From:	russell hughes	e-mail:	russellhugheskj@yahoo.com
Subject:	RE: KJ Tank identification	Date:	Sun Jun 27 09:49:32 2010
Response to:	2981

When you find a casting with odd looking alphanumeric characters on it by any a company such as Henderson, Chevy or John Deere for example, you have found the part specific identification. This connects the part back to the purchasing specs, a part print (drawing), a pattern, foundry data and other manufacturing information. So if Schwinn orders 1,000 of the KJ5225 to fill spare part demands (with each new order) the purchasing department has drafting pull the latest print revision to send to the foundry along with the pattern and core boxes. Before shipping the stores will confirm the print revision matches the pattern revision. The foundry vendor pours the 1,000 parts and sends then to the machining vendor who machines the raw castings into finished parts. The parts are then sent to the painting vendor then they go to Schwinn for use. Purchasing pays the vendors (Net 45 Days) as an example. If you were to see KJ5225-01, you would know that engineering made a management approved design change. All of the purchasing, drafting, foundry, machining, painting departments and vendors would be working from that 01 revision. The next change would be KJ5225-02 and so on. Here is where vendors get into trouble...(for example in 1928) if the foundry and machine shop had been making Deluxe oil pump covers for years and based on previous sales they made the safe decision to rathole 10,000 covers for later sale not knowing the KJ's where about to come out...these vendors would have to eat these parts if they could not find a market for them. If the vendors and purchasing had good relations purchasing would have told the vendors months ago that part changes were on the way so don't make any additional parts. Inside information always helps! This only scratched the surface of your part number request but I hoped it helped, Russell. ----- ORIGINAL MESSAGE FOLLOWS ----- Looking at a set of tanks. The numbers KJ5225 and KJ5226 are cast in each. What might these numbers indicate? Any possible link to year, etc?