Non-stock item code representing item variants

[lxnow]

I'm not sure how to implement this but this is the business case:

I have items that can be sold in different colors (variants).

I want to be able to track the item variants by color, so I figure one can set specific item codes per color.

However, I also want to be able to view the item in aggregate, i.e. grouped under one item code.  This is for simplicity in selling items, showcasing on the website, etc.

Any thoughts on how this can be done?

[Anand Doshi]

Hi Laurence,

We could use a trick here.
Show an Item Group as an Item on the website!

So, suppose we have a tshirt (Item Group): RoundNeck-153
with variants (Items): RoundNeck-153-L-Black, RoundNeck-153-L-Yellow, etc.
These variants can be under the Item Group RoundNeck-153

And, in the website, show RoundNeck-153 as an Item, with a variant selector.

I think this is doable without changing the structure of ERPNext. But this is basically a trick. 

Anyone else have a better idea?

Best,
Anand Doshi.

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[lxnow]

Nice trick, and it would work properly on a website.

But that would just make things more complex on the back-end, especially for inventory management and sales ordering. :-) Ideally, the main item is something we can sell or show on price lists and catalogs.  Upon ordering, the actual variant can (or not) be specified. But when stock picking happens (impact to inventory), then a variant _must_ be chosen.

The main item is therefore non-stock.

Another way to see it is like having multiple selling BOM for each non-stock "main" item.  The BOM is only chosen upon a transaction that impacts inventory, but not necessarily when it is ordered or quoted.  In a way, the current implementation of sales BOM touches on this possibility, but it appears the Sales BOM is limited to one BOM per unique item.

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