I always assumed that a pivot table would keep things in
order if told to. But I am making a pivot table from some
data that includes a plant code column. The data is
sorted by plant code on one sheet (which shouldn't make
any difference), and when I make the pivot table on a new
sheet and drag the plant code to the 'Row Fields' area
(one the left side), Excel puts a plant named 'MAR' at the
beginning in front of 'BRO', 'CHA', etc.

I have trimmed the values and know for sure that there are
no spaces affecting the order. I have even gone into the
PivotTable Field Advanced Options for that field and
changed the 'AutoSort' from Manual to Ascending and it
STILL doesn't put MAR in the correct spot.

Any idea what is causing MAR to sort first? The entire
list is:

MAR
BRO
CHA
FLR
HILL
LEC
MAP
MOEC
NOES
RAL
RCK
STGAR
STHAR
STMAR
STNAR
VIN
WHOP
WLM