Chapter 2 – Fiscal Management

22030.8.6.2 Pin Stock Item Catalog

• The PIN Stock Item Catalog is a listing by stock item number and description of commodities purchased by the state on a regular basis. Products are classified in group and class number sequence; commodities within each class are listed in alphabetical key noun order. Currently, 60,000 items are listed.

• Other information contained in the PIN Stock Item Catalog is the following data:

  • Description – the stock item description field consists of a maximum of 54 characters of information which describes each stock item. The first word in the stock item description is the key noun.

• This is the noun that most accurately identifies the nature of the product (e.g., drill electric, not electric drill). All commodities are listed in alphabetical key noun sequence within each class.

  • Order unit – this is a two-character field which describes the unit of measure by which each stock item shall be ordered [e.g., EA (each), DZ (dozen), YD (yard), RL (roll), BX (box), etc.]. Refer to the order unit table listed on the front page of the PIN Stock Item Catalog.

  • Source code – this is a one-character field that indicates the usual source or method for acquiring a given stock item. The various codes and their meaning are as follows:

    A:	Office of Procurement (PE is required on all A source code items) and delegated purchase program orders.
    B:	OSPOffice of State Publishing and Office of Support Services printing orders.
    C:	MSSMaterial Services Section stock items.
    D:	Statewide contract stock items.
    E:	Limited contract stock items.
    F:	SPSState Price Schedule stock items.
    I:	CALPIACalifornia Prison Industry Authority (formerly PIA) stock items.
    M:	SPSState Price Schedule competitively bid items.

  • Special code – this is a two-character field which identifies those stock items covered by detailed product specifications. The coding scheme is as follows:

    1-99	State specifications.
    A	Federal specifications.
    B	Commodity standard.
    C	Supply operations commodity standard (SOCS).
    D	Bid specifications.
    E	Acceptable brands list.
    F	Special/other.

• Locate a Number

  • There are several ways to locate a stock item number in the PIN Stock Item Catalog:

    • Refer to the alphabetical product listing “Index to New State Materials-Classification Catalog” in the State Materials Classification (SMC) Catalog. This index lists general categories of frequently purchased products and the SMC group number. It may be used to determine the correct SMC group number for a related product. For example, although a credenza is not specifically listed, the appropriate group may be located by referring to “furniture, most types.” The key noun for each stock item is usually based on what that item is rather than its use.

    • Refer to the PIN Stock Item Catalog Index (on the front pages of the catalog) to locate the corresponding group. Next, locate the proper group class. The group and class shall provide the page number within the PIN Stock Item Catalog where a specific stock item and its number shall be found.

    • Refer to the listing of commodities by key noun in the back of the catalog. This is a listing of items in the PIN Stock Item Catalog in alphabetical order by key noun.

• Many commodity descriptions in the PIN Stock Item Catalog are very brief and may not be complete. Therefore, additional descriptive information shall be added as required in preparing the purchase order (e.g., color, size, dimensions, packaging, etc.). Except for additions to the description, no other changes or deletions shall be accepted.