What Are NSNs Used For?

The U.S. military is a highly coveted customer within the aerospace and defense supply chains as their need for components is understandably plentiful. Each and every part that the DoD uses however, must have a National Stock Number (NSN) assigned by the Defense Logistics Agency. A manufacturer can not request an NSN, instead the component must be recognized by the military, a participating NSN country, or a government contractor.

The idea of implementing a system such as NSNs dates back to WWII when the parts supply chain was critical for success. Without a proper identification system in place, it was difficult to allocate components to the right places.  In some areas, there would be a deficit of parts, whereas there would be a deficit somewhere else. The fact there was no formal naming system meant that manufacturers had free range in terms of what they called their products. Part sourcing was unnecessarily difficult and chaotic. As a result, U.S. Department of Defense created the NSN system, which is recognized by all NATO countries. Every component that is sourced, stocked, and procured within the federal supply chain has an NSN. Not only do individual components have NSNs, but larger, complete systems also have an individual NSN. Whether you are a NSN manufacturer, buyer, or supplier, NSNs become part of your daily working life. The federal supply chain is vast and profitable if you have the right sourcing information. Otherwise, your sourcing options are limited.

NSNs are identifiable as a 13-digit serial numbers that are usually in the format xxxx-xx-xxxxxxx. The first four digits of the NSN are known as the Federal Supply Classification Group. The FSCG determines which of the 645 subclasses an item belongs to. The FSCG is further split into the Federal Supply Group (FSG) and the Federal Supply Classification (FSC). The FSG is made up of the first two digits of the NSN which determines which of the 78 groups an item belongs to. The second 2 digits make up the FSC, which determines the subclass an item belongs to. The remaining 9 digits are made up of the 2-digit country identifier followed by the 7 National Item Identification Number (NIIN). The US for example, has the country identifier, 00. The Department of Defense publishes the H2 handbook that lists all the current federal supply groups and classes. This is a handy reference guide for aviation and defense components as it lists all the part inclusions and exclusions in the federal groups and classes.

At ASAP Supply Chain, owned and operated by ASAP Semiconductor, we stock more than 2 billion NSNs applicable with the aerospace and defense industries. Our entire NSN inventory can be searched through using our optimized search engine. We make sure to list additional part sourcing information such as FSC, FSG, NIIN, manufacturer and CAGE code, so purchasing your part is as simple as possible. Visit our website,  sales@asap-supplychain.com, or call us at +1-702-919-1616.