The NSN is used by domestic and foreign governments, all the military services and various federal and civil agencies. The NSN is officially recognized by the United States government, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and many other governments around the world. The NSN affords the opportunity for greater cross-servicing potential and facilitates operations that involve many military services from many nations.
Federal Agencies
Many federal agencies, including the Department of Defense (DOD), use the NSN to buy and manage billions of dollars worth of supplies yearly. The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) establishes how each DLAmanaged NSN will be stocked, stored and issued to the military services. DLA evaluates usage demands to determine required quantities of NSNs. The NSN is the foundation for logistics coordination between the services and government agencies.
Military Services
The practice of using a single language of supply like the NSN is
increasingly important as it promotes coordination between the military services, readiness, and availability to all users. The NSN is also critical to the effective integration of the services in joint military endeavors
The NSN enables military services to access the same information and identify like items of supply. Mechanics, technical inspectors, maintenance and other supply personnel can review NSN data in the FLIS to locate information on all parts needed to maintain and support weapon systems.
The use of NSNs provides logistics managers, procurement personnel, operations planners, and industrial base assessment personnel with a standard method of identifying and tracking items of supply in-storage, in-process, in-transit and in-theater
Defense Reutilization
The DLA Disposition Services identify products for reutilization and/or disposal using the NSN to distinguish what items require special handling upon disposal. Examples include items with specific
demilitarization requirements, items containing precious metals,
hazardous materials or sensitive technology.
