Chinese, Russian and local item names: one mapping table ends mix-ups

The same bolt is "stainless hex bolt M8×30" in head office's spreadsheet, a line of Russian text in the local accountant's 1C, a different string again on the supplier's delivery note, and a short nickname on the shelf label written by the storekeeper. In a count, one item shows a shortage while another shows a surplus of almost the same size. In fact, one batch was booked under two names. The remedy is not complicated: build one mapping table that everybody uses.

Why one item ends up with several names

Names multiply for four reasons:

• Head office uses a Chinese description and its own code, grouped to suit production or purchasing.
• Local accounts use the name and code in 1C, usually typed in Russian or Uzbek by an accountant or local colleague.
• Suppliers print their own model numbers on delivery notes and packing lists, and each supplier writes them differently.
• The warehouse floor has shelf labels, handwritten short names and spoken nicknames.

When these four sets of names do not line up, typical problems appear. One item has several codes. Several different items share one code. Items with similar names but different specifications are stored together. Or the same goods are counted in different units on each side.

How to build the table

You do not need a special system, only an Excel sheet. Useful columns:

1. Master code (who decides is covered below);
2. Chinese description;
3. Name and code in 1C or local accounts;
4. Supplier model number;
5. Specification, material, size;
6. Base unit of measure;
7. Status: active, retired, to be confirmed.

Work in this order. Export the item lists from 1C and from head office's system, collect the suppliers' delivery notes, then match by specification, not by name. Names that look alike are not always the same item; matching specifications are what count. Fill in confident matches first, mark doubtful ones "to be confirmed", then go to the shelf and check against the goods themselves, photographing nameplates and labels if needed.

On count day, print the master code, the Chinese description and the local name side by side on the count sheet. If counters meet goods that are not in the table, they photograph them and put them in "to be confirmed" instead of classifying them on the spot.

One item with many codes, many items with one code

One item, many codes: choose one master code. In the table mark the others as "merged into master". Keep the history, do not delete anything and do not alter old documents. All new receipts and issues use the master code, so that anyone reviewing the history can follow it to every related document.

Many items, one code: split by specification first and count each on site. Here is an invented example. In 1C the single code "M8 bolt" shows 800 pieces, but it actually covers two specifications mixed together. On site you count 500 pieces of M8×30 and 300 pieces of M8×40, so the total of 800 agrees, yet the books say nothing about each size. After the count, talk to the accountant: the count becomes the basis, the code is split in two, and how the opening quantities are set is for your finance team to decide.

Whichever case you face, write down in the table what the situation was before you changed it. That record is what you will rely on later.

Who owns the codes and keeps the table alive

• Name one person to maintain the table, normally the warehouse supervisor or the data owner.
• A new item is registered in the table before its first delivery is allowed into stock.
• Once a month, compare additions and changes with the local accountant. Once a quarter, review the whole table.
• Keep a single current version. Date every change, note who made it and archive the old file.

The table can double as a bilingual glossary. Add two columns with the usual Chinese and Russian terms, and people on the floor can point at the same row when they speak.

In short

A well-kept mapping table removes many "false differences" from a count, so the real shortages and surpluses stand out. Before counting, UzWarehouse helps to match item names with codes, lists items that cannot be matched separately for you to decide how to book them, and traces the remaining differences to their source.