Materials vs Goods

If you have moved between different screens in GreenVee and noticed that some pages say “Materials” while others say “Goods”, you are not missing something. They are the same thing.

The short answer

“Material” and “Good” are two labels for the same underlying data.

There is no separate “Materials” database and “Goods” database. Whichever door you came through, you are looking at the same records.

Why two labels exist

The two terms come from different professional vocabularies:

Label	Who uses it naturally	Context
Material	Engineers, field workers, construction professionals	“What materials do we need for this installation?”
Good	Procurement teams, finance, supply chain	“Raise a purchase order for this Good.”

GreenVee serves both audiences. Rather than force one group to learn the other’s vocabulary, the system uses whichever term makes more sense in each context. The data behind both is identical.

Tip

Same data, two doors. Don’t worry about which menu you came in by — you are always working with the same records.

The full structure, under either name

Whether a screen calls it “Material” or “Good”, the structure is always:

Good Type (= Material Category)
  └── Good (= Material)
        └── Variant (= a specific SKU of that Material)

Term in this context	What it means
Good Type / Material Category	The top-level grouping (e.g. “Pipe”, “Cable”)
Good / Material	The product entry in the catalogue (e.g. “Steel Pipe”)
Variant	A specific version with its own SKU and specs (e.g. “Steel Pipe DN100”)

When the system asks you to select a “Material” on a Task, it is asking you to pick a Variant. When procurement asks you to approve a “Good” on a Purchase, it is referring to the same Variant in the catalogue.

Where each label tends to appear

Screen / Feature	Label used
Task assignment, field work views	Material
Goods Catalogue, Variants	Good
Procurement Requests, Purchases	Good
Stock Movements	Material or Good (depends on context)
Technical Structure required items	Good

Caution

The terms are not interchangeable in the sense that the data structure has an official name — the three levels are officially Good Type, Good, and Variant. Use these terms when communicating with the technical team or reading API documentation, even if the UI shows “Material” instead of “Good”.

Summary

• Material = Good. Same records. Different label.
• Both terms refer to the three-level structure: Good Type → Good → Variant.
• For detailed field definitions, see the Goods Catalogue page.