Understand Product and SKU Lifecycle in GWMS

Updated: 2026-04-13

1. Scenario

Product and SKU lifecycle management describes the full path from product creation to SKU creation and warehouse review. Customer users create product and SKU records, and the warehouse reviews the SKU before it can be used in later operations when review is required.

Use this guide when you need to understand which step comes first, where the warehouse takes over, and why a newly created SKU may not be ready for receiving or outbound operations immediately.

2. Operation Guide

Prerequisites

Confirm the following before starting:

1. The customer account can access GWMS-Product Management-Product and GWMS-Product Management-SKU.
2. The warehouse account can access warehouse-side GWMS-Product Management-SKU and has review permission.
3. Product information, SKU code rules, dimensions, weight, and label rules are ready.
4. Customer and warehouse users are working under the same customer data scope.

2.1 Understand the main lifecycle

The typical flow is:

1. The customer creates a product record.
2. The customer creates SKUs under the product.
3. The warehouse finds the pending SKU and reviews it.
4. After review, the SKU can continue to later business operations.

Skipping product creation may leave the SKU without a clear product relationship. Using an unreviewed SKU may block receiving, putaway, inventory, or outbound work depending on the business rule.

2.2 Step 1: Customer creates the product

Menu path: GWMS-Product Management-Product

1. Open GWMS-Product Management-Product.
2. Click 【Add】.
3. Enter the product name and save.
4. Confirm that the product appears in the product list.

Result: The product record is created and can be used as the parent record for SKUs.

For details, see Add Product.

2.3 Step 2: Customer creates SKU

Menu path: GWMS-Product Management-SKU

1. Open GWMS-Product Management-SKU.
2. Click 【Add】.
3. Select the product created in the previous step.
4. Enter SKU, GSKU, UPC, FN SKU, dimensions, weight, and other required information.
5. Save and confirm the new SKU in the SKU list.

Result: The SKU record appears in the customer-side SKU list.

For details, see Add SKU.

To be confirmed: the exact success prompt, default status name after SKU creation, and whether the current role can directly edit or delete the SKU after creation.

2.4 Step 3: Warehouse reviews the SKU

Menu path: warehouse-side GWMS-Product Management-SKU

1. The warehouse account opens the warehouse-side SKU page.
2. Search for the SKU created by the customer.
3. Select the target SKU and click 【Review】.
4. After review, confirm that the SKU is available on the warehouse side.

For details, see SKU Review.

To be confirmed: the exact review button display conditions, review success prompt, status names before and after review, and whether reject/return-to-edit exists in the current workflow.

2.5 Step 4: Continue with later business

After the product and SKU lifecycle is complete, continue with the required operation:

1. For historical inventory setup, see Initial Setup.
2. For inbound receiving preparation, see Create Inbound Forecast.
3. For inventory query or stock count, see inventory-related customer guides.
4. For outbound orders, continue with outbound-related guides.

Result: Customer and warehouse users have a clear responsibility split. The customer creates product and SKU records. The warehouse reviews the SKU when review is required.

3. Notes

3.1 Product vs. SKU

• Product: the product record that answers "what product is this?"
• SKU: the specific stock keeping unit that answers "which variant is received, stored, shipped, or counted?"

One product can have multiple SKUs.

3.2 Why warehouse review exists

Customer-side creation records the business data. Warehouse-side review confirms that the SKU can be used for warehouse operations.

The warehouse usually checks code rules, label rules, dimensions, weight, and whether the data is enough for receiving, putaway, and outbound handling.

3.3 How this guide differs from single-page operation guides

This guide explains the overall flow. For page-level actions, use:

• Product creation: Add Product
• SKU creation: Add SKU
• Warehouse review: SKU Review

4. FAQ

Q1: I created a product. Why can't I start inbound directly?

A1: A product record is only the parent product file. Warehouse operations use SKUs. Create a SKU under the product first, then complete warehouse review if required.

Q2: Why can't the warehouse see or review a SKU after the customer created it?

A2: Check whether the SKU was saved successfully on the customer side, whether the warehouse user is on the correct SKU page, and whether both users are working under the same customer data scope. If the system has a fixed synchronization delay or a specific pending-review filter, confirm the rule with the administrator.

Q3: Can I maintain only product or only SKU?

A3: It is not recommended. Product records organize product families, while SKUs support receiving, inventory, outbound, and stock count identification.