Config sheet use cases in manufacturing

Customer product codes on labels

Many customers want their own product code printed on the label, beside or instead of yours. Keep the customer’s code in its own column of a shared table, next to your product code and the kit it is packed as, so correcting one never changes the other.

When a code changes, review the one changed row, save version 2 with a reason and prepare the LabelRules file from that version. LabelRules reviews and activates it; labels already in use are unaffected until then.

Supplier option codes

Each supplier has its own code for the same option: one calls a left-hand control LH, another L; one finish is 0012, another 0007. Keep a table per supplier with the codes as text, so leading zeros survive every export, and look up an exact code to see which tables hold it.

EDI cross-reference tables

An EDI cross-reference maps a trading partner’s customer, location or carrier codes to your own. Keep the pairs in one table with a unique key, so one partner code cannot map to two of yours. The table holds the code values; connecting your EDI software or provider is a paid integration that we scope with you.

Inputs for kit jobs

A kit job brings together an order, the customer’s product and the kit it needs. A SmartFACT Data feed prepares the KitProof job file from the agreed source tables, previews the new, changed and unchanged jobs, and keeps every file with the versions it came from. KitProof accepts the file through its own review.

Shop orders and stock

Products sold through a WooCommerce shop are picked from the stockroom. The WooCommerce connector maps each shop SKU to a stock item, with the number of base units in each pack, and StoresFlow deducts and reverses stock as orders are placed, cancelled and refunded. See WooCommerce orders into StoresFlow.

Option sets behind your own configurator

A product configurator or quoting tool offers each customer the options, finishes and control sides a product range allows. Keep one option sheet per range and market in ConfigSheets, and let the configurator read the saved version through the GraphQL API. A new finish is reviewed and saved by the product team; the configurator picks it up on its next read, with no release of its own.

Product configurations at scale

Hundreds of variants each carry their own limits: maximum widths, permitted combinations, panel sizes. Keep them as sheets with sheet-level parameters such as range and market, and query exactly the sheets a screen needs. Every change shows the values before and after, so a mistyped limit is seen before your tool ever reads it.

Code lists and parameter tables for your own platform

Internal platforms, ERP add-ons and integration services often keep code lists and parameter tables in their own database, changed by hand. Move them into ConfigSheets: the people who own the values edit and review them, the editing screens can sit inside your own tool, and your platform reads the current version with a credential scoped to your workspace.

Answering ’which values did we use?’

When a label or a job is questioned weeks later, the answer is in the versions. Every saved version keeps its rows, author and note, and every prepared file keeps evidence of the version and settings it came from.

What these have in common

Read next

• What is a config sheet?A config sheet is a table of reference values, such as product option codes or customer codes, that other systems look up. How they go wrong, and how to keep them right.
• Embed in your own toolUse ConfigSheets inside your own configurator, ERP add-on or platform: maintain option sets and parameter tables at scale, and read reviewed versions through GraphQL.
• Versioned reference tablesA versioned reference table keeps every saved version of a lookup table. See how SmartFACT Data checks each change, refuses stale edits and keeps every version.
• WooCommerce orders into StoresFlowA shop connection turns each WooCommerce order into the stock it uses. See how SmartFACT Data maps shop SKUs exactly and hands orders to StoresFlow for stock.