Hiding Custom Fields

In our store, we use several manufacturers and vendors and I have given all products new sku numbers based upon our numbering system. I have set up a vendor sku and manufacture sku in the custom fields. I want these for our internal records only and not visible to the customer. Can I hide these fields? Or, is there a better location for me to put the manufacturer sku and vendor sku so internally we can still find them but they are not visible to customers?