| | |
| | | |
| |  | What is a Nato Stock Number? |
| | | What do the groups of numbers in the NATO stock number (NSN) represent? |
| | | What drawing numbers are used to recognize military products? |
| | | How can you be sure you are buying the correct item? |
| | | Who can Abtus sell to? |
| | | What types of product does Abtus supply? |
| | | What brand names should also be associated with Abtus products? |
| | | Can Abtus repair and test? |
| | | Is Abtus accredited to do design work? |
| | |
| What is a Nato Stock Number? |
| | Otherwise known as an NSN, this number is used within the Ministry of Defence for recognizing all items from crockery to a missile |
| |  |
| What do the groups of numbers in the NATO stock number (NSN) represent? |
| | A typical NATO stock number has four segments and is written like this; NSN 6210-99-531-6503 |
| | The first four digits indicate the group or type of product; for example, the 6210 above tells us that the item is a light fitting |
| | The next two numbers indicates the country of manufacture; for example 99 is UK; 66 coincidentally is Australia |
| | The last seven digits (represented as a block of three and a block of four numbers), are assigned to the product |
| | |
| What drawing numbers are used to recognize military products? |
| | Admiralty Pattern Numbers (AP) |
| | (Drawing numbers prefixed with "AP"). These numbers preceded Nato Stock Numbers and are still used occasionally today, especially on the older items where NSN tracability is a little vague. |
| | Defence Electrical Engineering Drawing Numbers (DEE) |
| | (Drawing numbers prefixed with "DEE") are also widely used within the industry, despite being issued and used prior to the NATO alliance treaty being formed. Again as with "AP" numbers an actual product drawing is a good way to cross check you have the correct part. |
| | Service Drawing Numbers (SDN) |
| | (Drawing numbers prefixed with "SDN") these numbers are known by all three armed forces, and are also recognised by NATO. |
| | Manufacturers Drawing Numbers (???) |
| | These can be anything and unless the company in question commercially owns the product then they should quote one of the recognized numbers above. The only reason not to use the numbers above is in order to confuse customers who don't know the real Nato Stock Number or MOD drawing number thus giving them a competitive advantage. |
| | |
| How can you be sure you are buying the correct item? |
| | This can be difficult, even if you have the correct Nato stock number and the supplier confirms that they can supply, the part you may receive may not be the part you require! |
| | |
| | Why? - Well each Nato stock number is referenced to a drawing number which is subsequently referenced to a drawing issue number, so to obtain the correct part you should specify to the supplier the Nato Stock Number, the Drawing number & the Drawing issue number, this sounds easy but due to disorganization and rationalization over the years much of this detail has been lost and so the buyer usually relies upon the supplier to supply correctly. |
| | |
| | The problem then arises that master drawings i.e. the ones which carry the latest issue update information are held by the "Design Authority" (the manufacturer that originally designed the product) and unless approved by the Ministry of Defence they are the only company who has the authority to alter the drawings. This means that by inference the "Design Authority" is the best source of information and the company most likely to supply the item requested to the appropriate issue or modification state. |
| | |
| | Due to competition and reduced requirements over recent years a number of manufacturers have started to compete on products which were designed by others, sometimes by reverse engineering and sometimes because they have legitimately obtained the drawings from the MOD in support of a tender and have continued to use them years after without knowledge of any design changes which have be made by either the MOD or the Design authority. |
| | This can be very frustrating for both the OEM and the buyer because if the product has be modified and the buyer buys from a company who are not using the latest drawings then the OEM looses the sale and the buyer obtains an inferior or in the extreme a part which will not function in the way the MOD intended it to. |
| | |
| | A good example could be that a socket used in the past has proved to be unusable after being soaked in seawater and therefore the MOD has tasked the Design authority to replace this socket on all products which come into contact with seawater, (this could be quite a few), the replacement part is 3x the cost of the original part, thus making the OEM price considerable more expensive than the company with the old out of date drawings. |
| | If you notice big price discrepancies this could be an indication that you might not be getting what you expect! |
| | |
| Who can Abtus sell to? |
| | A strange question you may ask, but one which is relevant when procuring military equipment. |
| | As design authority for most of the items we manufacture, we have contracts with MoD for commercial exploitation of products where MoD UK is the proprietary owner. We can supply to any NATO aligned country, and their procurement subcontractors, providing they can prove the end user is the armed forces of a NATO country. Non design authorities should not export military equipment without appropriate permissions / licences. |
| | |
| What types of product does Abtus supply? |
| | Deck Lighting - Glide Slope Indicator - Hangar Lighting - Navigation Lighting - Cabin Lighting etc... |
| | Fuse Panels - Junction Boxes - Switches - Noise Makers - Fire Nozzles - Pipe Fittings etc... |
| | Rice 1 Communications - Rice 2 Communications - Amplifiers - Microphones - Loudspeakers etc... |
| | In fact over 3000 Nato codified items plus many more spares and accessories |
| | |
| What brand names should also be associated with Abtus products? |
| | We are otherwise known as: Eleco Engineering, Davis Marine, Davis Engineering and Tergor Electronics. We also supply equipment previously supplied by Messer's Allan Haigh (Halifax) having bought their assets when they closed down some years ago. |
| | |
| Can Abtus repair and test? |
| | Yes! If you visit our "About Us" page you will see that we have all the disciplines in house, we do 99% of all work on our own premises. |
| | We also act as a calibration house for Railway measurement equipment. |
| | Anything that can be repaired - we can repair! |
| | |
| Is Abtus accredited to do design work? |
| | Yes! Abtus are ISO 9001:2000 approved with BSI you can see our certificate number on our home page if you hover your mouse over the BSI link |
| | We carry out design work for both the Ministry of Defence & The worlds railways |
| | |
| | |
