---
title: Item Master
description: A released sellable code — one variant of a family, not the configured instrument.
sidebar:
  label: Item codes
  order: 12
---

An item code is a **released finished good** in a family: `VTFM-0014` is the
DN50 electromagnetic flowmeter, not a particular lining or output.

## Item code versus model number

These two identifiers must never be conflated.

| | **Item code** | **Model number / order code** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Shape | `VTFM-0014` | `FMIPL-VTFM-FT2-PC1-PCS1-…` |
| Built from | group prefix + serial | group model prefix + selected option codes |
| Assigned when | the code is **released** (master data) | options are **chosen** (quotation line) |
| Varies per | variant value (size, range, …) | quotation line |
| Who assigns it | Catalogue | The quotation, from the decodification menu |

A customer RFQ that says "DN50 EMF, SS 316 lining, 4–20 mA" is asking for
**one item code** (the DN50) and **a configuration**. The lining and output
are not extra item codes.

```mermaid
flowchart TB
  rfq["RFQ: DN50 EMF, PTFE lining, 4-20 mA"]
  rfq --> pick["Pick item code VTFM-0014<br/>because the variant is DN50"]
  pick --> fill["Fill the family's menus<br/>lining = PTFE, output = 4-20 mA"]
  fill --> compose["Compose the model number<br/>for this line only"]
```

## What a released code carries

- **Variant value** — `DN50`, `0–1 bar`, `1500 mm`, `2 set points`, depending
  on the family's axis.
- **Variant qualifier** — a non-size fork some codes also pin (`IBR`,
  `Double Window`). Null when the code varies by size alone.
- **Nominal bore (mm)** — filled only when the axis is a real bore. Inch
  threads are not converted by arithmetic; they stay a trade name.
- **HSN** — required on finished goods. Raw and semi-finished items are never
  sold, so they need no HSN.
- **Unit and list price** — the list price may be absent; an unpriced line
  still makes a quotation unpriced until a rate is entered.
- **Standard model number** — the composed number at this code's **default**
  configuration, snapshotted from a specific master version. If the master
  moves on, the snapshot is visibly stale rather than silently wrong.

## Defaults

A code can carry default option selections (the family's usual build for that
size). They are the starting point on a quotation line, **outranked** by what
the customer stated (R34).

## What the business does here

- Release a new size when the family needs another variant on the axis.
- Attach HSN to finished codes.
- Retire a code rather than deleting it — sent quotations still name it.

Do **not** create a new item code for a lining, an output, or a connection.
Those are option positions on the [decodification master](/business/features/decodification).

Related: [Item Group Master](/business/features/item-groups) ·
[Quotation builder](/business/features/quotation-builder) ·
[Setting up catalogue data](/business/workflows/setting-up-catalogue-data).