[thechat] Looking for a waaaaay old thread from thelist

Luther, Ron Ron.Luther at hp.com
Tue May 4 09:29:50 CDT 2010


Marc Seyon asked:

>>I remember reading a discussion on thelist several years back (more than 3)
>>about the pros and cons of embedding description into product codes (eg
>>SKUs) but for the life of me I can't get the right keywords to search for
>>the thread.

>>This is just a shot in the dark that someone here might recall the thread
>>I'm talking about.


Hi Marc!

I agree.  I think that has come up a time or two in the past.  Cuz I'm pretty sure I commented on it!  This is something I have been 're-educated' to feel strongly about!  ;-)

On a fairly regular basis someone somewhere in your organization will get the bright idea to 'embed intelligence' into the part numbering system.  (I'm sure that in my chequered past I have probably been that guy a time or two.)

My advice?  Beat it out of them.  Beat them quickly.  Beat them harshly.  Embedded intelligence (in a sku) is a bad idea and, if you are interested, I would be happy to ramble on about it on list or off.

It would be MUCH better to create a separate "attribute" reference table that contains all of the intelligence you need.  They can be a little tricky to get used to working with - but they are better.

Cheers,
RonL.

The only place where I think I might allow such a thing is in a serial number where you are defining a single unique individual item ... and I'd probably still grumble about that.



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