What is an article master?
Most companies, whether in retail or production, carry more than just one product. If there are several articles, they are all listed together in one article master. The data in this article master is usually collected as master data in a merchandise management system.
The article master also plays an important role in logistics. For example, it stores expiration dates for perishable foods that are relevant for the correct storage time and camouflage transportation of these goods.
Each article can be found by its article number in the article master. Most packaged products are provided with barcodes that directly call up the corresponding entry in the article master when scanned.
What information is contained in an article master?
Each article master contains certain characteristics of the articles it contains. These include, for example:
- Item number
- Article description
- Weight
- Color
- Shape
- Size
- Country of origin
- Manufacturer
- Value of goods
Of course, the features contained in the article master differ from product to product, just as these products differ from one another.
