Defense parts and requests
Defense parts works backwards from every other screen. A defense parts supplier already knows exactly what it makes, identified by National Stock Number; the question is which requests are out for those parts this week. So the stock numbers you supply are the durable list, and open requests are a view over it.
TL;DR — Open Find work → Defense parts → Our parts and add each stock number you supply, with your part number, the maker and who else supplies it. Requests then shows open defense solicitations in the same supply classes.
Before you start
- Who can edit the parts list. Business Development Users, Proposal Managers, Managers and Capture Administrators. Everyone can read it. The Also supplied by list is your own commercial intelligence and stays in your workspace.
- What data is behind each tab. The National Stock Number catalogue (DLA FLIS) is not collected yet — it is published as bulk files rather than through a public service. Requests and past awards depend on the federal solicitation and award data. See Where the data comes from.
The four tabs
| Field | What it does | Accepted values / default |
|---|---|---|
| Our parts | The stock numbers your company supplies. | Your own records; always available. |
| Requests | Open defense requests for the kinds of part you supply. | Matched by supply class — see below. Show every defense request widens the list to all of them. |
| Look up a part | Search by stock number, CAGE code, part number, manufacturer or description. | Needs the National Stock Number catalogue, which is not collected yet, so lookups return nothing today. Add parts by hand instead. |
| Past awards | Past defense awards, searchable by what was bought and by product or service code, with One bidder only. | Shows who won and against how many bidders. If defense agencies cannot be identified in the reference data, nothing is shown rather than every federal award. |
Add a part
| Field | What it does | Accepted values / default |
|---|---|---|
| Stock number | The 13-digit NSN. | Required. Digits only — dashes and spaces are fine: 5935-01-234-5678. |
| What it is | The item name. | |
| Our part number | Your own part number for it. | |
| Made by / Maker's CAGE | The manufacturer and its CAGE code. | |
| Also supplied by | Competitors who supply the same part, one per line. | Up to 50 per part. |
| Notes | Anything else your team should know. |
A part that is not in the shared catalogue is marked Not in the shared catalogue — your own record is all there is for this one. That is expected while the catalogue is not collected.
How requests are matched
A solicitation names a supply class, not an individual stock number. So Requests matches the supply class of each of your parts — the first four digits of the NSN — which is broader than your catalogue: a class covers a family of parts and you may make only some of them. Each request says how many of your stock numbers fall in its class. Filter by supply class or by what is being requested.
Common gotchas
- "Look up a part finds nothing." The stock number catalogue is not collected yet. Add the part with Add this part by hand.
- "Requests is empty." Add a stock number under Our parts first, and check that federal solicitation data is flowing on Where the data comes from.
- "A request is for a part we don't make." Matching is by supply class, which is wider than your list. Check the item before quoting.
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