3. Part Nomenclature
Engineers are people too, and written descriptions often feel more intuitive than alpha-numeric part numbers. Effective part nomenclature sits alongside numbering to make parts searchable, recognisable, and communicable across the whole programme team — including suppliers. In the third instalment of QR_'s PLM Essentials series, Adam Tonks shares the building blocks of a nomenclature system implemented for an EV start-up, and how tailoring common industry descriptors to a specific business can deliver a right-sized, scalable logic that grows with the organisation.
Inside this guide
Best practice for naming conventions. The structural principles that make a nomenclature system durable across categories, suppliers, and future product lines — without needing a rewrite every time the product evolves.
Character limits and abbreviations. Working within PLM and ERP field-length constraints without losing meaning, and the abbreviation conventions that survive scale rather than fracturing into local dialects.
Adapting industry descriptors to specific business needs. Where to standardise, where to diverge, and how to make the choice explicitly rather than by accident — the balance that determines whether the system actually gets used.
Case study: an EV start-up. How a blended system combining common industry descriptors with manufacturer-specific terms delivered tangible organisational and commercial benefit, and made PLM far more effective in practice.
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