CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT IDENTIFICATION & SERIAL NUMBER LOCATION GUIDE
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Plant VIN & Construction Equipment PIN & Serial ID Numbers
Heavy Construction Equipment VIN Serial and PIN Numbers Explained
As with motor vehicles there has been a desire to standardize the serial numbers of plant and heavy construction machinery and while some now follow the below the numbers on construction equipment can very depending on make model and year of manufacture with the identification numbers ranging being between 7 and 17 numbers.
Product Identification Number (PIN) VIN Serial Number
A Unique set of 17 alphanumeric characters assigned to a complete vehicles by the manufacturer for identification purposes.
The PIN or VIN Serial Number consists of four fields
World Manufacturer Code (WMC)
First field of the PIN, alphanumeric code designating the manufacturer of the vehicle/ machine
Vehicle/ Machine Descriptor Section (MDS)
Second field of the PIN, comprising information describing the vehicle
Vehicle/ Machine Indicator Section (MIS)
Last field of the PIN, distinguishing, in conjunction with the WMC and MDS, one vehicle/ machine from another by designation.
Check Letter Section: (CL)
Third field of the PIN, consisting of an alpha character in the ninth position based on a calculation of the remaining 16 characters in the PIN and determining its validity or assigned, non-calculated, alpha character.
Protection against adding characters
An acceptable symbol shall immediately precede the first numeral or letter of the PIN and immediately follow the last numeral of the PIN. The acceptable symbol shall be - an asterisk (*), - greater-than and less-than signs (> <), - a corporate symbol, or - a company logo. Instead of greater-than and less-than signs, angular brackets or similar “vee” symbols horizontally pointing inwards may be placed on either side of the PIN.
Allowed characters
The following characters only shall be used in the PIN:
1234567890
ABCDEFGHJKLMNPRSTUVWXYZ
Characters I, O & Q shall not be used
1. World Manufacturer Code (WMC)
WMC shall consist of three alphanumeric (alpha or numeric) characters in positions 1, 2 and 3
2. Vehicle/ Machine Descriptor Section (MDS)
The MDS shall consist of five alphanumeric characters in positions 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. The manufacturer is to determine the coding and sequence of the information. This field may be comprised of general descriptive attributes of the vehicle/ machine
3. Vehicle/ Machine Indicator Section (MIS)
The MIS shall designate a unique manufacturing number and consist of eight alphanumeric characters in positions 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17. Alpha or numeric characters may be used in positions 10, 11, 12 and 13. Only numerals shall be used in positions 14, 15, 16 and 17. The content of the MIS is at the discretion of the manufacturer. The manufacturer may choose to designate the year of manufacture. It is recommended that the year be indicated by the first character of the MIS (position 10).
Check Letter (CL)
The calculation to determine the CL shall be based on a formula provided by the manufacturer
PIN format
The following example shows a PIN meeting the requirements of the Construction Industry Standard.
*7RM/32YG4/M/00007328*
WMC MDS CL MIS
Product Identification Number (PIN) VIN Serial Number
A Unique set of 17 alphanumeric characters assigned to a complete vehicles by the manufacturer for identification purposes.
The PIN or VIN Serial Number consists of four fields
World Manufacturer Code (WMC)
First field of the PIN, alphanumeric code designating the manufacturer of the vehicle/ machine
Vehicle/ Machine Descriptor Section (MDS)
Second field of the PIN, comprising information describing the vehicle
Vehicle/ Machine Indicator Section (MIS)
Last field of the PIN, distinguishing, in conjunction with the WMC and MDS, one vehicle/ machine from another by designation.
Check Letter Section: (CL)
Third field of the PIN, consisting of an alpha character in the ninth position based on a calculation of the remaining 16 characters in the PIN and determining its validity or assigned, non-calculated, alpha character.
Protection against adding characters
An acceptable symbol shall immediately precede the first numeral or letter of the PIN and immediately follow the last numeral of the PIN. The acceptable symbol shall be - an asterisk (*), - greater-than and less-than signs (> <), - a corporate symbol, or - a company logo. Instead of greater-than and less-than signs, angular brackets or similar “vee” symbols horizontally pointing inwards may be placed on either side of the PIN.
Allowed characters
The following characters only shall be used in the PIN:
1234567890
ABCDEFGHJKLMNPRSTUVWXYZ
Characters I, O & Q shall not be used
1. World Manufacturer Code (WMC)
WMC shall consist of three alphanumeric (alpha or numeric) characters in positions 1, 2 and 3
2. Vehicle/ Machine Descriptor Section (MDS)
The MDS shall consist of five alphanumeric characters in positions 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. The manufacturer is to determine the coding and sequence of the information. This field may be comprised of general descriptive attributes of the vehicle/ machine
3. Vehicle/ Machine Indicator Section (MIS)
The MIS shall designate a unique manufacturing number and consist of eight alphanumeric characters in positions 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17. Alpha or numeric characters may be used in positions 10, 11, 12 and 13. Only numerals shall be used in positions 14, 15, 16 and 17. The content of the MIS is at the discretion of the manufacturer. The manufacturer may choose to designate the year of manufacture. It is recommended that the year be indicated by the first character of the MIS (position 10).
Check Letter (CL)
The calculation to determine the CL shall be based on a formula provided by the manufacturer
PIN format
The following example shows a PIN meeting the requirements of the Construction Industry Standard.
*7RM/32YG4/M/00007328*
WMC MDS CL MIS