NIGP Code
 | Template:Wikify is deprecated. Please use a more specific cleanup template as listed in the documentation. |
| Company type | Private, Division of Periscope Holdings, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Industry | Government procurement, Training, Procurement software, Data Services |
| Headquarters | |
Key people | John Walters, President, NIGP Code Services |
| Products | NIGP Code NIGP Living Code NIGP Coding Service NIGP Code Bootcamp |
| Website | http://www.nigp.com |
The NIGP Commodity/Services Code is a leading public procurement classification taxonomy that was created in the mid 1980s as a result of efforts by public procurement officials in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Illinois and other states, cities and counties to provide a mechanism to classify the products and services that used in public procurement. Led by Homer Forrestor, the Director or General Services in Texas, the group produced the initial codeset in 1983. The copyright for the data file was transferred to the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP)and the NIGP Code was born. The NIGP Code is now the standard taxonomy for classifying vendors and spend data for 33 states within the United States.
The NIGP Code is most commonly used to classify vendors and to track spend data for use in strategic sourcing and spending analysis. The database is often incorporated into the procurement software utilized by the entity for use in tenders and e-procurement.
NIGP Code Structure
The NIGP Code is structured as follows:[1] Click here for a sample of the NIGP Code.
3-Digit Class Code The 3-Digit class Code has a brief general description. This level contains 209 Commodity (Product) Classes and 55 Service Classes totaling 264 Classes. The 3-Digit Code is primarily used to generate periodic expenditure history by department for fiscal planning, budget execution, and accounting.
5-Digit Class-Item Code The 5-Digit class-item Code is an expanded version of the 3-Digit class Code. Currently, it contains over 8,200 descriptions. This level categorizes vendors by class-item to allow your procurement software to automate bidder selection, produce no-bid response reports, vendor performance reports, and minority business and HUB reports by Code. Purchase history can be captured at this level as well.
7-Digit Class-Item-Group Code The 7-Digit Code provides an additional level of purchase description. It contains over 36,000 descriptions. It can be used to develop a specification file and is used with the 11-Digit Code to create a comprehensive purchase description.
11-Digit Class-Item-Group-Detail Code The 11-Digit Code is generally used to create, manage, and maintain line-item term contracts. It is also used to identify stock items in inventory. This level of the Code currently contains over 485,000 descriptions which provides a great amount of flexibility when creating contracts and tracking inventory.
| Code Structure | Sample Code | Sample Description |
|---|---|---|
| 3-Digit (Class) Code | 620 | Office Supplies: Erasers, Inks, Leads, Pens, Pencils, etc. |
| 5-Digit (Class-Item) Code | 620-80 | Pens (General Writing Types): Ball Point, Nylon Tip, etc. |
| 7-Digit (Class-Item-Group) Code | 620-80-21 | Pens, Ball Point, Retractable, Refillable, All Plastic Barrel W/Metal Pocket Clip |
| 11-Digit (Class-Item-Group-Detail) Code | 620-80-21-035-4 | Fine Point, Black Ink, 12/Box |
| 620-80-21-045-3 | Fine Point, Blue Ink, 12/Box | |
| 620-80-21-065-1 | Fine Point, Green Ink, 12/Box | |
| 620-80-21-075-0 | Fine Point, Red Ink, 12/Box |
NIGP Code Usage
The NIGP Code is in use by 33 states within the United States and thousands of political subdivisions in North America. A web search tool, the NIGP Living Code, facilitates searching and downloading of the Code for licensees. The NIGP Code is managed and licensed by Periscope Holdings, Inc., on behalf of NIGP under an exclusive licensing agreement. The firm offers phone support, training, and commodity coding services for the conversion of contract and inventory files.
The NIGP Code currently exists with English and Spanish versions. Cross references have been created for the NAICS, UNSPSC and MCC codesets. The upcoming version will contain classifications for environmentally certified products and services, i.e., "green" codes.
NIGP Code Maintenance
Maintenance and additions/clarifications to the Code come from three primary sources: codes generated by direct customer requests, codes identified as part of coding services, and codes identified from seated working groups. Additions/clarifications at the 3 and 5 digit level are typically processed within 24 hours. Code requests targeted at the 7 and 11 digit levels typically are processed within 2-3 days, although codes can be generated within 24 hours under certain circumstances.
Updates to the Code are published weekly to the nigp.com site for download by users. Codes requested directly from users are typically delivered via extract files to the user, with general release of the new codes in the weekly website update.
The current working group for the NIGP Code is for "green" commodity/services codes. The need for these type codes was identified in the 2nd quarter of 2008 and the working group was seated in June. The approach for environmentally certified products and services was researched and a final survey of users was executed in October 2008. Rollout of these new codes is slated for the fourth quarter, 2008.
Articles
NIGP Code: a highly useful procurement tool by Michael Keating
Crank up the Volume with NIGP Codes by John Mahin
Texas City Improves Inventory Management
Citys P-Card Program Fights Fraud
References
- ^ NIGP Code sample, NIGP Code sample