n-tradesperson. Often we’ve seen cataloguers who lack the basic knowledge to properly identify a part. The item description that is entered into the system is unrecognizable by the maintenance workers who use the part.

The consequences can be expensive for the company. A bin of parts sits on the shelf (already paid for) and each time that unrecognizable part is needed, a maintenance worker fails to find it in t

Many organizations face the dilemma of whether to manage their inventory Catalog in-house or to out-source the function to an external provider. Should you tackle the challenges involved in creating or honing your in-house Catalog team to handle the job? Or should you step back and manage the relationship with an external expert who provides those services, tailored to your needs? The decision is not such an obvious one; there are several issues to be considered.

Managing data integrity is a full time job, if it’s done right. Many organizations make the mistake of incorporating catalog responsibilities with other duties, so that the resource is neither focused nor dedicated to the task.

Let me illustrate with a real-life example. A multi-site manufacturer had a part-time cataloguer at each of its twelve locations across the corporation. There were no established internal processes to follow, nor templates for data entry. Each cataloguer entered data into the free-format description field the way he/she liked to see it. These people came and went and over time and the database grew and grew.

The results showed themselves in the data… spelling errors, inconsistent manufacturer naming, inconsistent abbreviations, inconsistent words/symbols, incomplete description information, and duplicates. System word searches were next to impossible; the data was a mess. Finding a part was a frustrating, challenging, usually unsuccessful experience. They were not alone in their situation. Inventory was viewed as a necessary evil and rarely got any attention for improvement.

Another common catalog management mistake is to give responsibility to a non-tradesperson. Often we’ve seen cataloguers who lack the basic knowledge to properly identify a part. The item description that is entered into the system is unrecognizable by the maintenance workers who use the part.

The consequences can be expensive for the company. A bin of parts sits on the shelf (already paid for) and each time that unrecognizable part is needed, a maintenance worker fails to find it in th

one; there are several issues to be considered.

Managing data integrity is a full time job, if it’s done right. Many organizations make the mistake of incorporating catalog responsibilities with other duties, so that the resource is neither focused nor dedicated to the task.

Let me illustrate with a real-life example. A multi-site manufacturer had a part-time cataloguer at each of its twelve locations across the corporation. There were no established internal processes to follow, nor templates for data entry. Each cataloguer entered data into the free-format description field the way he/she liked to see it. These people came and went and over time and the database grew and grew.

The results showed themselves in the data… spelling errors, inconsistent manufacturer naming, inconsistent abbreviations, inconsistent words/symbols, incomplete description information, and duplicates. System word searches were next to impossible; the data was a mess. Finding a part was a frustrating, challenging, usually unsuccessful experience. They were not alone in their situation. Inventory was viewed as a necessary evil and rarely got any attention for improvement.

Another common catalog management mistake is to give responsibility to a non-tradesperson. Often we’ve seen cataloguers who lack the basic knowledge to properly identify a part. The item description that is entered into the system is unrecognizable by the maintenance workers who use the part.

The consequences can be expensive for the company. A bin of parts sits on the shelf (already paid for) and each time that unrecognizable part is needed, a maintenance worker fails to find it in t

s the corporation. There were no established internal processes to follow, nor templates for data entry. Each cataloguer entered data into the free-format description field the way he/she liked to see it. These people came and went and over time and the database grew and grew.

The results showed themselves in the data… spelling errors, inconsistent manufacturer naming, inconsistent abbreviations, inconsistent words/symbols, incomplete description information, and duplicates. System word searches were next to impossible; the data was a mess. Finding a part was a frustrating, challenging, usually unsuccessful experience. They were not alone in their situation. Inventory was viewed as a necessary evil and rarely got any attention for improvement.

Another common catalog management mistake is to give responsibility to a non-tradesperson. Often we’ve seen cataloguers who lack the basic knowledge to properly identify a part. The item description that is entered into the system is unrecognizable by the maintenance workers who use the part.

The consequences can be expensive for the company. A bin of parts sits on the shelf (already paid for) and each time that unrecognizable part is needed, a maintenance worker fails to find it in t

ords/symbols, incomplete description information, and duplicates. System word searches were next to impossible; the data was a mess. Finding a part was a frustrating, challenging, usually unsuccessful experience. They were not alone in their situation. Inventory was viewed as a necessary evil and rarely got any attention for improvement.

Another common catalog management mistake is to give responsibility to a non-tradesperson. Often we’ve seen cataloguers who lack the basic knowledge to properly identify a part. The item description that is entered into the system is unrecognizable by the maintenance workers who use the part.

The consequences can be expensive for the company. A bin of parts sits on the shelf (already paid for) and each time that unrecognizable part is needed, a maintenance worker fails to find it in t

n-tradesperson. Often we’ve seen cataloguers who lack the basic knowledge to properly identify a part. The item description that is entered into the system is unrecognizable by the maintenance workers who use the part.

The consequences can be expensive for the company. A bin of parts sits on the shelf (already paid for) and each time that unrecognizable part is needed, a maintenance worker fails to find it in the system, so he orders the part directly (and often at a premium “RUSH” price) to complete his job. The end result is that both inventory and spot buy purchases have increased the company’s spend.

Creating an internal catalog team is not as easy as it first sounds, unless you see it as simple data-entry work. Then it really is easy – you just need someone who can type and spell. But if you see it as the fulcrum that links together your maintenance and procurement teams, you have more of a challenge to find the right skill-set to satisfy the requirements of the job.

Not only should your cataloguers know what the part is and how to describe it so that your maintenance workers would recognize it, they also need to know how it is used, and what material quality and specifications are required. And they need to have a process for setting up new item descriptions. Finding someone with all these skills may be a difficult task. And finding several of them (across the company) to work together may prove next to impossible.

In addition to that, you need to develop internal procedures and processes around the catalog itself -- to establish the standard nomenclature you will use, to develop templates for consistency and completeness, to assign responsibility for the data. That’s a lot to consider for a company that’s not in the Catalog Management business!

An alternative option is to out-source the catalog management function to experts: dedicated, qualified personnel to do the work so that every item description meets manufacturer specifications. The next time a maintenance worker looks through the inventory catalog for the part, he recognizes