What is an NSN? How to read a National Stock Number

A National Stock Number (NSN) is the 13 digit number federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, use to buy and manage supply items. NATO and its partners manage more than 8 million active items this way, and every DIBBS RFQ is for one or more NSNs.

The parts of an NSN

DLA's own example is 8415-01-530-2157.

• 8415 is the Federal Supply Class (FSC). Its first two digits, 84, are the federal supply group, here clothing; there are 80 groups in all. The full class 8415 narrows it to special purpose clothing.
• 01-530-2157 is the National Item Identification Number (NIIN), which identifies the item itself.
• 01, the first two digits of the NIIN, is the National Codification Bureau code for the country that assigned the number. Both 00 and 01 mean the United States.
• 530-2157 is assigned in sequence so that each NSN is unique.

Using NSNs to find work

DIBBS can email you new solicitations for up to 3,000 NSNs you list. On FedQuote you can search the daily list by NSN with or without dashes, open an NSN page for its request history, past awards and approved sources, or browse categories by supply group.