What does this term mean on an RFQ?

Sourcing the part through the equipment maker's own commercial channel, rather than a third party.

Sourcing the same part from a vetted manufacturer or supplier outside the equipment maker's own commercial chain.

The engine or equipment maker's own part, in the maker's own packaging — distinct from an unbranded OEM-equivalent part or a verified alternative.

Built to the equipment maker's specification — often by the same sub-supplier that produces the item for the maker — but supplied unbranded. Some offers call this simply "OEM", meaning the component maker rather than the engine maker, so check which of the two a quotation means.

A price quoted from a named address, with the buyer arranging onward carriage — as distinct from a price delivered to a named place.

The ICC's published set of trade terms, current edition Incoterms 2020 (EXW, FCA, DAP, CIF and others), setting which delivery tasks, costs and risks fall to the seller and which to the buyer. They do not settle payment or when ownership passes. The rule and its named place are agreed and stated per quotation.

Incoterms rules under which the seller carries cost and risk as far as a named place of destination. Under DAP the goods are handed over ready for unloading, under DPU already unloaded, and under DDP the seller also clears them for import and pays the duties. For parts going to a ship, the named place should be the agent's warehouse or the airport actually agreed, not just the name of a port.

What a quoted price includes and excludes: currency, ex-works or delivered, and what sits outside the figure — packing, export documents, testing, certification, bank charges.

The number of days a quotation's price, lead time, condition and packing basis stay open before it needs reissuing.

A delivery-time figure that only means something when it is tied to a stated start event: order date, cleared payment, release of material, or the end of a hold.

The single reference carried from RFQ through quotation, order confirmation and invoice, so every document traces back to the original request.

The maker, model or type, serial number and rating stamped on the equipment builder's own plate — the single strongest identification source for a request.

A reference the maker has withdrawn and pointed to a successor — for example after a drawing revision, a change of material or sub-supplier, or a merger of two near-identical items. "Replaced by" is a pointer, not an equals sign: replacement can run one way only, and the old number is often still the strongest key you hold.

Whether a replacement part can take the place of the original, and whether the original can take the place of the replacement. Some changes run one way only: the successor covers the old application but not the reverse, while other pairs are declared interchangeable both ways. A quotation that offers a successor should say which case applies, and whether a mating part has to change with it.

The number that separates one individual unit from every other unit of the same type; a parts book is indexed against it.

The illustrated spare-parts catalogue issued with a machine and indexed to its build and serial number. A page and position number from it ties a part to the assembly it belongs to, which makes it one of the strongest references an RFQ can carry when the part number alone finds nothing. A copy printed when the machine was delivered does not show later number changes.

The alphanumeric type marking on a nameplate that encodes size, variant and mark. One missing or misread character changes which component it names.

The firm that designed a component and the yard that built the machine under licence are often different companies, each keeping its own number register — so a plate can legitimately carry two names.

A reference naming a group of parts — an overhaul set, a gasket set, a service kit — rather than a single item. Counted in sets or kits, with its own contents list.

Catalogue codes for ship stores: six-digit codes in the IMPA Marine Stores Guide, and a separate numbering in the ISSA Ship Stores Catalogue. Not a machinery-parts identification system — useful alongside maker, type and serial data, not instead of it.

Letters and numbers after the basic designation of a rolling bearing: seals or shields, cage, internal clearance such as C3, tolerance class. Each maker writes them its own way, so the request keeps them exactly as marked on the ring.

The two pipe-thread families that look alike. BSP (G parallel to ISO 228-1, R taper to ISO 7-1) has a 55° flank angle; NPT (ASME B1.20.1) has 60°. At 1/2 and 3/4 both have 14 threads per inch, so size and count alone do not tell them apart.

The pressure designations of the three flange standards: PN in EN 1092-1, Class in ASME B16.5 and K in JIS B 2220. Several ratings share one drilling, so the bolt circle and holes do not give the rating; the marking, the plate or the drawing does.

The inch-series O-ring size code. The first digit sets the cross-section (-2xx is 3.53 mm) and the rest the inside diameter; Parker’s 2-214 is the same size as AS568-214.

O-ring sizes to JIS B 2401: the P series for dynamic and static use, the G series for static use. The number is close to the inside diameter: P25 is 24.7 mm, G60 is 59.4 mm.

The degree of protection of an enclosure to IEC 60529 (for motors, IEC 60034-5): the first digit rates protection against solids and dust (0 to 6), the second against water (0 to 9). IP55 is dust-protected and protected against water jets.

The position of the earth contact on an industrial IEC 60309 plug or socket, read as a clock with the keyway at 6. With the number of pins it keys the supply: on 3P+E, 6h is 380–415 V, 9h 200–250 V, 11h 440–460 V 60 Hz (mainly marine) and 3h the reefer container position. A plug keyed for another supply does not go into the socket.

How a motor is built to be fixed, to IEC 60034-7: B3 on feet, B5 a flange with through holes, B14 one with threaded holes, B35 feet with a flange, V codes vertical. The same arrangement is also written in digits, as IM 1001 for B3.

Nominal pipe sizes: DN in the metric standards, NPS in ASME and the A size in JIS. They are names, not diameters, and one nominal size can mean different outside diameters: DN65 is 76.1 mm in the ISO/EN series, 73.0 mm in ASME (NPS 2 1/2) and 76.3 mm in JIS (65A).

The three lengths of one V-belt: inside (Li), datum on the cord line (Ld) and outside (La). Classical belts (A, B, C) are designated by Li, narrow belts (SPA, SPB, SPC) by Ld and 3V, 5V, 8V by the outside length in tenths of an inch, so the same number means a different belt: an A belt with a 1067 mm inside length has a datum length of about 1097 mm.

The German conduit thread of DIN 40430 (Panzergewinde), still found on older cable glands and junction boxes: an 80° flank angle and its own sizes, PG 7 to PG 48 (PG 13.5 is 20.4 mm with 18 threads per inch). It does not fit a metric gland; new installations use M × 1.5 glands to EN 62444, and adapters join the two.

The sealing face of a flange: flat face (FF; form A in EN 1092-1), raised face (RF; form B) or a groove for a ring-type joint (RTJ, ASME). Two mating flanges share the facing, and the gasket follows it: a full-face gasket with bolt holes on FF, a ring gasket inside the bolts on RF, a metal ring on RTJ. The drilling does not show the facing; look at the flange or the drawing.

The metric hydraulic tube fitting of ISO 8434-1 (formerly DIN 2353): a 24° cone in the body, a cutting or sealing ring and a nut, ordered by tube outside diameter and series, L (light) or S (heavy). The nut thread tells the size: M22 × 1.5 is a 15 mm L fitting, M30 × 2 a 22 mm L or a 20 mm S. Give the tube diameter, the series and the material in the request.

The size of an inch hydraulic fitting or hose in sixteenths of an inch: -8 is a 1/2 in tube or hose. The dash size is not the thread: a -8 JIC 37° flare or O-ring boss port has a 3/4-16 thread, a -8 O-ring face seal 13/16-16. State the connection type with the dash size, or the measured thread.

The type in a hose print names its reinforcement: EN 853 1SN and 2SN have one and two steel wire braids (SAE 100R1AT and 100R2AT are their SAE counterparts), EN 857 1SC and 2SC are compact braided hoses, EN 856 4SP and 4SH have four steel wire spirals, and EN 854 types are textile reinforced. Type and DN size together identify the hose; the working pressure comes from the maker.

The marking of equipment for explosive atmospheres, as in Ex db eb IIC T4 Gb: the protection concepts (db flameproof enclosure, eb increased safety), the gas group (IIC also covers IIB and IIA), the temperature class (T4: surface at most 135 °C) and the protection level (Gb: zone 1). The ATEX form adds II 2G. A replacement must be certified for the same group, temperature class and zone.

The marks cast or stamped on a valve body: the nominal size, PN or Class (or JIS K), the body material, the maker’s name or trademark and, on one-way valves, a flow arrow (EN 19, MSS SP-25); a heat number links the body to its material certificate. WOG and SWP on bronze valves are the maker’s cold and steam ratings in psi, not ASME classes.

A Bourdon tube gauge to EN 837-1 is named by its nominal size (the case diameter, 40 to 250 mm), its scale range (0–0.6 to 0–1600 bar, with vacuum and compound ranges) and its accuracy class, whose error limit is the class in per cent of the span: class 1.6 on 0–16 bar allows 0.256 bar either way. Makers rate gauges of NS 63 and 80 for steady pressure up to 3/4 of the scale and fluctuating pressure up to 2/3.

The size of the packing a stuffing box takes: section = (bore - shaft) / 2, so a 45 mm shaft in a 65 mm bore takes 10 mm packing. The depth over the section, less any lantern ring, gives the number of rings, and the ring centreline, pi × (shaft + section), the length per ring; makers advise cutting each ring on a mandrel of the shaft diameter.

A key of rectangular section fitted in keyways in a shaft and its hub. In DIN 6885-1 the shaft diameter sets the key: shafts over 30 up to 38 mm take a 10 × 8 key, sitting 5 mm deep in the shaft (t1) and 3.3 mm in the hub (t2). Form A has round ends, form B square ends; lengths run 6 to 400 mm in a series.

The marks on a bolt head, stud end or nut that state its strength or material: ISO 898-1 classes such as 8.8 (800 MPa tensile, 640 MPa yield, with a class 8 nut), ISO 3506 stainless marks such as A4-80, SAE J429 radial lines on inch bolts, and ASTM grades on flange bolting such as B7 studs with 2H nuts. A marking is the maker’s statement; the certificate proves it.

The description of a steel wire rope, as in 22 6x36WS-IWRC 1960 B sZ: the diameter, six strands of 36 wires in a Warrington-Seale pattern, an independent wire rope core, the wire grade in N/mm², the finish (B drawn galvanised, A heavy galvanised, U bright) and the lay (sZ right hand ordinary, zZ right hand Lang’s). Breaking forces come from the maker’s data.

The grade of hull structural steel under IACS UR W11, stamped with the class society that certified it: A, B, D and E are normal strength (235 N/mm² yield), AH, DH, EH and FH 32, 36 and 40 higher strength (315, 355 and 390 N/mm²). The letter sets the impact test temperature, from +20 °C for A to -60 °C for F. ASTM A36 is a different steel.

The colours on the outside edge of a spiral wound gasket’s centering ring: one solid colour for the winding metal (yellow 304, green 316L, orange Monel 400) and stripes for the filler (grey flexible graphite, white PTFE, light green ceramic). The ring materials are stamped, not coloured.

The letters of a ship or offshore cable designation, one per layer from the inside out: insulation, bedding, braid or armour, outer sheath. BFOU is mica tape and EPR insulation (fire resistant), bedding, tinned copper braid and a halogen-free SHF2 sheath; (i) and (c) mark individual and collective screens.

Five letters for the materials of a mechanical seal, in order: seal face, stationary seat, secondary seals, spring, other parts. BQ1EGG is a resin-impregnated carbon face, a silicon carbide seat, EPDM secondary seals and a CrNiMo steel spring and parts; a digit such as the 1 in Q1 is the maker’s grade.

The designation of a roller chain. In ISO 606 the two digits are the pitch in sixteenths of an inch, 05B (8 mm) apart, and the letter the series: 08B is the British series at 12.70 mm, 08A the American series at the same pitch, ANSI 40. A suffix -1, -2 or -3 gives the strands.

Two letters on a fuse link. The first is the breaking range: g protects against overload and short circuit, a against short circuit only. The second is the use: G general purpose, M motor circuits, R semiconductors. gG is the common general fuse; aM on a motor needs an overload relay beside it.

The letter before the rated current on a miniature circuit breaker to IEC 60898-1 (C16): it sets the instantaneous tripping band, B at 3 to 5 times the rated current, C at 5 to 10 and D at 10 to 20, so a C16 trips instantly between 80 and 160 A. B suits resistive loads and long cables, C general and inductive loads, D high inrush such as motors. The figure in a rectangle beside it (6000) is the rated short-circuit capacity in amps.

The kind of load a contactor or an auxiliary contact is rated for, to IEC 60947-4-1 and 60947-5-1: AC-1 a resistive load, AC-3 a squirrel-cage motor started and switched off running, AC-4 a motor that is also plugged and inched, AC-15 an AC electromagnetic load over 72 VA, DC-13 a DC electromagnet. A contactor carries its own current in each category, so a rating such as AC-3 9 A 400 V gives the category, the current and the voltage together.

The duty a solenoid valve coil is rated for, marked ED on its label: a coil marked ED 100 % may stay energised continuously, a lower ED needs rest periods. The coil plug to EN 175301-803 (formerly DIN 43650) is told by the spacing between contacts 1 and 2: form A 18 mm, form B 10 mm, industry standard form B 11 mm, form C 8 mm.

The tripping class of a motor overload relay to IEC 60947-4-1: the time within which it trips at 7.2 times its setting current. Class 10A trips within 2 to 10 seconds, class 10 within 4 to 10, class 20 within 6 to 20 and class 30 within 9 to 30. The setting current is set on the relay’s dial within its setting range, such as 7-10 A.

A platinum resistance thermometer element of 100 ohm at 0 °C (a Pt1000 has 1000 ohm). Its resistance rises along the IEC 60751 curve, 138.51 ohm at 100 °C, and the class (AA, A, B, C) sets how far it may stray from that curve. A multimeter reading across the element gives the temperature.

A rotary shaft lip seal: a sealing lip, usually loaded by a garter spring, in a rubber-covered or metal case pressed into the housing bore. It is sized shaft diameter x housing bore x width, as in 25x40x7; the type letter (A, AS, B, BS, C, CS) gives the outside and whether a dust lip is added.

The particle count of an oil sample written as three range numbers, such as 18/16/13, for the particles per millilitre of 4, 6 and 14 micron(c) and larger. Each step doubles the count, so 20/18/15 holds four times the particles of 18/16/13. A filter element is rated by its beta at a particle size: beta 1000 at 10 micron(c) is 99.9 % efficiency.

The distance from one tooth of a synchronous belt to the next. Inch belts use pitch codes (MXL 0.080 in, XL 1/5 in, L 3/8 in, H 1/2 in, XH 7/8 in, XXH 1 1/4 in) and are written length in tenths of an inch, code, width in hundredths: 390L100. Metric belts name the pitch in millimetres with the profile letters: 1200-8M-30, T10-1210. Close pitches of different profiles do not mesh.

The flow capacity of a valve: Kv is the water flow in m3/h through the fully open valve at a 1 bar pressure drop, Cv the flow in US gallons per minute at 1 psi; Cv = 1.156 Kv. For a liquid the flow is Kv times the square root of the drop over the relative density, so four times the drop gives twice the flow.

The American conductor sizes. An AWG number falls as the wire grows: six numbers halve the diameter, three halve the area, and above 1 AWG come 1/0 to 4/0; larger conductors are given in kcmil, thousands of circular mils (1 kcmil is 0.5067 mm2). IEC cables are sized in mm2 instead, and AWG sizes fall between them: 12 AWG is 3.31 mm2, between 2.5 and 4.

The R-number of a refrigerant. For a single compound the digits give the formula: the last is fluorine, the one before it hydrogen plus one, the one before that carbon minus one, so R-134a is C2H2F4. The 400s are zeotropic blends, the 500s azeotropic, the 700s inorganic by molar mass (R-717 ammonia). The safety class pairs toxicity A or B with flammability 1, 2L, 2 or 3.

The size of a gear tooth. The module is the pitch diameter divided by the number of teeth, in millimetres; inch gears use the diametral pitch, teeth per inch of pitch diameter, DP = 25.4 / module. A standard spur gear without profile shift has an outside diameter of module x (teeth + 2), so a 30-tooth gear of 64 mm is module 2.

The standard flange that lets water from the shore or another ship into the fire main when the hose couplings do not match. Chapter 2 of the FSS Code fixes it: outside diameter 178 mm, four 19 mm slots on a 132 mm bolt circle, at least 14.5 mm thick, with four 16 mm bolts. MARPOL fixes two more flanges used at the quay, for oily water and for sewage discharge.

The code printed on lubricant drums and cartridges. A grease code such as KP2K-30 reads: K for rolling bearings, P for EP additives, 2 for the NLGI grade, K for an upper temperature of +120 °C with good water resistance, and -30 for the lowest temperature in °C. Oil codes give the type and the ISO VG grade: HLP 46 is a hydraulic oil with anti-wear additives to DIN 51524-2, CLP 220 a gear oil to DIN 51517-3.

A hydraulic cylinder is sized by its bore, the inside diameter of the tube, and its rod diameter; ISO 3320 sets the metric series, bores from 25 to 320 mm and rods from 12 to 360 mm. The oil pushes on the whole piston area and pulls on the annulus, the piston area less the rod section, so the pull is weaker and the retraction faster by the area ratio. A seal kit is ordered by bore, rod and stroke, with the cylinder maker and model.

The rules for a centrifugal pump at another speed: flow changes with the speed ratio, head with its square and shaft power with its cube, for the same fluid and efficiency. Without a frequency converter a pump built for 50 Hz runs a fifth faster on a 60 Hz supply, so its flow rises by about 20 %, its head by about 44 % and its power by about 73 %, which can overload the motor.

The size in the type designation of an end-suction centrifugal pump. Three numbers give the suction, the discharge and the nominal impeller diameter in mm (65-50-160); two give the discharge and the impeller only (Grundfos NK 50-250), and the suction is then one size larger. EN 733 (10 bar) and ISO 2858 (16 bar) attach a nominal duty point and main dimensions to their sizes; the number after a slash on a Grundfos plate is the actual impeller diameter.

The standard mounting between a quarter-turn valve and its actuator. Flange types F03 to F16 carry four bolts on a pitch circle, each with its own thread: F05 is four M6 on 50 mm, F07 four M8 on 70 mm, F10 four M10 on 102 mm. A replacement actuator is ordered by the flange type together with the stem drive and the torque the valve needs.

A symmetrical fire hose coupling: two identical heads join with a turn, the lugs of one going behind the ring of the other, with no male and female side. The size is read from the distance between the lugs, measured inside: D 31 mm, C 66 mm, B 89 mm, A 133 mm. Couplings of one size join each other whatever hose they are bound to.

The marks on a linear tube lamp, fluorescent or LED: the T number is the tube diameter in eighths of an inch (T8 is 1 inch), the G number the pin spacing of the bi-pin base in millimetres (G13), and the three-digit colour code the colour rendering group and the colour temperature in hundreds of kelvin (840 is group 8, 4000 K). The length is not in the code.

A ship's permanent identification number: the letters IMO followed by seven digits, assigned once, never reassigned to another ship, and kept regardless of name or flag changes. It is not the MMSI or the call sign.

Estimated time of arrival. On its own it is rarely enough — the window set by terminal cut-off, gate hours and berth changes usually closes earlier than the ETA suggests.

The port, ETA/ETD and whether the vessel is alongside, at anchor or still at sea — the minimum timing data to plan a delivery around a port call rather than a calendar date.

An RFQ flagged so that vessel timing and technical evidence are reviewed together in one pass, rather than one after the other.

The customs and VAT treatment of parts consigned to a vessel calling at a foreign port, where the goods pass through rather than enter the local market.

The EU treatment of goods supplied to vessels used for navigation on the high seas in commercial service. The VAT Directive (Article 148) exempts supplies for fuelling and provisioning such vessels and the supply of equipment incorporated or used on board, and under the Union Customs Code goods delivered as ship supplies are not placed under the export procedure, although the export declaration formalities still apply. Both depend on proof that the supply reached the vessel; which treatment applies to an order is stated on the quotation.

The six-digit Harmonized System code, maintained by the World Customs Organization, under which customs classify goods; national tariffs extend it, the EU's Combined Nomenclature to eight digits. Stated on the shipping documents, it lets the broker and customs work from the same code as the seller. A code guessed at destination can pull a routine spare into a licensing or restriction regime it does not belong in.

Items whose carriage is regulated (by air, under the ICAO Technical Instructions and the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations), such as batteries, aerosols, compressed and refrigerant gases, paints, solvents and strongly magnetised parts. They change the packing, the declaration and whether a carrier accepts the consignment at all, so they belong in the RFQ, with a safety data sheet where one exists.

The document that records the sale (parties, line items, quantities, values and the agreed delivery term) and that customs assess. For parts going to a ship it also names the vessel, which supports transit treatment instead of an ordinary import entry, and it carries the issuer's registry code and VAT number so the seller can be checked before payment.

The list of what is physically in each package (piece count, weights and dimensions) matched line by line to the invoice. The same references are marked on the outside of every package: vessel name, agent, port, order reference and package number, so the consignment can be found in an agent's warehouse holding cargo for many ships.

The receipt, signed on board or by the ship's agent, showing that the goods reached the vessel. For a supply to a ship it is what closes the export trail and supports the customs and VAT treatment afterwards, so it is worth asking for rather than assuming.

The certificate recording that an assembled arrangement (such as an oily water separator) was approved by the flag Administration, or a recognised organisation acting for it, under a named IMO resolution.

An organisation that sets technical rules for the design, construction and through-life survey of ships and their machinery, and surveys ships against them. Where equipment is under class survey, those requirements, including any class certificate a part needs, are weighed when a supply route is assessed.

A certificate issued or endorsed by a classification society confirming that the individual unit delivered meets its rules, typically after a surveyor has witnessed tests or carried out inspections during manufacture. A class type approval covers a design for series production; a class certificate covers the unit itself. Whether a line needs one belongs in the RFQ, because it shapes the supply route before anything is quoted.

An inspection document for a metal product, most often type 3.1 or 3.2 under the published EN 10204 standard: it confirms the delivery meets the order and gives the results of specific tests. A 3.1 is validated by the manufacturer's inspection representative, independent of production; a 3.2 is validated jointly with the buyer's representative or one named in official regulations.

A document confirming a manufactured or tested unit meets its specification — distinct from a class certificate, which covers a different approval.

The Material Declaration and the Supplier's Declaration of Conformity that owners collect for parts fitted to the ship's structure or equipment, to keep the Inventory of Hazardous Materials current under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation and the Hong Kong Convention.

Checking a supplier's registry code and VAT number against official public registers before releasing payment.

The set of inputs — nameplate, photos, part number, drawing or manual page, old offer or invoice, packing list — that identify the part in a request; without a part number, the rest of the set carries it.

One of the condition categories a supply offer states, alongside reconditioned, surplus, and removed from service.

A used component cleaned, inspected and repaired to serviceable condition — not necessarily returned to as-new tolerance on every dimension. Documented by an inspection report stating what was measured and repaired. Not the same as remanufactured, where the assembly is restored to defined tolerances and re-tested against the original specification.

Parts cleared as surplus from a completed project or a laid-up vessel, as distinct from a component removed from a vessel in active service.

A component taken out of a vessel that was in active operation, as distinct from new-build surplus or a workshop rebuild.

The paired disclosure of what state a part is in and where it came from — treated as a gatekeeping field, since an unclear answer stops the line before price is even read.