A model number is a code or identifier assigned by a manufacturer to a type or family of product. It describes a product category — not a specific purchasable item — and it cannot be used to place a purchase order.
Model numbers are commonly used in product catalogues, engineering documents, and technical specifications to identify a range of equipment from a given manufacturer. They are useful for understanding what type of equipment is installed at a facility. They are not useful for procurement, because they do not identify a specific orderable configuration. In an industrial ERP or CMMS, the distinction matters enormously.
Examples of model numbers in industrial equipment include:
Yokogawa EJX630A — a model of differential pressure transmitter, covering a range of configurations with different pressure ranges, output signals, and process connections.
Emerson Rosemount 3051 — a model of pressure transmitter, available in hundreds of specific configurations that each carry a unique part number.
Endress+Hauser Promag 53 — a model of electromagnetic flowmeter, with specific variants determined by size, lining material, electrode material, and output type.
In each case, the model number describes a product family. The specific, orderable item within that family is identified by a part number — and only a part number can be used to place a purchase order with the OEM.
The confusion between model numbers and part numbers is one of the most common and costly master data quality errors in industrial ERP and CMMS systems. When a model number appears in the part number field of a material master record, the ERP or CMMS system cannot generate a valid purchase order to the OEM — because the data it depends on does not identify a specific orderable item.
The procurement team must then intervene manually: searching supplier catalogues, contacting the OEM or an intermediary, identifying the correct part number for the specific configuration installed at the facility, and placing the order by hand. This process is time-consuming, error-prone, and entirely avoidable if the part number field contained correct data from the start.
Across a large facility with thousands of spare parts data records, this problem is rarely isolated to a handful of items. In Sharecat Data Services' experience, model numbers in part number fields are consistent across a significant proportion of equipment records — and the problem compounds as new items are added to the system by people unfamiliar with the distinction. The manual workaround becomes routine, and the data error is never identified as the root cause of the procurement delay or the cost of the intermediary.
Research across nearly 1,900 senior manufacturing executives found that duplicate purchases tied to poor MRO data accuracy account for 5 to 7% of total MRO spend. A significant portion of this cost is driven by incorrect part number data — including model numbers filed where part numbers should be.
Identifying model numbers that have been entered in part number fields requires knowledge that general data providers do not have — specifically, how industrial OEMs name and number their products in practice across thousands of equipment categories.
Sharecat Data Services' team works exclusively in heavy and complex industries and understands OEM naming conventions across oil & gas, energy, utilities, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing. The team identifies a model number in a part number field not because it matches a rule, but because the team knows what a valid part number looks like for a given manufacturer and equipment category — and recognises a model number instead.
Combined with a proprietary reference database of approximately one million verified manufacturer names, part numbers, and model numbers built over more than 30 years, Sharecat Data Services cross-checks your material master against verified OEM references to identify every record where a model number has been entered in the wrong field.
For each identified record, Sharecat Data Services sources the correct part number, verifies it against the manufacturer reference, and delivers the corrected data in the exact format your ERP or CMMS requires — with no internal resources required from your team. Every project includes a before-and-after statistical comparison so the improvement is measurable.
The result is a material master where the part number field contains verified, orderable part numbers — enabling automated MRO procurement, reliable inventory data management, and accurate spend analytics without manual workarounds.
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