Master Data · Daily operations · 8 min read

Find duplicates and merge them

Scan customers, suppliers and products for duplicates, dismiss false matches, and merge true duplicates with a second person's approval.

Before you begin

The feature Duplicates and merges must be on for your company (Applications > Master Data > Features). You need mdm.steward to scan and propose, and a different person with mdm.merge.approve to decide.

Scan for duplicates

1. Open Master Data > Stewardship > Duplicates and merges.
2. Press Scan partners. Despite the label, the scan also pairs products.
3. Read the message 'N pairs found.' and the Possible duplicates table: the record, what it looks like, why, and the confidence.

The system matches by rule:

Words such as LLC and Trading are ignored when names are compared. An email on its own never makes two partners duplicates. Names used by more than 50 records, such as Walk-in customer, are skipped and listed as too common. Saving a new partner also records a duplicate pair at once.

Dismiss a false match

Press Not a duplicate on the pair. It leaves the open list and a later scan does not reopen it.

Propose a merge

1. On the pair press Propose merge.
2. Choose the survivor: the record that remains. The left record is preselected.
3. Press Propose.

The new merge (MRG-000001) shows the Documents moved column as an impact count: the number of documents and payments that point at the record to be merged away. Conflicts show '—' when none.

The system refuses a merge when:

• the partners have different registration numbers: 'Their registration numbers differ: they are two legal entities, and are not merged. Correct the wrong one instead.' This is checked again at decision;
• the products have different types or units: 'Products of different types or units are not merged.';
• either record is inactive: 'Both records must be active.'

Decide a merge

1. A different person opens the merge and presses Approve (confirm) or Reject.
2. Anyone who proposed it and tries to approve is refused: 'Somebody other than the person who prepared this merge must decide it.'

What happens next

When approved the merge is applied:

• The merged record becomes inactive.
• An alias is kept: the merged record's id resolves to the survivor (/mdm/resolve/partner/<id>), so other modules can find the survivor.
• Its release is archived. If its party has no other live release, the party is marked as merged into the survivor's party.
• The pair is marked merged, and other pairs involving the merged record are dismissed.
• Existing invoices and orders stay on the merged record. Nothing is moved. The screen text "Documents move to the survivor" is not accurate; the alias only helps lookups.
• The survivor's field values always win. You cannot choose a field value from the merged record on screen.

Good to know

• The reject dialog asks for a reason, but the reason is not stored.
• To correct a record rather than merge it, open it and fix the wrong value (for example the TRN) through the proper change route, then scan again.
• The report Master Data > Reports > Duplicate review lists all pairs with their reasons and confidence.