Chapter 3 – Identification Numbers

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the importance of identification numbers in manufacturing engineering. These numbers include part number cycle, classification coding, naming convention, and part number assignment. Most product manufacturing companies should have a method of identifying the noninterchangeable change content in each product. It is observed that unless the product is inseparable or a throwaway product, version identification is necessary for troubleshooting failures. A serial number is a number assigned to each individual product in order to distinguish that product from all others. The serial number is sometimes used only for warranty control and sometimes used for both warranty control and for version control. The use of classification coding facilitates sorting through similar items and allows us to designate only certain ones to use in future designs. Many companies have a significant numbering system at the top level— the product level. Some have a significant number for specification control drawings and a nonsignificant numbering system for their own designs. It is found that many companies assign part numbers to anything that is movable, and some even to fixed objects.