diff --git a/config/services.yaml b/config/services.yaml
index 0498fcdd..0ba337cf 100644
--- a/config/services.yaml
+++ b/config/services.yaml
@@ -301,3 +301,14 @@ services:
     App\Service\HubFilteringGeoChecker:
         arguments:
             $geofence_flag: "%env(HUB_GEOFENCE_ENABLE)%"
+
+    # customer id generator
+    App\Service\UniqueIdGenerator:
+        arguments:
+            $em: "@doctrine.orm.entity_manager"
+
+    # service to generate id for customer and to save customer
+    App\Service\CustomerGeneratedIdService:
+        arguments:
+            $em: "@doctrine.orm.entity_manager"
+            $id_gen: "@App\\Service\\UniqueIdGenerator"
diff --git a/src/Command/CreateCustomerFromWarrantyCommand.php b/src/Command/CreateCustomerFromWarrantyCommand.php
index 5ffe3a46..a379bee8 100644
--- a/src/Command/CreateCustomerFromWarrantyCommand.php
+++ b/src/Command/CreateCustomerFromWarrantyCommand.php
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ use App\Entity\Vehicle;
 use App\Ramcar\FuelType;
 use App\Ramcar\VehicleStatusCondition;
 
+use App\Service\CustomerGeneratedIdService;
+
 use DateTime;
 
 class CreateCustomerFromWarrantyCommand extends Command
@@ -33,9 +35,12 @@ class CreateCustomerFromWarrantyCommand extends Command
     protected $cvu_mfg_id;
     protected $cvu_brand_id;
 
-    public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $em, $cvu_mfg_id, $cvu_brand_id)
+    protected $cust_gen_id;
+
+    public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $em, $cvu_mfg_id, $cvu_brand_id, CustomerGeneratedIdService $cust_gen_id)
     {
         $this->em = $em;
+        $this->cust_gen_id = $cust_gen_id;
 
         $this->cvu_mfg_id = $cvu_mfg_id;
         $this->cvu_brand_id = $cvu_brand_id;
@@ -154,6 +159,7 @@ class CreateCustomerFromWarrantyCommand extends Command
                 error_log("($total_warr) processing $w_mobile_num from warranty...");
 
                 $customers = $this->findCustomerByNumber($w_mobile_num);
+                $new_cust = null;
 
                 if (!empty($customers))
                 {
@@ -232,6 +238,16 @@ class CreateCustomerFromWarrantyCommand extends Command
                     $total_cv_added++;
                 }
             }
+            if ($new_cust != null)
+            {
+                // TODO: temporary fix on how to save customer with a generated id
+                // since we need to keep generating an id until we are sure that there
+                // are  no duplicates for generated id
+                // when saving the customer. This is an additional check.
+                // This will keep generating an id until a unique id is generated
+                // and the customer entity can then be inserted 
+                $cust_gen_id->saveCustomerWithGeneratedId($new_cust);
+            }
             $this->em->flush();
             $this->em->clear();
         }
diff --git a/src/Command/CreateCustomerGeneratedIdCommand.php b/src/Command/CreateCustomerGeneratedIdCommand.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..058711d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Command/CreateCustomerGeneratedIdCommand.php
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Command;
+
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Command\Command;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputArgument;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputOption;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Output\OutputInterface;
+
+use Doctrine\ORM\EntityManagerInterface;
+use Doctrine\ORM\Query;
+use Doctrine\DBAL\DBALException;
+
+use App\Entity\Customer;
+
+use PDO;
+
+class CreateCustomerGeneratedIdCommand extends Command
+{
+    const GENERATED_ID_LENGTH = 40;
+
+    private $em;
+
+    public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $em)
+    {
+        $this->em = $em;
+
+        parent::__construct();
+    }
+
+    protected function configure()
+    {
+        $this->setName('customer:creategeneratedid')
+            ->setDescription('Create customer generated id and output to file.')
+            ->setHelp('Create customer generated id and output to file.')
+            ->addArgument('output_file', InputArgument::REQUIRED, 'Output filename');
+    }
+
+    protected function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output)
+    {
+        $em  = $this->em;
+        $db = $em->getConnection();
+
+        $output_file = $input->getArgument('output_file');
+
+        // get all customers with no generated ids. First time to run this would mean all customers
+        $cust_q = $em->createQuery('SELECT c from App\Entity\Customer c where c.generated_id is null'); 
+
+        $customers = $cust_q->iterate();
+
+        $output_info = [];
+        foreach ($customers as $row)
+        {
+            $cust = $row[0];
+            $output->writeln('Processing customer ' . $cust->getID());
+
+            $generated_id = $this->generateUniqueId(self::GENERATED_ID_LENGTH);
+
+            // set format of csv file customer id, generated id
+            $output_info[] = [
+                $cust->getID(),
+                $generated_id,
+            ];
+
+            $em->detach($row[0]);
+        }
+
+        // write to output file
+        $this->outputCustomerGeneratedIds($output_file, $output_info);
+
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    protected function generateUniqueId($str_length)
+    {
+        $charset = '0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ';
+        $rand_string = '';
+        $desired_length = 10;
+
+        $rand_string = substr(str_shuffle($charset), 0, $desired_length);
+
+        $salt = time() . $rand_string;
+
+        return substr(md5($salt), 0, $str_length);
+    }
+
+    protected function outputCustomerGeneratedIds($output_file, $entries)
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            $fh = fopen($output_file, "w");
+        }
+        catch (Exception $e)
+        {
+            throw new Exception('The file "' . $report_file . '" could be opened.');
+        }
+
+        foreach($entries as $row)
+        {
+            fputcsv($fh, $row);
+        }
+
+        fclose($fh);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Command/ImportCarClubCustomerDataCommand.php b/src/Command/ImportCarClubCustomerDataCommand.php
index 5ae3b167..fa997ff4 100644
--- a/src/Command/ImportCarClubCustomerDataCommand.php
+++ b/src/Command/ImportCarClubCustomerDataCommand.php
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ use Exception;
 use App\Entity\Customer;
 use App\Entity\CustomerTag;
 
+use App\Service\CustomerGeneratedIdService;
+
 class ImportCarClubCustomerDataCommand extends Command
 {
     // field index in csv file
@@ -26,10 +28,12 @@ class ImportCarClubCustomerDataCommand extends Command
 
     protected $em;
     protected $cust_tag_hash;
+    protected $cust_gen_id;
 
-    public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $em)
+    public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $em, CustomerGeneratedIdService $cust_gen_id)
     {
         $this->em = $em;
+        $this->cust_gen_id = $cust_gen_id;
         $this->loadCustomerTags();
 
         parent::__construct();
@@ -173,6 +177,15 @@ class ImportCarClubCustomerDataCommand extends Command
             ->addCustomerTag($promo_tag);
 
         $this->em->persist($new_cust);
+
+        // TODO: temporary fix on how to save customer with a generated id
+        // since we need to keep generating an id until we are sure that there
+        // are  no duplicates for generated id
+        // when saving the customer. This is an additional check.
+        // This will keep generating an id until a unique id is generated
+        // and the customer entity can then be inserted 
+        $this->cust_gen_id->saveCustomerWithGeneratedId($new_cust);
+
         $this->em->flush();
 
         return $new_cust;
diff --git a/src/Command/ImportCarClubCustomerHubCommand.php b/src/Command/ImportCarClubCustomerHubCommand.php
index 15275a1c..f474164b 100644
--- a/src/Command/ImportCarClubCustomerHubCommand.php
+++ b/src/Command/ImportCarClubCustomerHubCommand.php
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ use App\Entity\CustomerTag;
 use App\Entity\CarClubCustomerHub;
 use App\Entity\Hub;
 
+use App\Service\CustomerGeneratedIdService;
+
 class ImportCarClubCustomerHubCommand extends Command
 {
     // field index in csv file
@@ -28,10 +30,12 @@ class ImportCarClubCustomerHubCommand extends Command
 
     protected $em;
     protected $cust_tag_hash;
+    protected $cust_gen_id;
 
-    public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $em)
+    public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $em, CustomerGeneratedIdService $cust_gen_id)
     {
         $this->em = $em;
+        $this->cust_gen_id = $cust_gen_id;
         $this->loadCustomerTags();
 
         parent::__construct();
@@ -188,7 +192,16 @@ class ImportCarClubCustomerHubCommand extends Command
             ->addCustomerTag($promo_tag);
 
         $this->em->persist($new_cust);
-        $this->em->flush();
+
+        // TODO: temporary fix on how to save customer with a generated id
+        // since we need to keep generating an id until we are sure that there
+        // are  no duplicates for generated id
+        // when saving the customer. This is an additional check.
+        // This will keep generating an id until a unique id is generated
+        // and the customer entity can then be inserted 
+        $this->cust_gen_id->saveCustomerWithGeneratedId($new_cust);
+
+        //$this->em->flush();
 
         return $new_cust;
     }
diff --git a/src/Controller/APIController.php b/src/Controller/APIController.php
index b072d8e4..da2703be 100644
--- a/src/Controller/APIController.php
+++ b/src/Controller/APIController.php
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ use App\Service\HubSelector;
 use App\Service\HubDistributor;
 use App\Service\HubFilterLogger;
 use App\Service\HubFilteringGeoChecker;
+use App\Service\CustomerGeneratedIdService;
         
 use App\Entity\MobileSession;
 use App\Entity\Customer;
@@ -442,7 +443,7 @@ class APIController extends Controller implements LoggedController
         return $cust;
     }
 
-    public function updateInfo(Request $req, EntityManagerInterface $em)
+    public function updateInfo(Request $req, EntityManagerInterface $em, CustomerGeneratedIdService $cust_gen_id)
     {
         // check required parameters and api key
         $required_params = [
@@ -468,8 +469,26 @@ class APIController extends Controller implements LoggedController
         {
             $cust->setPrivacyPolicyMobile($mobile_policy);
         }
-        
-        $em->flush();
+      
+        // need to check if it's a new customer or updated existing customer
+        // a new customer would not have a generated id while an existing one
+        // already have one.
+        if ($cust->getGeneratedId() == null)
+        { 
+            // TODO: temporary fix on how to save customer with a generated id
+            // since we need to keep generating an id until we are sure that there
+            // are  no duplicates for generated id
+            // when saving the customer. This is an additional check.
+            // This will keep generating an id until a unique id is generated
+            // and the customer entity can then be inserted 
+            $cust_gen_id->saveCustomerWithGeneratedId($cust); 
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            // we do a simple flush with no id generation for updated existing
+            // customers
+            $em->flush();
+        }
 
         return $res->getReturnResponse();
     }
diff --git a/src/Controller/CAPI/CustomerController.php b/src/Controller/CAPI/CustomerController.php
index 9148321e..0d89a0e9 100644
--- a/src/Controller/CAPI/CustomerController.php
+++ b/src/Controller/CAPI/CustomerController.php
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ use App\Entity\Customer;
 use App\Entity\CustomerVehicle;
 use App\Entity\Vehicle;
 
+use App\Service\CustomerGeneratedIdService;
+
 use Catalyst\APIBundle\Access\Generator as ACLGenerator;
 
 class CustomerController extends APIController
@@ -26,7 +28,7 @@ class CustomerController extends APIController
         $this->acl_gen = $acl_gen;
     }
 
-    public function register(Request $req, EntityManagerInterface $em)
+    public function register(Request $req, EntityManagerInterface $em, CustomerGeneratedIdService $cust_gen_id)
     {
         $this->denyAccessUnlessGranted('customer.register', null, 'No access.');
 
@@ -150,6 +152,8 @@ class CustomerController extends APIController
                     ];
                 }
             }
+
+            $em->flush();
         }
         else
         {
@@ -194,9 +198,16 @@ class CustomerController extends APIController
                 'condition' => $condition,
                 'fuel_type' => $fuel_type,
             ];
+
+            // TODO: temporary fix on how to save customer with a generated id
+            // since we need to keep generating an id until we are sure that there
+            // are  no duplicates for generated id
+            // when saving the customer. This is an additional check.
+            // This will keep generating an id until a unique id is generated
+            // and the customer entity can then be inserted
+            $cust_gen_id->saveCustomerWithGeneratedId($new_cust);
         }
 
-        $em->flush();
         $em->clear();
 
         return new APIResponse(true, $message, $data);
diff --git a/src/Controller/CAPI/CustomerWarrantyController.php b/src/Controller/CAPI/CustomerWarrantyController.php
index edf00e2e..bc942b22 100644
--- a/src/Controller/CAPI/CustomerWarrantyController.php
+++ b/src/Controller/CAPI/CustomerWarrantyController.php
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ use Catalyst\APIBundle\Response\APIResponse;
 
 use App\Service\RisingTideGateway;
 use App\Service\WarrantyAPILogger;
+use App\Service\CustomerGeneratedIdService;
 
 use App\Entity\WarrantySerial;
 use App\Entity\Warranty;
@@ -301,7 +302,7 @@ class CustomerWarrantyController extends APIController
 
 
     public function register($serial, EntityManagerInterface $em, Request $req, KernelInterface $kernel, RisingTideGateway $rt, TranslatorInterface $trans,
-                             WarrantyAPILogger $logger)
+                             WarrantyAPILogger $logger, CustomerGeneratedIdService $cust_gen_id)
     {
         error_log('HERE - register');
 
@@ -325,7 +326,7 @@ class CustomerWarrantyController extends APIController
         $username = $this->getUser()->getName();
         $source = 'CAPI_USER_' . $username;
 
-        error_log('SOURCE: ' . $source);
+        // error_log('SOURCE: ' . $source);
 
         // TODO: maybe add vmake_id? since warranty cannot be created with no vmake
         // TODO: maybe also add mobile and email since customer creation won't let mobile and email be null
@@ -353,7 +354,7 @@ class CustomerWarrantyController extends APIController
 
         // do actual registering
         $res = $this->updateWarranty($em, $rt, $trans, $req, $serial, $inv_filename, $wcard_filename, 
-                                     $logger, $log_data, $user_id, $action, $source);
+                                     $logger, $log_data, $user_id, $action, $source, $cust_gen_id);
 
         // flush to db
         $em->flush();
@@ -395,7 +396,7 @@ class CustomerWarrantyController extends APIController
     }
 
     protected function updateWarranty($em, $rt, $trans, $req, $serial, $inv_filename = null, $wcard_filename = null, 
-                                      $logger, $log_data, $user_id, $action, $source)
+                                      $logger, $log_data, $user_id, $action, $source, $cust_gen_id)
     {
         $plate_num = $this->cleanPlateNumber($req->request->get('plate_num'));
 
@@ -512,7 +513,6 @@ class CustomerWarrantyController extends APIController
             $cust->setPrivacyPromo($priv_promo);
         }
 
-        
         error_log('update entity / database');
         // create or update warranty entry
         $warr->setSerial($serial)
@@ -556,15 +556,30 @@ class CustomerWarrantyController extends APIController
 
         $em->persist($warr);
 
-        $logger->logWarrantyInfo($log_data, '', $user_id, $action, $source);
+        // need to check if it's a new customer or updated existing customer
+        // a new customer would not have a generated id while an existing one
+        // already have one.
+        if ($cust->getGeneratedId() == null)
+        {
+            // TODO: temporary fix on how to save customer with a generated id
+            // since we need to keep generating an id until we are sure that there
+            // are  no duplicates for generated id
+            // when saving the customer. This is an additional check.
+            // This will keep generating an id until a unique id is generated
+            // and the customer entity can then be inserted 
+            $cust_gen_id->saveCustomerWithGeneratedId($cust);
+        }
 
         // TODO: check if we need to do anything else
         $data = [];
 
-
         // send sms confirmation
         $this->sendSMSConfirmation($rt, $req->request->get('contact_num'), $sms_message);
 
+        $logger->logWarrantyInfo($log_data, '', $user_id, $action, $source);
+
+        $em->flush();
+
         return new APIResponse(true, 'Warranty registered.', $data);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Controller/CAPI/WarrantyController.php b/src/Controller/CAPI/WarrantyController.php
index 4db8051c..b2f9c5c8 100644
--- a/src/Controller/CAPI/WarrantyController.php
+++ b/src/Controller/CAPI/WarrantyController.php
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ use App\Entity\Vehicle;
 use App\Entity\WarrantyAPILog;
 
 use App\Service\WarrantyAPILogger;
+use App\Service\CustomerGeneratedIdService;
 
 use App\Ramcar\NameValue;
 use App\Ramcar\WarrantyClass;
@@ -146,7 +147,7 @@ class WarrantyController extends APIController
         return new APIResponse(true, 'Warranties found.', $data);
     }
 
-    public function register(Request $req, EntityManagerInterface $em, WarrantyAPILogger $logger)
+    public function register(Request $req, EntityManagerInterface $em, WarrantyAPILogger $logger, CustomerGeneratedIdService $cust_gen_id)
     {
         $this->denyAccessUnlessGranted('warranty.register.battery', null, 'No access.');
 
@@ -287,7 +288,7 @@ class WarrantyController extends APIController
         {
             $em->persist($warr);
 
-            $this->getCustomerFromMobile($em, $warr);
+            $this->getCustomerFromMobile($em, $warr, $cust_gen_id);
 
             $em->flush();
         }
@@ -638,7 +639,7 @@ class WarrantyController extends APIController
         return new APIResponse(true, 'Warranties found.', $data);
     }
 
-    protected function getCustomerFromMobile($em, $warranty)
+    protected function getCustomerFromMobile($em, $warranty, $cust_gen_id)
     {
         $w_mobile = $warranty->getMobileNumber();
         if (empty($w_mobile))
@@ -717,6 +718,7 @@ class WarrantyController extends APIController
                     $this->createCustomerVehicle($em, $customer, $this->getDefaultVehicle($em), $w_plate_number);
                 }
             }
+            $em->flush();
         }
         // customer not found
         else
@@ -738,9 +740,17 @@ class WarrantyController extends APIController
             $em->persist($new_cust);
 
             $this->createCustomerVehicle($em, $new_cust, $this->getDefaultVehicle($em), $w_plate_number);
+
+            // TODO: temporary fix on how to save customer with a generated id
+            // since we need to keep generating an id until we are sure that there
+            // are  no duplicates for generated id
+            // when saving the customer. This is an additional check.
+            // This will keep generating an id until a unique id is generated
+            // and the customer entity can then be inserted
+            $cust_gen_id->saveCustomerWithGeneratedId($new_cust);
         }
 
-        $em->flush();
+        // $em->flush();
         $em->clear();
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Entity/Customer.php b/src/Entity/Customer.php
index 4af84d96..a3dfa931 100644
--- a/src/Entity/Customer.php
+++ b/src/Entity/Customer.php
@@ -12,10 +12,15 @@ use App\Ramcar\CustomerClassification;
 
 /**
  * @ORM\Entity
- * @ORM\Table(name="customer", indexes={
- *     @ORM\Index(name="phone_mobile_idx", columns={"phone_mobile"}),
- *     @ORM\Index(columns={"first_name"}, flags={"fulltext"}),
- *     @ORM\Index(columns={"last_name"}, flags={"fulltext"})
+ * @ORM\Table(name="customer", 
+ *     uniqueConstraints={
+ *         @ORM\UniqueConstraint(columns={"generated_id"})
+ *     },
+ *     indexes={
+ *         @ORM\Index(name="phone_mobile_idx", columns={"phone_mobile"}),
+ *         @ORM\Index(columns={"first_name"}, flags={"fulltext"}),
+ *         @ORM\Index(columns={"last_name"}, flags={"fulltext"}),
+           @ORM\Index(name="generated_id_idx", columns={"generated_id"})
  * })
  */
 class Customer
@@ -222,6 +227,12 @@ class Customer
      */
     protected $car_club_customer_hub;
 
+    // random generated unique id
+    /**
+     * @ORM\Column(type="string", length=40, nullable=true)
+     */
+    protected $generated_id;
+
     public function __construct()
     {
         $this->numbers = new ArrayCollection();
@@ -259,6 +270,8 @@ class Customer
         $this->date_create = new DateTime();
 
         $this->create_source = 'unknown';
+
+        $this->generated_id = '';
     }
 
     public function getID()
@@ -674,4 +687,16 @@ class Customer
     {
         return $this->car_club_customer_hub;
     }
+
+    public function setGeneratedID($generated_id)
+    {
+        $this->generated_id = $generated_id;
+        return $this;
+    }
+
+    public function getGeneratedID()
+    {
+        return $this->generated_id;
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/src/Service/CustomerGeneratedIdService.php b/src/Service/CustomerGeneratedIdService.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..92c85836
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Service/CustomerGeneratedIdService.php
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Service;
+
+use Doctrine\ORM\EntityManagerInterface;
+
+use App\Entity\Customer;
+
+use App\Service\UniqueIdGenerator;
+
+class CustomerGeneratedIdService
+{
+    protected $em;
+    protected $id_gen;
+
+    public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $em, UniqueIdGenerator $id_gen)
+    {
+        $this->em = $em;
+        $this->id_gen = $id_gen;
+    }
+
+    public function saveCustomerWithGeneratedId(Customer $cust)
+    {
+        $em = $this->em;
+        $id_gen = $this->id_gen;
+
+        // need to generate id
+        // have to try catch the flush because of the generated id
+        // need to retry until we get a unique generated id
+        while (true)
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                $generated_id = $id_gen->generateCustomerUniqueId(40);
+                $cust->setGeneratedId($generated_id);
+
+                // reopen in case we get an exception
+                if (!$em->isOpen())
+                {
+                    $em = $em->create(
+                        $em->getConnection(),
+                        $em->getConfiguration()
+                    );
+                }
+
+                $em->flush();
+            }
+            catch (UniqueConstraintViolationException $e)
+            {
+                error_log($e->getMessage());
+                // delay one second and try again
+                sleep(1);
+                continue;
+
+            }
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Service/CustomerHandler/ResqCustomerHandler.php b/src/Service/CustomerHandler/ResqCustomerHandler.php
index f8685801..7a0a4204 100644
--- a/src/Service/CustomerHandler/ResqCustomerHandler.php
+++ b/src/Service/CustomerHandler/ResqCustomerHandler.php
@@ -4,12 +4,15 @@ namespace App\Service\CustomerHandler;
 
 use Doctrine\ORM\EntityManagerInterface;
 
+use Doctrine\DBAL\Exception\UniqueConstraintViolationException;
+
 use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\Validator\ValidatorInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\NotFoundHttpException;
 use Symfony\Component\Security\Core\Security;
 
 use App\Service\CustomerHandlerInterface;
+use App\Service\CustomerGeneratedIdService;
 
 use App\Ramcar\CustomerClassification;
 use App\Ramcar\FuelType;
@@ -34,14 +37,16 @@ class ResqCustomerHandler implements CustomerHandlerInterface
     protected $country_code;
     protected $security;
     protected $template_hash;
+    protected $cust_gen_id;
 
     public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $em, ValidatorInterface $validator,
-                                string $country_code, Security $security)
+                                string $country_code, Security $security, CustomerGeneratedIdService $cust_gen_id)
     {
         $this->em = $em;
         $this->validator = $validator;
         $this->country_code = $country_code;
         $this->security = $security;
+        $this->cust_gen_id = $cust_gen_id;
 
         $this->loadTemplates();
     }
@@ -292,7 +297,16 @@ class ResqCustomerHandler implements CustomerHandlerInterface
         {
             // validated! save the entity
             $em->persist($row);
-            $em->flush();
+
+            // TODO: temporary fix on how to save customer with a generated id
+            // since we need to keep generating an id until we are sure that there
+            // are  no duplicates for generated id
+            // when saving the customer. This is an additional check.
+            // This will keep generating an id until a unique id is generated
+            // and the customer entity can then be inserted 
+            $this->cust_gen_id->saveCustomerWithGeneratedId($row);
+         
+            //$em->flush();
 
             $result = [
                 'id' => $row->getID(),
diff --git a/src/Service/UniqueIdGenerator.php b/src/Service/UniqueIdGenerator.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cfca4779
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Service/UniqueIdGenerator.php
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Service;
+
+use Doctrine\ORM\EntityManagerInterface;
+
+use App\Entity\Customer;
+
+class UniqueIdGenerator
+{
+    protected $em;
+
+    public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $em)
+    {
+        $this->em = $em;
+    }
+
+    public function generateCustomerUniqueId($str_length)
+    {
+        $em = $this->em;
+
+        // retry until we have no duplicate generated id 
+        while (true)
+        {
+            // generate the id
+            $generated_id = $this->generateUniqueId($str_length);
+
+            // check if generated id already exists
+            $cust = $em->getRepository(Customer::class)->findOneBy(['generated_id' => $generated_id]);
+
+            if ($cust == null)
+                return $generated_id;
+
+            sleep(1);
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected function generateUniqueId($str_length)
+    {
+        $charset = '0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ';
+        $rand_string = '';
+        $desired_length = 10;
+
+        $rand_string = substr(str_shuffle($charset), 0, $desired_length);
+
+        $salt = time() . $rand_string;
+
+        return substr(md5($salt), 0, $str_length);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/utils/load_customer_generated_ids/load_customer_generated_ids.sql b/utils/load_customer_generated_ids/load_customer_generated_ids.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dc66316c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/load_customer_generated_ids/load_customer_generated_ids.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+CREATE TABLE temp_table (id int(11), generated_id varchar(40));
+
+LOAD DATA INFILE '/tmp/generated_ids.csv'
+INTO TABLE temp_table
+FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' 
+ENCLOSED BY '"' 
+LINES TERMINATED BY '\n'
+(id, generated_id);
+
+UPDATE customer INNER JOIN temp_table ON temp_table.id = customer.id
+SET customer.generated_id = temp_table.generated_id;
+
+DROP TABLE temp_table;