Parts Search

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Parts Search is available for accounts with access to the Parts Inventory module. For more information, contact your MaintainX® representative.

What Is Parts Search?

Parts Search helps you quickly find parts in your MaintainX organization using more than just the part name or QR code. You can search using part identifiers such as an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) number, vendor part number, or manufacturer code. This makes it easier to find the correct part without adding identifiers to the part name, helping you keep part names concise and your parts inventory easier to browse and report on.

Why Did We Improve Parts Search?

Previously, Parts Search only matched search terms against the Part Name or the QR Code/Barcode field of a part. This made it difficult for technicians to find parts using other important identifiers, such as an OEM number stamped on a physical part. A technician could search for a valid identifier and receive no results, leading them to believe the part didn't exist and potentially create a duplicate.

To make parts easier to find, organizations often added identifiers directly to the part name. This resulted in long, difficult-to-read part names and limited the usefulness of important information already stored in other part fields.

Improving the Parts Search functionality makes it easier for users or technicians to find the right part using the information they have available, while helping the organization maintain cleaner and more reliable parts data.

What Changed in Parts Search?

Parts Search now looks across the following fields to help you find the right part:

Field	What It Searches
Part Name	The part name
Description	The part description
Part ID	The internal part number
Vendor Part Numbers	OEM or vendor part numbers
QR Code/Barcode	The part’s QR code
Custom Fields	Values in text-based custom fields
Asset Names	Names of assets linked to the part
Vendor Names	Names of vendors linked to the part

Finding Results

Parts Search ranks results based on the strength and number of matches found across a part’s searchable fields. Matches on more specific information, such as part identifiers like Vendor Part Numbers or Part Names, carry more weight than matches on broader information, such as Custom Fields, Descriptions, or Vendor Names. MaintainX also considers matches across multiple fields, so a part that matches in several places may rank higher in the results.

Parts Search supports partial matching, and doesn't always require an exact match. This makes it more efficient to find the right part. MaintainX can match your search term against part information in several ways:

• Exact match: The search term matches the entire field value. For example, searching for WT410160 matches a part number with the value WT410160.

• Starts with: The search term matches the beginning of a word. For example, searching for wren can match Wrench.

• Whole word or contains: The search term matches a complete word within a field and can account for basic variations, such as plurals. For example, searching for bearing can match Ball Bearing Assembly.

  note

  Part Search doesn't support middle-of-value or word matching. For example, searching for 456 doesn't return a part with the identifier 123456789. However, separators such as hyphens split values into searchable segments, so searching for 456 can return a part with the identifier 123-456-789.

• Ends with: The search term matches the end of a word. For example, searching for ench can match Wrench. This type of matching applies only to the Part Name and Custom Fields.

Search results show in a dropdown and also show which field matched your search, helping you understand why a part appears in the results and confirm that you've found the right one.

Best Practices for Searching Parts

With the improvements made to Parts Search, it now ignores capitalization, accents, and apostrophes when matching search terms. Use the following best practices to refine your searches and find the right part quickly.

Start With the Most Specific Information You Have

If you know an exact identifier, such as a part ID, OEM number, or a vendor part number, search for it first. Exact values can help you quickly identify the correct part.

Search With Part of a Word When You Don’t Know the Full Value

You don't need to enter a complete part name or identifier. For example, searching for Cab can return Cable, making it useful when you only remember part of the name.

Use Familiar Part Terminology

Search for a word that describes the part, such as wire, even if the full part name is Welding Wire. Parts Search can match complete words within longer field values and account for basic variations such as plurals.

Use the End of a Value When That’s the Information You Have

If you only know the last characters of a part name or custom field value, you can search using those characters. For example, searching for 5070 can return Fan Belt 30905070. Ending matches apply only to Part Name and Custom Fields.