4. Duplicate Outer/Inner GTINs


REPORT NAME: Duplicate Outer / Inner GTINs


DESCRIPTION: Flagging of duplicate Outer/Inner GTINs - distinct products in your range should have unique outer and inner GTINs. While some items, for example, a multi-pack, will legitimately have the same outer and inner GTIN, duplicates of either GTIN often highlight errors.


The reporting of duplication related to the supply of both case and individual (split) units can be avoided by indicating split items (see below).


ACTIONS:

  • Check each product line on this report in your internal database to confirm the accuracy of the GTIN data
  • Update the GTINs in both your internal system and in the range file sent to Erudus
  • Apply split codes where appropriate. Split codes can be indicated by applying a second Wholesaler Product Code or writing “split” in the “code_type” column of the Erudus supplied range template

NOTE: If you do not use the Erudus range template, please discuss this with your EPR provider or forward a separate list of your split codes to your Customer Success Manager.

5. OUTER / INNER GTIN Errors


REPORT NAME: Outer / Inner GTIN Errors


DESCRIPTION: GTINs that appear in this report do not comply with the GS1 standard for 1 or more reasons, such as the inclusion of non-numeric characters, length of GTIN (see here https://ref.gs1.org/standards/genspecs/), or invalid check digit (see here https://www.gs1uk.org/knowledge-hub/standards/what-is-a-check-digit). 


If you have a query regarding GTIN, e.g, non-standard forms, please reach out to the Erudus Support Team for guidance.


ACTIONS

  • Re-examine the GTIN values of your products and seek advice if uncertain
  • Avoid entries such as “No bar code” and “n/a”
  • If no GTIN exists, simply leave the entry blank

NOTE: Barcodes can be searched on the GS1 website, which is a great resource if you need help in this area.

6.  No Match Criteria


REPORT NAME: No Match Criteria


DESCRIPTION: Products appear on this report when none of the below descriptors are included in the range:

  • Outer GTIN
  • Manufacturer name PLUS manufacturer product code or
  • Manufacturer name PLUS inner GTIN

In order to obtain a match on Erudus, at least one of the above is required, and a total absence makes it impossible to identify a match on Erudus (Any GTIN included here has been determined to be invalid, hence it cannot be used to obtain a match. See above’s “Outer / Inner GTIN Errors” report for more information). 


ACTIONS

  • Provide one or more of the values described above to enable a match

7.  No Manufacturer Name Provided


REPORT NAME: No Manufacturer Name Provided


DESCRIPTION: A report for when no Manufacturer name has been provided, which may impact the ability to identify a match (see “No Match Criteria” above).


ACTIONS

  • Include Manufacturer's name

NOTE: Please consider that Manufacturer names must be spelled correctly and be the legal name of the supplier. If the product was purchased from a distributor, please consider the original Manufacturer.

8.  Unidentified Manufacturers


REPORT NAME: Unidentified Manufacturers


DESCRIPTION: While Erudus will endeavour to identify the actual Manufacturer based on information supplied, if the name differs from the current legal entity, is a subsidiary, a brand, or your internal code for a Manufacturer, we may be unable to confidently make a match, and will ask for clarification rather than risk an erroneous match.


ACTIONS:

  • Update / correct the Manufacturer name, or supply Erudus with additional details such as an address, so we can confidently assign the correct manufacturer to the product

NOTE: If, to your knowledge, you have provided the correct name of a Manufacturer and do not think you need this report, please contact your Customer Success Manager.

9.  Redundant Live Codes


REPORT NAME:  Redundant Live Codes


DESCRIPTION:  Report flags if previously matched Wholesaler Product Codes are no longer present in your current range. While best practice (GS1) recommends that Wholesaler Product Codes are not recycled, if you do re-use Wholesaler Product Codes, any new match cannot appear on your dashboard until the existing (potentially now erroneous) link is manually removed. 


This is by design to prevent multiple Wholesaler Product Codes linking to the same Erudus ID, which could result in confusion and/or error. 


It is a good idea to remove Wholesaler Product Codes, as these become superfluous, to avoid potential errors.


ACTIONS

  • Delete redundant Wholesaler Product Codes from your dashboard as soon as the existing match is no longer applicable/required

NOTE: Management of redundant codes should be maintained over time.

10. Potential Erudus ID Mis-Matches


REPORT NAME: Potential Erudus ID Mis-Matches


DESCRIPTION: For when a Wholesaler Product Code previously assigned an Erudus ID (i.e, a match) now finds a match against a different Erudus ID based on the latest data provided. 

It is not always immediately obvious why the discrepancy exists - there are several possibilities, including:

  • Manufacturer's archiving of a product
  • Wholesaler Product Code recycling 
  • Erroneous manual assignment of Erudus ID to a Wholesaler Product Code

Given that these entries represent live matches on your dashboard, they should be reviewed as a matter of priority.


ACTIONS

  • Check both Erudus IDs on the system and determine which is correct
  • If the Erudus ID under “Current Data” is correct, then delete the associated Wholesaler Product Code from your dashboard, then re-assign it to this Erudus ID
  • If the Erudus ID under “Existing Match” is correct, then re-check the product data in your range

Please contact the Erudus Support Team if you have any issues.

NOTE: This report should be prioritised to ensure your Erudus account is linking to the correct specifications.

11. Potential Live Code Issues


REPORT NAME: Potential Live Code Issues 


DESCRIPTION: When an existing match on your dashboard is not supported by the current data in your range. Furthermore, no match is possible with respect to the current data. 

In some instances data provided may appear similar to that associated with the actual product on Erudus; however, there’ll be a subtle difference.


Given that these are live matches on your dashboard, they should be reviewed as a matter of priority.


ACTIONS

  • Review existing matches
  • If correct, update your system to include one or more valid matching criteria e.g, GTIN and/or Manufacturer product code
  • If no longer valid, delete the Wholesaler Product Code from your dashboard

If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to the Erudus support team on 0333 121 8999 or via email at support@erudus.com

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