When a item is created, DesignSmart will automatically create a product and assign it a unique product number.
In the screen show below, the item has just been created and only has an item number. By default it has been classified as a Primary Spec Item.
The product that was created was assigned the Product ID 12022409.
For most items, the designer will ignore the product number and continue to fill in the item and product details. However, if the designer does not want to use the new product and wants to replace it with an existing product, then the steps to do that are explained in Linking Products to Items.