EdDanzer
During the last 20 years, the majority of my time has been spent in contract positions. In fact – most of my permanent positions - started with a temporary contract. In most of these positions, an intelligent numbering system was used. Personally, I don’t like intelligent numbering systems, but that might be because I have had to work on too many that were poorly planned, overly complex, or just plain stupid.
However – I do have to admit that even a poorly designed intelligent numbering system is good at one thing. They allow the people who use the system on an everyday basis to find what they are looking for quickly without having to resort to a computer or a catalog. With a completely random numbering system – a part search is required for every part accessed. Further, even though a database search is very fast, in large companies you invariably get a listing of several dozen parts that MIGHT be what your looking for – which often requires you to manually pull each part to examine it. All of this adds up to a lot of wasted time when you include accounting, engineering, manufacturing, product support, sales, stock storage, and shipping. As far as the end user is concerned – the only companies that I have seen that didn’t hold the users hand and guide him to what he needed were very small or only had a few products. That is what after market sales is all about isn’t it?
Personally, if I was starting from scratch and the decision was mine, I would implement 2 numbering systems. The first would be for purchased parts and it would have some intelligence. The second would be for manufactured parts and it would be a semi-random list. The reason for the difference is that purchased parts lend themselves to being categorized while manufactured parts (for the most part) do not. Using a double numbering system is good for almost everyone in the company.
The number of significant digits depends primarily on the size and complexity of the companies products. A very large OEM could easily require a 10 digit system, but most smaller companies can normally get buy with only 6 or less. For parts, I would use the format xx-xxxx - which means that there would only be a maximum of 10 basic categories with 10 sub-categories (100 in total). I believe that having any more then that is a waste of effort. For manufactured parts the format would be xxxxxx-xxx. Sorry – but I prefer a 6-3 numbering system. I realize that this is a personal preference but I am a very organized individual and I like to be able to find things quickly. I also like the ability of keeping a group of often used parts together.
You should understand that 90% (guesstimate) of the numbers created would only have a single dash number (-001). For that 90% the dash number is unnecessary but it is included for consistency. The average employee quickly learns to disregard the –001 dash numbers but any other dash number is noticed almost immediately – and they rarely make the mistake of completely ignoring it more than once.
The other 10% is why dash numbers are created and maintained. There are a lot of reasons for using a dash number system. Some of the best reasons are:
· Products with multiple sales configurations or options
· Products sold in countries that have a different language and require different manuals or instruction sheets
· Product Redesign – this is NOT simple revision control – it allows a redesigned product (or several variations of a product) to be sold in specific markets for testing and evaluation before the original product is discontinued – I have seen several products marketed this way before a final design was selected – Normally, this technique is reserved for the top level assembly and major sub-assemblies
· Customized variations of standard products for specific customers (OEM)
· Tabulated Parts
· Cut-To-Length parts like extrusions / pipes / or wires
· Parts with color variations
· Parts that naturally belong together
Yes – All of those things can be handled without using dash numbers – If you are forced to, you can find a way to accomplish almost anything. A dash number is simply a convenient method that WORKS and when implemented it can make life a little easier.
Just my $0.02 worth.
Lee
Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.
