Could you put a tab char in between??????

You've said that you can't use separate columns in the Excel file, but
what about in the Word table?

Given that you are already replacing the customer with dittos, you must
be splitting the field in the code. Why not stay this way and simply
put the two parts into separate Word table  columns? This would have the
additional benefit of aligning all the references - regardless of the
differing widths of the customer parts for different customers.

Yes we could have separate Word table  columns, but they don't want all the
references aligned, they only want alignment by customer - hence the need to
calculate the width of the customer string for a TT font. Once the width of
the string is known, column widths could be adjusted line by line.

OK. I'm not aware of any way to get Word to do this type of alignment.

Even if you could find out the width of the customer name, there's not a lot
you could do with the information, really. Trying to space if out will end
up looking terrible, I suspect.

You could possibly set tabs dynamically for each line, including the one
with the customer name in full, then tab the reference.

Part of the problem is that the width is actually printer-dependent. Not
all printers provide even standard fonts at exactly the same width. This
will be dependent on printer resolution, plus perhaps the characteristics of
in-build fonts that are used automatically. This is a "print-time" factor,
whereas the setting of tabs would be a "copy-time" factor. A bit "chicken
and egg", if you like.

Frankly ... forget it. Even if it's achievable, it'll take longer to do
than the whole of the rest of the report, and will provide a minimal gain in
readability over a more traditional column- or tab-based approach.