Basically

You will need to set up a 'Lookup' table somewhere with

Apples 352

In two columns. Complete this for all entries and then if you are going to
enter 'Apples' on another sheet in A1 then in A2 enter

=VLOOKUP(A1,Your_Lookup_Range_Address,2,FALSE)

--
HTH
Nick Hodge
Microsoft MVP - Excel
Southampton, England
HIS


"jwmaes" wrote in message
...
i would like to a word generate a number, i.e. enter "apples"in one cell
and
excel generate "352" in a different cell for items like inventory.