Stock control coding system

MOH

Anyone got any advice on what to consider when coming up with stock codes for you products?

We're going to start with ~100 products, across maybe 7 categories, maybe a dozen brands.

One option would be to use the barcode number, but then you get zero information from just looking at it.

I'm thinking of something like BNDCAT12345 where BND is 3 letters/number identifying the brand, CAT is the same for category, and the rest is a unique product number. I'll probably store the barcode as a secondary index.

Just wondering what system others have come up with in the past, or any good links to points worth considering.

Nuttzz

why do you need your own coding system at all?

Why not just use the suppliers product code?

MOH

Nuttzz wrote: »

why do you need your own coding system at all?

Why not just use the suppliers product code?

We might have the option of sourcing the same product from different suppliers, using the suppliers code gets messy if we want to change suppliers.

amen

why not use the suppliers bar code?

even if the product is the same say tin of beans then the barcode for Heinz and Batchelors would be different.

Do not reinvent the wheel.

ColmMorrissey

Hi, your on the right track. using the brand name for the first two letters, the item for the next two then go further along putting in as much detail as you can. from the general to the specific. so long as everyone understands the logic behind the code they will be able to work it out
for example
ford focus blue 4 door 1.6 petrol might read as
fdfsbl4d1.6p
Just be sure that whatever software your using will be able to handle plenty of digits.
Which software are you using?
Colm

2Daphne2

Hi

I think it does depend on the software you are using.

List out all the information you need to capture and how realistlically afterwords you are going to capture it. What fields are available for reporting use.

You might need to know, cost price, sales price, make, model, colour, box quantity, case quantity, lead time, bar code, expiry date, supplier, minimum order quantity, margin, transport cost, bin location.....

You might need to report on all of the above and in relation to sales over time, average sales over period, sales to whom, seasonality, sales by supplier etc

Decide how much infor you want to capture on your code and how much you will leave to system reports. Think it out as it will save a lot of frustration later if you know what you will need to report on later. A simple code might work best if you can capture the rest on neat reports.

Best of luck with it.

Atlas_IRL

Depends on what business it is i suppose, for instance the code for a classic UGG short is 5825, so i use UGG/5825. First three initials and then the supplier code.

Voltex

3 letters...SKU
Answer to so many stock keeping problems!