Finding Government Parts in IHS Haystack

When it comes to your government related engineering and manufacturing projects, the emphasis needs to be on finding the individual parts you need, not searching for them. With IHS Haystack's powerful online tools, you will increase your ROI by reducing the time required for parts research and procurement.

Whether you need detailed information on one of the 100+ million items in the U.S. Federal Supply Catalog, or parts from over 40 U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, or related military databases, Haystack helps you sift through hundreds of thousands of relevant results in mere seconds.

Search Basics

Every search in Haystack begins by logging in to a secure online 24/7 interface. This centralized Web-based access point gives you powerful search options that help you find the specific parts you need for your government related engineering and manufacturing projects.

Each type of Haystack search involves entering as much or as little information as you have available for the part or parts you require. Examples of the type of parts information you might enter include:

• National Stock Number (NSN)
• Part number (even if you don't have the full number)
• CAGE code
• Company name
• Technical characteristics (e.g., "copper" or "6 bolt holes")
• Product Item Description (PID) data
• Many other available parameters

Having entered your initial parts information, Haystack returns results for only those parts that somehow match your entered data. From there, you move through the results for the specific part(s) you need, or enter more information to refine your search and narrow the results even further. Haystack's intuitive user interface provides various options for filtering search results to focus your search.

Batch Searches

Since you often need to find a collection of parts at any given time, Haystack offers a batch search feature. As with a basic search, a batch search involves entering as much or as little information as you have, but for multiple parts at one time.

Once you have entered all the data available to you, Haystack performs searches for all the different parts in question in one time saving batch. You then easily move through the results for the various parts, thanks to Haystack keeping each search separate from the others.

Incomplete Information Searches

Regardless of the type of search you are performing in Haystack, the more complete the information you enter, the more precise the results returned. At the same time, it is often the case that the parts information available to you is anything but complete.

Fortunately, Haystack allows you to search for parts without knowing the full stock number or other identifying number. Using a wildcard search, you simply enter as much of the part ID number as is available, and then insert wildcard characters for the rest. Haystack will return those parts records that match the partial information entered, allowing you to quickly move through the results from there.

Similarly, you can enter incomplete technical characteristics information to find a particular part for your government related engineering and manufacturing projects. For example, by entering "copper" or "6 bolt holes," you will drastically narrow your search results, which speeds the process of finding the parts you need.

At the other end of the spectrum is Super Search, which enables you to search across multiple databases when you know the NIIN of the part in question.

Supplier Information and Pricing Searches

Haystack not only helps you find the parts you need, it also provides profiles of the vendors that can supply the parts in question. Supplier profiles contain general background and contact information, as well as hyperlinks to both the vendor's website and to specific webpages within the website to further reduce your research time when accessing the vendors' online resources.

Haystack also reduces the time needed for parts acquisition by providing all the suppliers' information and prices in one place, allowing you to expedite the procurement process by sending multiple RFQs at once.

Should a supplier no longer stock the part you need, or the part you need be obsolete, Haystack's results will provide an alternate list of currently stocking suppliers or up-to-date replacement parts.

IHS Haystack is Your Government Parts Solution

Thousands of companies worldwide rely on Haystack to find the parts they need for their government related engineering and manufacturing projects. The 60+ databases in the IHS Haystack collection give you the centralized online access you need to find the parts, vendor, and pricing information necessary for you to remain competitive by reducing your parts research and acquisition costs.