A part number (often abbreviated P/N, PN, part no., or part #) is an identifier of a particular part design used in a particular industry. Its purpose is to simplify referencing to that part. A part number unambiguously identifies a part design within a single corporation, and sometimes across several corporations.
For example, when specifying a screw, it is easier to refer to "HSC0424PP" than saying "Hardware, screw, machine, 4-40, 3/4" long, panhead, Phillips". In this example, "HSC0424PP" is the part number, and it may be prefixed in database fields as "PN HSC0424PP" or "P/N HSC0424PP".
Read more about Part Number: The Part Design Versus Instantiations of It, User Part Numbers Versus Manufacturing Part Numbers (MPN), Significant Versus Non-significant Part Numbers, Dash Numbers, Relationship of Part Numbers To Drawing Numbers, Parametric Families of Parts, and Tabulations of Part Numbers With Parameter Values, Design Modification Suffixes, Symmetrical Parts, Phantom Parts, Synthetic Parts, Machine-readable Part Marking
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