A parts book, parts catalogue or illustrated part catalogue is a book published by a

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary se ...

which contains the illustrations,

part number A part number (often abbreviated PN, P/N, part no., or part #) is an identifier of a particular part design or material used in a particular industry. Its purpose is to simplify reference that item. A part number unambiguously identifies a part ...

s and other relevant data for their products or parts thereof. Parts books were often issued as

microfiche A microform is a scaled-down reproduction of a document, typically either photographic film or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original d ...

, though this has fallen out of favour. Now, many manufacturers offer this information digitally in an electronic parts catalogue. This can be locally installed

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

, or a centrally hosted

web application A web application (or web app) is application software that is created with web technologies and runs via a web browser. Web applications emerged during the late 1990s and allowed for the server to dynamically build a response to the request, ...

. Usually, an electronic parts catalogue enables the user to virtually disassemble the product into its components to identify the required part(s). In the

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, Maintenance, repairing, and Custom car, modification of motor ve ...

, electronic parts catalogues are also able to access specific vehicle information, usually through an online look-up of the

vehicle identification number A vehicle identification number (VIN; also called a chassis number or frame number) is a unique code, including a serial number, used by the automotive industry to identify individual motor vehicles, towed vehicles, motorcycles, scooters a ...

. This will identify specific models, allowing the user to correctly identify the required part and its relevant part number.

References

* https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Illustrated_Parts_Catalogue
Catalog Design Handbook
– Marketing Principles so as typography and printing industry standards applied to catalog design Manufacturing Automotive industry {{industry-stub

See also

References