Search Tips
General Rules
The search fields require a minimum of 2 characters or 1 number.
All special characters will be ignored (e.g. @, !, $, #).
Searches are not case-sensitive (i.e. a search for bag yields the same results as searching for Bag or BAG).
Searching Multiple Terms
When multiple terms are entered in a search field, the site will perform an “AND” search, which means that only products and categories that contain ALL of the terms you have entered will appear in the search results.
Searching Multiple Fields
Your keyword search may be refined with entries in the manufacturer, size, weight and/or colour fields. When terms are entered in multiple fields, the site will also perform an “AND” search across multiple databases. Clicking on the 
icon will explain which Unisource databases a field searches.
icon will explain which Unisource databases a field searches.Partial and Exact Matches
Partial matches will be displayed for all terms entered without quotation marks. For instance, searching the term bag will match any of the following:
- Bag
- Baggage
- Airbag
Putting the word “bag” in quotation marks will yield an exact match. An exact match is when “bag” is used as a single term and not when it is part of a word (like baggage or airbag).
Refining Your Search
Like in popular Internet search engines, you can narrow your search with the following Boolean operators:
- AND
- OR
- NOT
Example:
paper OR roll
Will match: paper roll, paper bag, adding machine rolls
Will NOT match: plastic bag
You can also group sets of terms by enclosing them in parentheses, as shown below.
Examples:
(paper OR plastic) AND bag
Will match: paper bag, plastic bag, red paper bags
Will NOT match: plastic bin, vacuum cleaner bag
(paper OR plastic) AND bag AND NOT red
Will match: paper bag, plastic bag, green paper bags
Will NOT match: red plastic bag, all-purpose plastic-coated paper
Search Fields
Keyword Search
Any keywords in this field will be matched against the following information in the Unisource database:
- Product descriptions
- Product brands and models
- Product colours
- Product weights
- Vendor names
- Unisource product codes
- Vendor product codes
- Product categories
- Customer product codes (only when logged in)
When multiple keywords are entered in the Keywords field, the application will perform an “AND” search, which means that only products and categories that contain all of the keywords you have entered will appear in the search result.
Your keyword search may be refined with entries in the manufacturer, size, weight and/or colour fields.
Manufacturer
Once you have made an entry in the keyword search field, you may refine your search with the Manufacturer field. The contents of the Manufacturer field will be matched against the following information in the Unisource product database:
- Vendor names
- Product brands
To illustrate, let’s assume that ACME Company manufactures a piece of electronic equipment available in different shapes and colors and markets it under a brand named Royal. Searching for “ACME Company” (in the Manufacturer field) will yield all products manufactured by ACME Company, while searching for Royal would only match the products in the Royal brand.
When multiple words are entered in the Manufacturer field, any manufacturer name containing all of the words entered will be considered as a match. In addition, partial matches in which one or more of the words matches only part of a word in the manufacturer’s name will also be considered.
Size
Once you have made an entry in the keyword search field, you may refine your search with the Size field. The contents of the Size field mean different things for different products. For example, for most paper products, the Size field contains the dimensions of a single sheet:
- 19 X 25
- 23 X 35
- 26 X 40
For three-dimensional products (e.g. boxes in Industrial Packaging), the value of the Size field represents their width, height and depth. Depending on the information provided by the product vendor, additional measurements, such as the volume, may be specified. Below are a few examples:
- 532 X 264 X 140MM
- 8 X 8 X 8
- 18 X 15 X 12+ 2CUF
As Unisource maintains a unified database for a very wide range of products, certain types of products have different information listed in the Size field. For example, in the description of a hair dryer, the Size field may contain the power input:
- 1600 WATT
Since the content and the format of the Size field are product-dependent, it is not recommended to be used for broad searches. To obtain relevant search results, the Size field should be used in combination with a restrictive set of Keywords such as “Offset paper” or “Packaging box.”
Weight
Once you have made an entry in the keyword search field, you may refine your search with the Weight field. The Weight field contains the weight of the item, in pounds, for a standardized quantity of the product. This is often referred to as a pack size, and the units vary from one product to another. Here are some abbreviations that are commonly used on the Unisource site:
|
Pack Size
|
Meaning
|
|
U
|
1 unit
|
|
C
|
100 units
|
|
M
|
1000 units
|
The following notations will be accepted in the Weight search field:
|
Notation
|
Meaning
|
|
1000/C
|
1000 pounds per 100 units (e.g. sheets)
|
|
10 LB/M
|
10 pounds per 1000 units
|
|
100
|
100 pounds, regardless of the pack size
|
|
20 LB/1000
|
20 pounds per 1000 units
|
The system will not attempt to perform any advanced conversions beyond the standard pack sizes. Try using the weight that is normally quoted for the product you are seeking. It is not recommended to use the Weight field for wide searches – use the other search fields, such as Keywords and Manufacturer, to narrow down your search to the type of product you want. Make sure your search is narrow enough for the weight specification to be useful.
The Unisource product inquiry system does not currently support Metric units (e.g. kilograms).
Colour
Once you have made an entry in the keyword search field, you may refine your search with the Colour field. The Colour field contains the colour of the product, where applicable. Before entering a colour, please make sure that you are browsing the site in the corresponding language (i.e. “vert” will work on the French site, but will not return “green” if entered on the English site).
Examples:
- Blue
- Red
- White
- Pink
In a few cases, the Colour field might contain brand-specific colour names, such as “Natural”. If you can’t find the colour you are looking for, try using a synonym or omitting the field altogether and adding it to Keyword field instead, listing a few colours with a logical OR:
paper AND offset AND (white OR beige OR yellow OR clear)
Product Code
If you know the 6-character Unisource product code of the product you are looking for, the vendor-specific product code appearing in the vendor’s catalogue or the customer product code that has been assigned to your company for that specific product (i.e. the one that appears under the Unisource code in the product listing), you can use the Product Code field to locate the product. However, the customer product code will only return results if you are logged in.
Examples:
- 612213 (Unisource)
- 16596 (Vendor)
- 20-IVORYFUS (Customer)
Product code searches yield very specific results, so if you enter terms in the Product Code field, all other search fields will be disabled and ignored. Their contents will be retained in case you decide to remove the product code to search more broadly, but they will not be used in the search.
