Which case size is right?
A wholesaler's warehouse rejects a delivery because the case barcode does not match what is on their system. Customer services finds that the case changed from twelve to ten units last year, and the ERP was updated but the wholesaler's product form was not. Another customer has the old outer dimensions, so their pallet planning is wrong.
The barcode numbers themselves come from a spreadsheet that one person maintains, and there are two rows claiming the same number.
How product data drifts
Every new product or pack change touches product data in several places, and each is updated by a different person at a different time. There is no single record that the others copy from, so each copy slowly becomes its own version.
- Barcodes are allocated from a spreadsheet, with gaps and duplicates.
- Case and pallet details change without every customer being told.
- Descriptions differ between the ERP, invoices and customer systems.
- Dimensions and weights are measured once and never checked.
- Discontinued products stay active in some systems.
What bad product data costs
Rejected deliveries and scanning failures at customer warehouses. Pallets built to the wrong configuration. Customer systems ordering in units that no longer exist. Invoices that do not match orders because descriptions differ. And a lot of time on the phone sorting out which version is right.
One product master, feeding everything
- We build a product master holding each product, its consumer unit, case and pallet levels, barcodes at each level, dimensions, weights and descriptions.
- Barcodes are allocated from your company's own number range inside the tool, so a number cannot be issued twice or reused too soon.
- Each field has an owner, and changes go through a short approval with the date they take effect.
- Approved data is pushed to your ERP or accounts system through its API or import, and to your website if it lists products.
- Customer product forms and data files are produced in each customer's format from the master, and the tool records which customers have been sent each change.
- Barcode images for artwork and case labels are generated from the master, so the number on the pack matches the record.
| Level | Data held |
|---|---|
| Consumer unit | Barcode, description, net quantity, dimensions |
| Case | Barcode, units per case, weight, dimensions |
| Pallet | Cases per layer, layers, height, weight |
| Customer view | Their codes and the date each change was sent |
What changes
When a case size changes, it is changed once, with a date, and every system and customer that needs it gets the update. New products get barcodes without anyone opening the old spreadsheet. Warehouse rejections for data mismatches become rare, and when one happens, the record shows what was sent and when.
Pallet planning improves on both sides. When your despatch team and the customer's warehouse work from the same cases per layer and pallet height, loads are built the way the depot expects, and there are fewer calls about overhanging or overweight pallets.
New product launches get easier because the product data step becomes a form with owners, not an email chain. Commercial can see which fields are still missing before a customer's listing deadline.
Signs your product data needs this
- Barcodes are allocated from a spreadsheet.
- Deliveries have been rejected over barcode or case mismatches.
- Product descriptions differ between systems.
- Customers hold out-of-date case or pallet details.
- Nobody is sure which customers were told about a pack change.