TASKS | NCAGE CODE | NATO STOCK NUMBER | CODIFICATION CONTRACT CLAUSE | DOCUMENTS |

TASKS

The Codification Branch is a division of the Military Centre for Standardization, Quality and Codification responsible for fulfilling the tasks required to participate in the NATO Codification System (NCS).

The Codification Branch comprises of two sections:

• Management Section,
• Materiel Codification Section, further divided into:
• Armed Forces Branches Subsection,
• Armed Forces Services Subsection..

In the NCS, WCNJiK acts as the National Codification Bureau (NCB) of Poland, identified as NCB 43.

The main task of NCB of Poland is the identification of products, their classification and the assignment of a NATO Stock Number (NSN). The NSN carries an abundance of information regarding the product; information that is necessary in materiel management, its use and logistical information. It contains technical and logistic data for the products and also identifies manufacturer and supplier data, which is made available to the military logistics system and helps to provide the appropriate materiel and everyday items necessary to complete a specific task at a specific time, and place.

Other tasks:

• organizing and coordinating of the national codification system of,
• assigning NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Codes to Polish manufactures and suppliers of materiel and services,
• cooperating and exchanging codification data with National Codification Bureaux within NCS, NATO agencies and institutions, and National Defence logistics and industry.

NCAGE CODE

NATO Commercial and Government Entity Code is assigned within NCS to national entities whose business provides products or services, as required by the Polish MOD and allied nations.

NCAGE codes may also be assigned to natural persons.

The structure of the NCAGE code for Polish entities is as follows:

#***H, where:
# - numeral
* - alpha or numeric
H - permanent suffix assigned to Poland.

NATO STOCK NUMBER

NATO Stock Number – NSN - identifies the armed forces item of supply, i.e. material product which is materiel (military equipment) or its spare parts or material and common use articles used by the armed forces to meet specific requirements.

The NSN contains a description of products which is formulated according to an agreed set of international rules and procedures of NCS, as it pertains to the use of uniform classification, technical and logistic characteristics, in addition to information regarding the manufacturer and supplier.

The NSN is a 13 digit number and is divided into 3 parts, as follows:

• The first 4 digits are the NATO Supply Classification Code (NSC) and groups the item with other similar items,
• The next 2 digits indicate the NCB assigning the NSN (43 = Poland),
• The final 7 digits of an NSN are sequential numbers generated automatically by a codification information system. The number is assigned to one, and to only one, Item of Supply within the codifying country.

The data of assigned NSNs is collected and published in national and international databases. In Poland, it is the Polish Items of Supply Database, called PolKod, which is available for the codification bureaux and Polish MoD institutions. The international publication is called NMCRL and is available on a subscription basis to all interested users.

NMCRL – NATO Master Catalogue of References for Logistics

NMCRL is an international publication of codification data developed within NCS by all participating nations.

NMCRL is a product of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) published on behalf of AC/135. It is available on a subscription basis in web-based formats.

CODIFICATION CONTRACT CLAUSE

The Codification Contract Clause is an NCS element which standardizes the manner, in which technical information for products is obtained from manufacturers. This technical information is necessary for proper complete completion of the codification process..

The objective and process of the Codification Contract Clause in the acquisition of materiel is defined in the NATO Standardization Agreement - STANAG 4177 (Uniform System of Data Acquisition)

The Codification Contract Clause is a standard clause in a procurement agreement/contract which identifies the legal requirement of the supplier for the provision of technical data at no additional costs (except for those costs identified in the contract), as required for codification purposes.

The inclusion of this obligation on suppliers and subcontractors to accept the Codification Contract Clause guarantees a proper codification of the product by the NCB of the manufacturer’s country or by the NCB of Poland.

DOCUMENTS

The following NATO Standardization Agreements (STANAG) on Codification were ratified and implemented in the Polish Armed Forces:

• STANAG 3150 : Codification - Uniform System of Supply Classification.
• STANAG 3151 : Codification - Uniform System of Item Identification
• STANAG 4177 : Codification - Uniform System of Data Acquisition.
• STANAG 4438 : Codification - Uniform System of Dissemination of Data Associated with NATO Stock Numbers (NSN).