One item, one name: escaping the muddle

Your book has three rows: "Shakar 1 kg", "shakar 1kg" and "Сахар 1 кг". To you it is one sugar; to the table it is three separate products. The balance is scattered across three places: search and you see one row, count and you get another. Such muddle seems small, yet it is exactly why you cannot say for sure whether an item is in stock, and orders end up either excessive or late. The good news is that the problem can be sorted out once and then kept in check by a simple rule.

Where the confusion comes from

One product gets several names, usually for several reasons:

• Latin and Cyrillic letters are mixed: "Shakar", "Шакар", "Сахар";
• abbreviations differ: "vegetable oil", "veg. oil", "oil";
• units are written differently: "1 kg", "1kg", "1000 g", "1.0 kg";
• the decimal mark differs: 1,5 and 1.5;
• stray spaces and capital letters: "Green Tea" and "green tea ";
• several people keep the book and each writes in their own style;
• the supplier's name does not match yours.

An example: three rows, one product

In the book: "Shakar 1 kg": 14 pieces, "shakar 1kg": 6 pieces, "Сахар 1 кг": 3 pieces. Total 23. Now imagine that during a search only the second row opened up: 6 pieces. You decide it is running out and order another 20. In fact there are 23 in the store. The result: extra money went into stock and the space is taken. The opposite happens too: going by the first row you promise a customer "we have 14", but that row is out of date.

A naming rule

Choose one template and let everyone follow it. A recommended order: type + brand + feature + size (+ colour). For example: "Sugar Golden Grain 1 kg".

1. One alphabet: either Latin only or Cyrillic only. Pick whichever is more convenient.
2. The first word is always the type of goods: Sugar, Flour, Tea. When sorted, similar items sit together.
3. Write without abbreviations, or draw up a single list of abbreviations.
4. The same units: "1 kg", "500 g", "1.5 l", with a space between the number and the unit and one agreed decimal mark.
5. Colour and size at the end.
6. A capital letter only in the first word.

Putting the old list in order

You do this once, in an hour or two:

1. Export the list of goods to a table and sort it by name from A to Z: similar names fall next to each other.
2. Mark groups of look-alikes and choose the main name.
3. Add the balances: 14 + 6 + 3 = 23.
4. Do not delete the old names; move them to an "other names" column, so that a salesperson searching by the old name still finds the item.
5. Be careful: 500 g and 1 kg are different products, so do not merge them.

In 1C or another program, check the movement history before deleting an item card. Often it is safer to move the card to an "archive" than to delete it.

When you add a new item

Before adding a new item, look for a similar one. One rule is enough: only one person enters new goods into the table, the "keeper of names". Keep a "name dictionary" on a separate sheet: the approved name, the former names and the code. Then a helper or a new employee will not spoil the list. If you use a program, the window for adding an item usually has a search to check whether it already exists: use it. In a plain spreadsheet, search with Ctrl+F by type and size.

Common mistakes

• tidying up but not writing the rule down: in a month everything is mixed again;
• merging different sizes by mistake;
• naming an item with words like "small", "large" or "ordinary" and giving no size;
• deleting old names completely;
• a salesperson abbreviating the name in their own way.

Conclusion

The rule "one item, one name" speeds up counting, makes searching easier and gathers the balance in one place. One clean-up, one template and a name dictionary are enough. If the list is too long and you have no time to tidy it, the Sanab team can count the goods and hand over every item in a clear report with a single name and code.