The hot melt equipment industry has evolved over the last 40 years. Each manufacturer has made design and material modifications to their product line, which has had a significant impact on the creation and assignment of part numbers. Unfortunately for our particular niche industry there have also been an abundance of variations created solely for clerical purposes. These superfluous numbers make it extremely difficult to place orders and keep inventory organized.
Let’s say you are looking for a single orifice right angle nozzle with a .014 inch diameter hole. The correct manufacturer number can be 244519, 244-519, 244 519, 24-4519US, 320014, 320-014, 320 014, 32-0014US, 1011014, 1011014US, or SR19014. These are all correct manufacturer parts numbers and as you can see the variations are sometimes nothing more than a space or dash. This has already created a very high level of confusion, but wait, it gets even worse.
If you are not purchasing directly from the manufacturer you add a whole other coded level of alpha numeric characters, dashes and mystery spaces. Each buying house has their own system, each aftermarket dealer makes up their own numbers, and even legitimate distributes from time to time will add a character to a part number purely for tracking purposes.
It is important for anyone using hot melt systems to understand the function of each piece of equipment so that there is not a complete dependency on just a part number. We at Universal Systems SE work with our customers to identify parts through a combination of part numbers, descriptions, and photographs. It is especially important to take the time to talk to one of our associates if you haven’t ordered a replacement part in several years or are order a new part for the first time. Our website has a part number search function for your convince; but know you can always call 1-800-848-5018 for personal assistance.