Material Codification: How to Clean Your Item Master

Material codification means giving every item your plant buys one code and one clear name, written in one fixed style. The list of those items is your item master, sometimes called the material master.

When codification is done well, a bearing has one code, whoever raises the indent. When it is not, the same bearing sits in the list three times:

• Short forms: "Brg 6205ZZ SKF" and "SKF Bearing 6205-2Z"
• Word order: "Cable 4 Core 2.5 sqmm" and "2.5 sqmm 4C Cable"
• Spacing and symbols: "M12X50 BOLT" and "M 12 * 50 Bolt"
• Different words for one thing: "Welding Rod E6013 3.15mm" and "Welding Electrode E6013 3.15 MM"

Why it matters to the plant

• Stock looks short when it is not. Stock of one part is split across two or three codes, so the store raises an indent for a part already on the shelf.
• Purchase history is split. The last rate, the last vendor and the usual brand sit under different codes, so the rate check at PO approval compares against the wrong history.
• Vendors quote for different things. A vague name ("Bearing", "Valve 2 inch") brings back quotes for different items, and the comparison is not apples to apples.
• A new ERP carries the mess forward. Moving to SAP or another ERP copies every duplicate unless the list is cleaned first.

How a codification project usually runs

1. Agree the house style. One naming pattern per item type: for a bearing, type, number, seal and brand; for a bolt, size, length, grade and finish. The pattern differs by item type, which is why one rule for every item does not work.
2. Clean every name. Expand short forms, fix spellings, put the details in the agreed order, and keep part numbers and brand codes exactly as the maker writes them.
3. Pull out the key details. Size, grade, material, brand and model go into their own fields, so two names that look different but describe the same part can be matched.
4. Build the duplicate list. Pairs that are the same part, with the reason, and pairs that need a second look. Your team decides what to merge. Nothing is merged on its own.
5. Keep it clean afterwards. Check every new item when it is created, before it gets a code. Otherwise the list fills up again within a year.

Step 5 is where most projects fail. A one-time clean-up without a check on new items goes back to the old state.

Doing it in-house or with help

• In-house in Excel works for a few hundred items. The method for Tally users is in our guide How to find duplicate items in Tally.
• For thousands of items, the slow part is judging which pairs are really one part. It needs knowledge of each item type: whether "2Z" and "ZZ" mean the same seal, or whether a DN50 valve is the same as a 2-inch one.

How IndustryPrime does it

IndustryPrime cleans the full item list in one pass. It writes every name in your house style, pulls out the key details, and gives your team a duplicate list to approve. In the item lists we have cleaned for plants, about 4 in 5 item names needed some fix.

After the clean-up, the item agent checks every new item when someone creates it in IndustryPrime. It suggests the clean name and warns when the part already exists under another code.

The one-time clean works from the item list in your ERP or Tally, sent as an Excel file.