The products we sell are available in different sizes.

Part numbers [over which we have no influence] are like this:

ABC145-A [size = 50mm]
ABC145-B [size = 60mm]

ABC646-A [size = 30mm]
ABC646-B [size = 50mm]

The first part identifies the product [ABC145 for example] and the second part identifies the size [-A for example]. The problem being that the size identifier is unique to that product as shown in the two part numbers above.

The products are priced by attributes [size in this case]. The customer selects Product>Size>Add to cart and the resulting order shows ABC145 50mm. The person processing the order then looks in a catalogue to identify the full part number ABC145-A which is extra work, but more importantly adds a potential for errors.

What I am trying to achieve is that the whole part number is printed on the order, removing any potential for errors in identifying the product. Extra information is not a problem [ABC145-A 50mm is OK].

The only way I can think of is by duplicating attributes and attaching the correct one to the product. For example Attribute = size. Values = A-50mm, A-55mm, A-60mm etc.. But this will increase the number of attribute values to about 500 from the current 80 or so. This then puts me in trouble with Easy Populate exceeding the number of allowable columns in spreadsheet.

Does anyone know of a smarter way to do this?

Sorry for the long winded post Your advice is much appreciated.