ISO/TS 8000-100:2009(E)

Annex B
(informative)

Categories of items

B.1 General

Identifiers play a crucial role in supply chain management and product lifecycle support. There are three distinct categories of items, each with its own kind of identifiers:

B.2 Physical objects

B.2.1 Asset tracking or serial numbers

An asset tracking number or a serial number is a unique number given to a single physical object. If an item has a depreciable value or warranty, if it is taxed, or needs to be tracked, it will have an asset tracking number or serial number. While serial numbers are most common, they are not always assigned by the original manufacturer. There are several mandated and volunteer schemes to ensure that serial numbers remain unique within a domain or a period of time to ensure that no two items share the same number. If a serial number has not been assigned by a manufacturer, then a supplier or a buyer will affix an asset tracking number. Serial numbers are traditionally generated as sequential numeric or alphanumeric identifiers and the assigning organization will maintain a database that commonly tracks the origin and the current owner of the item.

Serial numbers are traditionally generated as sequential numeric or alphanumeric identifiers and the assigning organization will maintain a database that commonly tracks the origin and often the current owner of the item.

B.2.2 Batch numbers

A variation of a serial number is a batch number. Although a batch number is linked to a group of items or an amount of substance rather than to an instance of an item, batch numbers are used like a serial number for quality control and warranty purposes. Batch numbers are most often found on perishable items such as food or drugs or on consumable items for quality assurance and traceability purposes. The Item Unique Identification (IUID) is an example of a universal asset number.

B.3 Items of production

B.3.1 Product, part and model numbers

A product number designates a type of item or substance that a manufacturer makes, has made, or plans to make. A part or model number is a kind of product number that a manufacturer or supplier uses to designate a group of discrete items that are considered interchangeable within a particular application. The main purpose of product, part or model numbers is to support sales and marketing, and they are the preferred numbers used in reordering. Manufacturers and suppliers often use different product, part or model numbers for identical substances or items designed to move through different channels of distribution. This is particularly common in the retail electronics industry (for example, identical television models from the same manufacturer may have different model numbers depending on the retail outlets through which they are sold). It is also common in the oil industry, where the same underlying product is sold under different brands into different markets.

Part numbers are often designed to include some form of classification and often contain coded characteristics of the item. While part numbers are not necessarily unique, it is not unusual for companies to use part or model numbers as brands.

Several initiatives are designed to create universal part numbers. Most of these consist in adding a prefix that uniquely identifies the manufacturer or supplier who issued the number. The most common are bar codes such as the Universal Product Code (UPC) or its replacement, the Global Trade Identification Number (GTIN), issued by GS1, formerly a joint effort between the US Uniform Code Council (UCC) and European Article Number (EAN) International. The basic principal of the UCC/EAN UPC and GTIN numbers is central control of globally unique manufacturer or supplier prefixes associated with an understanding that the manufacturer or supplier controlled suffix should be unique to that manufacturer or supplier. There are other such initiatives including prefixing the part number with a commercial business identifier such as a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number.

Although many items may share the same product or model number, each serial number will be unique to one item. There is a one-to-many relationship between product numbers and serial numbers (items with the same product number will have different serial numbers).

B.3.2 Properties of an item of production

The properties of an item of production consist of the following three types:

B.4 Items of supply

B.4.1 Stock numbers

The stock number, inventory number, or stockkeeping unit is a number issued by the buyer not only to track internal inventory but also as the primary method to support interoperability and competitive sourcing. As manufacturers and suppliers are also buyers, they also assign stock numbers to what they buy, assemble or make, and their in house stock numbers often become their outbound part numbers.

Most inventory management systems will use the stock number to link multiple sources of supply, either multiple suppliers for the same manufacturer part number or alternative manufacturers and part numbers. It is this concept of substitution that differentiates the stock number from the part number.

B.4.2 Properties of an item of supply

The properties of an item of supply represent the differentiating characteristics of an item. These consist of the properties that are descriptive of the fit, form, or function of an item and allow the item to be differentiated from others. Differentiating properties are commonly units of measures or enumerated values although it is possible for freeform text to constitute a differentiating property.

EXAMPLE The text in a road sign.


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