The Marine Stores Guide first appeared in 1978 as a printed book
and is widely considered
to be the world’s leading reference source for maritime purchasing
and supply.
More than 70,000 copies of the guide are in circulation and are
used on-board ships as well as in offices throughout the world.
Many of the world’s leading purchasers at ship managers and
owners use the book every day as the essential source of
marine products.
The Guide helps purchasers and
suppliers match and supply goods
easily by using a unique six digit
code to identify products exactly
to an individual description. The
codes have remained consistent
and unchanged in 30 years.
The 5th and current edition of the
guide was comprehensively
expanded to list almost 40,000 codes from tableware and
galley utensils to welding equipment and marine coatings.
The guide is split into sections for easy reference
and these include:
Cloth & Linen Products, Tableware & Galley Utensils,
Clothing,
Rope & Hawsers, Rigging Equipment & General Deck Items,
Marine Paint, Painting Equipment, Safety Protective Gear,
Safety Equipment, Hose & Couplings, Nautical Equipment,
Medicine, Petroleum Products, Stationary, Hardware, Brushes
& Mats, Lavatory Equipment, Cleaning Material & Chemicals,
Pneumatic & Electrical Tools, Hand Tools, Cutting Tools,
Measuring Tools, Metal Sheets, Bars, etc, Screws & Nuts,
Electrical Equipment, Packing & Jointing, Welding Equipment,
Machinery Equipment, Welfare Items, Provisions & Slop Chest.
The Marine Stores Guide data has recently become more
significant in value to ship owners and operators as well as
ship suppliers. With the increasing adoption of electronic ship
supply management (ecommerce), the Marine Stores Guide
has become especially useful for the specification of stores
items in electronic trading. If the purchaser includes the IMPA
Number (already held in his purchasing system) for the
required items in his electronic RFQ or Purchase Order, the
supplier can read this IMPA Number directly into his sales
order system, matching it to the appropriate stock item.
The use of the IMPA Marine Stores Guide in ecommerce has as
advantage over the printed guide, which is that it is only
updated once every 4-5 years. In the intervening period,
certain items may become obsolete and others may need to
be added to the guide. IMPA has recognised this now provides
updates to the catalogue on a six-monthly cycle. These
updates are only available in electronic form.
To use the IMPA Marine Stores Guide in electronic form (to
import the code data into your purchasing or sales order
system), you will need to purchase an IMPA Marine Stores
Guide Data Licence
