Materialid

MaterialID is a unique reference assigned to a material within a database or data-management system, enabling unambiguous retrieval and cross-linking of information such as properties, test results, and provenance. It serves as the stable anchor for material records across datasets, applications, and workflows.

The identifier can be globally unique or locally unique within a repository or organization. It helps link records across design data, procurement, manufacturing metadata, and quality-control data, supporting data governance, traceability, and reproducibility in research and production contexts.

Best practices for material identifiers include ensuring stability over time, avoiding changes to the ID even when attributes update, and maintaining aliases or history for renamed or merged materials. It is common to record the source database or system, the version of the data model, and any mappings to other identifiers to preserve cross-database connectivity.

In practice, materials may be identified by a variety of standards and identifiers depending on the domain. Examples include international or national identifiers such as CAS numbers, public database IDs, or internal stock-keeping units (SKUs) used by suppliers and organizations. The choice of material ID often reflects the data model and governance requirements of the relevant PLM, ERP, or materials database.

Overall, material IDs underpin search, data integration, and quality control by providing a consistent, referenceable handle for materials across systems and over time.