Data Matching...

[rjw524]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone here had any recommendations for an affordable data matching/fuzzy matching program or package.

Basically, my job requires me to run a lot of internet searches as well as searches of external databases to which the company has access.

What happens is I get a TON of companies with slightly different names (but they are the same company).

So, for "General Motors" I'll get:

-GM
-General Motors, Inc.
-General Motors, Incorporated
-General Motors Corp
-General Motors Corporation
-General Motors
-GMC


So, I need something that knows that those companies are all "General Motors"

But it ALSO has to be precise enough to know that:

-General Motors
-General Electric
-General Dynamics

Are NOT the same company

(NOTE: I have used Excel's Fuzzy Matching add-in for quite some time, but it just isn't robust enough for what I have to do.)

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

R.J.

[mcmahobt]

Without a sample workbook, look into using INDEX/MATCH/SMALL/IF along with wildcards to pull specific data matches. This would be a CSE formula-based approach which may become processing intensive if your database is large.

[rjw524]

Without a sample workbook, look into using INDEX/MATCH/SMALL/IF along with wildcards to pull specific data matches. This would be a CSE formula-based approach which may become processing intensive if your database is large.

My lists aren't particularly large. 2000 company names or so.

I use INDEX/MATCH extensively, but I'm not familiar with the "SMALL" function.

How would I structure the formula?

RJ

[mcmahobt]

Look here for reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp7I5u1MqiM

Assuming you have access to the company names that return multiple results, you could setup multiple worksheets or multiple columns, each devoted to a particular company.

Based on the video, your search criteria could be a wildcard match for the company name. This will return a consolidated list of results while excluding duplicates.

[rjw524]

Hi again, mcmahobt,


I watched the video in the link, and it definitely is a GREAT resource (I actually plan to watch a couple of the videos I saw listed there later this evening, in fact. So thanks for this!)

However, I wasn't able to see how to adapt his approach to my situation just yet. So, I figured it would be easier to just attach the file I'm working with. If you get a few minutes to take a look at it, I'd appreciate it. But if not, I understand.

Thanks,

R.J.

[mcmahobt]

Unfortunately now with looking at your data, this doesn't seem feasible within Excel without knowing what to look for. By that I mean if you had a list of companies (General Motors, Chrysler Group, ect.) that you know are within your database, just in a different naming format, it may be possible.