Most Important: Inventory item descriptions should begin with a noun (what the item is) followed by the adjectives that describe the item (in descending order of the adjective's importance). This is so important that we offer a much more detailed and illustrated example below!
Inventory Item Descriptions should be unique
Avoid loading inventory item descriptions with more information than absolutely necessary. (i.e. vendor names, manufacturer, country of origin, expiration dates, etc... this information belongs in the "item details", or" transaction details", areas where it can be used more effectively)
A Detailed Guide:
The single biggest mistake people make when describing items, is to describe them in the same way that they talk about them. Consider this example:
We all describe things this way, and you will certainly refer to them this way in your day to day operations, but there's a big difference in the way we talk about things, and the way they get stored and presented in a system or database.
You will often find yourself looking at printed lists of your items, or lists on a computer screen. And these lists will usually be arranged ALPHABETICALLY. Consider these two lists:
LIST A Described Starting with Adjectives (the way we talk).
(arranged alphabetically)
LIST B
Described Starting with Nouns (recommended).
(arranged alphabetically)
Large blue soda cup
Large blue soda lid
Large brown coffee cup
Large brown coffee lid
Large brown coffee sleeve
Large brown coffee stirrer
Large white coffee cup
Large white coffee lid
Large white coffee sleeve
Large white coffee stirrer
Large yellow soda cup
Large yellow soda lid
Medium blue soda cup
Medium blue soda lid
Medium brown coffee cup
Medium brown coffee lid
Medium brown coffee sleeve
Medium brown coffee stirrer
Medium white coffee cup
Medium white coffee lid
Medium white coffee sleeve
Medium white coffee stirrer
Medium yellow soda cup
Medium yellow soda lid
Small blue soda cup
Small blue soda lid
Small brown coffee cup
Small brown coffee lid
Small brown coffee sleeve
Small brown coffee stirrer
Small white coffee cup
Small white coffee lid
Small white coffee sleeve
Small white coffee stirrer
Small yellow soda cup
Small yellow soda lid
Cup, coffee, large, brown
Cup, coffee, large, white
Cup, coffee, medium, brown
Cup, coffee, medium, white
Cup, coffee, small, brown
Cup, coffee, small, white
Cup, soda, large, blue
Cup, soda, large, yellow
Cup, soda, medium, blue
Cup, soda, medium, yellow
Cup, soda, small, blue
Cup, soda, small, yellow
Lid, coffee, large, brown
Lid, coffee, large, white
Lid, coffee, medium, brown
Lid, coffee, medium, white
Lid, coffee, small, brown
Lid, coffee, small, white
Lid, soda, large, blue
Lid, soda, large, yellow
Lid, soda, medium, blue
Lid, soda, medium, yellow
Lid, soda, small, blue
Lid, soda, small, yellow
Sleeve, coffee, large, brown
Sleeve, coffee, large, white
Sleeve, coffee, medium, brown
Sleeve, coffee, medium, white
Sleeve, coffee, small, brown
Sleeve, coffee, small, white
Stirrer, coffee, large, brown
Stirrer, coffee, large, white
Stirrer, coffee, medium, brown
Stirrer, coffee, medium, white
Stirrer, coffee, small, brown
Stirrer, coffee, small, white
Finding one item on either list is easy, but what about looking for groups of items? More often than not, you're going to need to view your items by their type, and not their size or color. Anything can be small, large, blue, red, etc... But a "cup" is a "cup" and a "lid" is a "lid" etc... With the list on the left, finding and using information about similar objects is very hard. With the list on the right, it's easy. Using the description format we recommend, you'll be able to view similar items at a glance, and spare yourself from hunting through your item lists.
