Tips on how to use Finding Matching Items

Find Matching Items can be used to find pretty much anything! You can combine different criteria in the search, check suitability and print the results in a format you choose. A few tips to follow for some of the search areas:

NAME: You can use ‘wild cards’ in the Name search to closer match what you were after. Examples:

“rose” means “rose”(in upper or lower case) anywhere
“=rose” means begins with “rose”
“rose=” means ends with “rose”
“=rose=” means just “rose”
“=rose” means contains “=rose”
“rose=” means contains “rose=”
“=rose=” means contains “=rose=”
“ro=se” means contains “ro=se”
“ro=se” means contains “ro=se”

IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS: You can search via item reference numbers such as CAS and EC numbers in this section. To access this part of the search, expand the section by clicking on the double arrow ‘expander’.

ITEM CLASS: You can focus in on specific item classes through this part of the search. For example to focus just on one or more raw material or formulation class. To access this part of the search, expand the section by clicking on the double arrow ‘expander’.

PROPERTIES: This is a very flexible and powerful part of the search. In summary, you can search for any items by the properties they have, or combinations of properties. You can also search using AND or OR. Example A: Flashpoint higher than 61°C, AND not assigned AH 1 (Aspiration hazard). Example B: Stability of Excellent OR Good.

CHARACTER: Search in Character Class and Character Notes to find items according to user assigned attributes like odour, taste and feel.

MARKETING: Search in Market Class and Market Notes to find items according to user assigned attributes usually used in relation to market products, either to manage a market product library or to relate your product library to market products.

COMPONENT: This search allows you to find items which contain specified components(s), with AND or OR facility too. For example, if you were looking for formulations containing natural lavender, you could search for formulations with component Lavender augustifolia OR Lavender officinalis.

SUITABILITY CHECK: Select ‘Yes’ here to access the Suitability check feature and enter the criteria that you need. The system finds matching items according to the criteria in the first part of the search, then assesses each one against the compliance criteria of the check you requested. The results show the suitability check result with a tick (pass) or a cross (fail). For example you could search for Formulations with a flashpoint >61°C, with natural lavender, between x and y cost, which meet the technical and regulatory requirements of your Customer Z for a specified application and dosage. The system finds items which match the criteria, then checks suitability for each one in turn. NOTE: Suitability checks are an in depth assessment therefore take a minute. You may want to perform an initial ‘Find Matching Items’ without a suitability check to avoid a long wait if you get hundreds of potential matches!

RESULTS SCREEN: When your results are displayed, you can click on the column header to sort the results in the order of e.g. Name, Code, Unit Price. When you sort on the results screen the sort applies to all the items found in the search, across all pages.

PRINT: When you get your Search results, you can customise how you Print them. You can choose which information should appear in the printed format, e.g. show price, flashpoint, sensory class, stability. You can also choose the printed format: PDF is the default, but there’s also Excel, HTML, CSV.

We added to the capability of Find Matching Items to make it as useful as possible. If you can’t find what you need, please let us know!