Defense News and research for the successful contractor

How do I Get a NSN assigned to my product?

This is a question we’ve heard 1000’s of times in our 20 years in business. Companies interested in selling their products learn about NSNs and how DoD buys millions of them in classes they take.   With this new knowledge the question we hear most often is “How do I get a National Stock Number assigned to my products” so that the Military would buy them.

So how do you do this?

Get the Military to buy your product a few times – Create a need.

Assigning the NSN comes after the need, DoD does not randomly assign NSNs.  In order for DoD to assign an NSN a requirement for that item needs to exist. Requirements come from the customer/end user Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard etc.

The NSN is an item relating to a product which is purchased on a regular basis.  An NSN can relate to a system/end item like an aircraft or a simple item such as a black waterproof plastic, NSN 6760-01-491-2816.  Request for NSN generation can also come from NATO countries or Contractors who manage Weapon Systems.

How do I find needs for my products?

Search for Open Solicitations – See who’s buying similar items.

One simple way is to start monitoring open solicitations on a regular basis for similar items, search by commodity class otherwise known as Federal Supply Class (FSC) that relates to your product.  Your results will show you who currently is buying these items.  This is your chance to submit what is called an “Alternate offer” in response to a specific solicitation.

When a solicitation is open, this is the time when the government buyers are listening, potentially looking for new manufacturers of items they need.  A government solicitation open for bid will have a statement such as “Offerers supplying other than exact Product(s) must submit TDP for Evaluation”.  This is “your time” to provide the buyer specifications of your product to evaluate. Your product could be accepted as an alternate product, and possibly the reviewer (item manager) assigns a new NSN to your item to reflect the differences.

The item managers research FLIS data to see if a National Stock Number already exists.  If a determination is made that the item does not have a NSN one will be assigned.  If one does exist then the NSN-MCRD (Master Cross Reference Database) or Part Number Cross Reference may be appended to include your company and unique part number.

The DLA Federal Logistics Information System (FLIS) is the division is who manages all NSNs.  NSN part data is updated on a regular basis.

Look at the past – Review Past Sales of similar items

Looking at the past can lead you to a successful future.  If your goal or reason for trying to get an NSN assigned to your product is to sell it, you should spend time researching competitors, What are they selling, Who are they selling it to?

This kind of research can be done by CAGE codes, Contract numbers and Part numbers.  It can return results such as Who’s buying the item, How many are they buying, and How much are they spending.  If you’re thinking I can use NAICS codes, Think again as they relate to specific industries and not things. Part Numbers, CAGE codes and Contract numbers will return more accurate results.

The BidLink Research Tool has been providing quick and easy access to DoD Contract, Solicitation, Sales and NSN- Part information for over 20 years.