This was one of the most quirky admin tasks I’ve faced in NetSuite. Here are my step by step instructions for creating a custom record type and making it a sublist under an item record.

My example creates a custom record type which has inventory and non-inventory items as parents. It holds available quantities of inventory of parent items in other warehouses associated with our suppliers.

Custom Record Type: Consignment Inventory
Fields:
Item
Warehouse Vendor
Warehouse City
Warehouse State
Quantity Available
Lead time

Using this custom record type, I display available quantities of a given item beyond our own inventory. This is shown separately from our inventory and under a given item. It shows up as a sublist. Skip down the last image at the bottom of this post to see what this looks like.

Here is how I did it.

Create a custom record type called “Consignment Inventory”.

When you add your first field, make sure it is the field that links to the parent record.

Then add the remaining fields.

After you create your custom record type, it is a good idea to add a couple of records to it so you can test.

To create a saved search, do it from the list of custom record types. Click the link to create a search. Once you create a search, save it as a saved search.

Since the saved search is actually a sublist, you MUST assign the parent record field as the FIRST field under “Available Filters.”

Next, use your new saved search to create a Sublist.

Start by picking the TYPE drop-down and setting it to “Item.” The screen updates after you make this selection. It gives you different input fields.

The TAB field is really quirky. Not every tab will render your sublist. Also, I noticed a difference between our sandbox, which is running 2018.2 and our production system, which is running 2018.1. The two systems rendered the sublist in different locations on the screen.

In sandbox (2018.2), my sublist rendered next to “Locations” and “Vendors.” In my production system (2018.1) it rendered below those same 2 subtabs.

I fiddled with this for hours before I contacted NetSuite support. The thing that confused me was placing my sublist under the “Purchasing/Inventory” Subtab. I also tried it under the “Inventory” Subtab. Neither would render my Sublist in my sandbox (2018.2). I had to select either “Vendor” or “Locations”.

In our production system (2018.1), I was able to see my Sublist when I placed it under “Purchasing/Inventory”. It’s quirky!

Good luck.