Ask a catalog team what data they are missing and you will get a list of fields. Ask a buyer why they left the site and you will get something else entirely: they could not tell whether the specification on the page described the model in general or the specific unit being sold. Those are the same problem seen from two ends, and adding fields does not fix it.
Three Layers, Not One Record
The layers are not a modelling preference. They correspond to how the facts behave over time. Identity is fixed. Device facts change only when the manufacturer changes the device, which is rare and documented. Unit facts change constantly, and the moment one unit sells, every unit fact on that listing is stale.
Layer One: Identity
Identity is the smallest layer and the one everything else depends on. If a row does not resolve to a specific device, no amount of good writing beneath it is worth anything, because it is attached to the wrong thing.
| Field | Why it exists | Common failure |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Narrows candidates faster than any other field | Stored as free text with six spellings of the same company |
| Model or reference | What a buyer types into search | Merged with an internal SKU or a condition note in one cell |
| Device identifier | The machine readable product key | Stored as a whole scanned barcode, so every unit looks new |
| GTIN | The device identifier under the GS1 system | Assumed universal, so HIBCC and ICCBBA records get rejected |
| Nomenclature code | Groups the device into a recognised category | Absent, so category pages are built from guesswork |
| Internal SKU | Your own key for your own systems | Used as product identity, which nobody outside your company shares |
Nomenclature Is the Field Teams Skip and Then Rebuild Badly
Layer Two: Facts About the Model
This is the layer that data synchronisation networks were built for. In the wider healthcare supply chain, manufacturers publish standardised product attributes to distributors, group purchasing organisations and providers through the Global Data Synchronisation Network, using GS1 standards and certified data pools. The attributes exchanged there are a useful guide to what a serious catalog holds, because they are what the buying side asked for.
- Physical characteristics: dimensions, weight, packaging hierarchy and how many units sit at each level of packaging.
- Clinical and safety attributes: sterility and method, latex content, MRI safety status, single use or reusable.
- Materials and construction, where the manufacturer states them.
- Storage and handling conditions, including temperature and humidity ranges.
- Intended use as the manufacturer describes it, which is a bounded statement rather than a marketing sentence.
- Documents: instructions for use, service manuals, datasheets and images, which are attributes in their own right.
Each of these needs a source. Not a citation formatted for a journal, just a traceable answer to the question of where the number came from. A specification that arrived by being copied from a competitor listing is not a specification. It is a rumour with a unit of measurement attached.
Layer Three: Facts About the Unit
Anyone selling used, refurbished or ex demonstration equipment lives in this layer, and it is the one most catalog software has no place for, because most catalog software was built for new goods where every unit is identical.
| Field | What it describes | What goes wrong if it is shared |
|---|---|---|
| Condition | The state of this specific unit | Every unit of the model inherits one unit's condition |
| Serial number | This unit and no other | Becomes meaningless, or worse, wrong on the invoice |
| Hours or cycles | Accumulated use on this unit | A buyer decides on the strength of another unit's number |
| Accessories included | What is physically in this box | Buyers receive a different bundle from the one they read about |
| Warranty | What you are offering on this sale | A model level statement becomes an unintended promise |
| Price and availability | This unit, today | The catalog keeps selling something that left the building |
How to Find Out What You Are Missing
Define the Target Shape First
Decide what a complete record looks like for each product type you sell. Without a target, completeness is an opinion and every review meeting reopens it.
Measure the Catalog Against It
Count how many records have each field populated. The result is usually uncomfortable and always more useful than a sample.
Separate Missing from Unsupported
A field that is empty and a field that is filled with something nobody can trace are different problems. The second is worse and looks better.
Rank by What Buyers Filter On
Completing a field nobody searches is work with no return. Start with identity, then the three or four attributes that drive your category filters.
Publish by Coverage, Not Alphabetically
The records that are ready should go live while the rest are still being worked. Alphabetical order is the enemy of shipping.
GearDock does this measurement as a matter of course. It detects gaps against the target shape, completes what an attached document supports, and reports the rest as gaps rather than filling them. The output that matters is the list of what could not be supported, because that is the list somebody has to act on.
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