Many years ago while I was working for Calgon Carbon, the company was in the process of integrating databases from the other subsidiaries that they had acquired, into one unified ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system.

As a Design Engineer, my main concern was finding part numbers for existing components or creating new ones as well as developing Bills of Materials.  Since IT just dumped in all the different part numbers from all the different subsidiaries, little thought was given all the hundreds of parts that were duplicates.  What was clear was that the different subsidiaries had different philosophies on what the descriptions should be.  For example, a 1/4-20 hex head screw that's 1.25" long made of 304 stainless steel could have descriptions like:

• SCREW, 1/4"-20 x 1-1/4", HEX HD, 304 ST
• 1/4"-20 x 1-1/4" LG, HEX HEAD, 304 SS
• HHCS, 1/4-20 x 1-1/4, 304
• BOLT, .25-20 x 1.25 LG, HEX HD, 304 STAINLESS

And so on.  As you can see the permutations could seem to be nearly endless.  Of course, the other issue is that when a company allows multiple people to add and edit part descriptions in the company ERP system. Management thinks everyone should "work together" however, we know how it really works.