Creating Clear Product Codes for a Coating Range

A clear product-code system reduces mistakes when a coating range grows. The code should distinguish orderable items without forcing staff to memorise an elaborate technical language. Keep the visible product name for customers and use the code to make operational records precise.

Decide what creates a different item

Different formulas, pack sizes and kit configurations generally need distinguishable references. A bottle sold alone and the same bottle inside a kit are different physical orders. A label-language version may also need its own reference if staff must pick it separately.

Record the actual item definition in the product specification sheet. Avoid using one code for several configurations that require a handwritten explanation every time.

Keep the structure simple

Use a limited, documented pattern. For an illustrative internal scheme, separate fields could identify the product family, size and pack configuration. The exact pattern matters less than consistency and the ability to avoid confusion between similar characters.

Do not encode a performance promise into an internal number unless the meaning is clear and supported. Staff may repeat that number as a durability or quality ranking even when it was intended only as a reference.

Test the code in normal work

Read it over the phone, display it on a small stock screen and print it on a picking list. Place similar products together and ask a colleague to select the requested item. Check that the code remains readable on the actual pack.

Use the label readability process where the reference appears on a small bottle. Colour and product photography should assist recognition but should not replace the identifier.

Keep product and batch identity separate

A product code identifies what the item is; a batch reference identifies a particular production group. Both may be needed to investigate a question. Changing the batch should not require inventing a new product code unless the orderable specification has also changed.

Connect the system to batch traceability and agree supplier references with NANOLAB. Maintain a single list of active and retired codes so that old references can be understood without accidentally becoming available for new orders.