The NATO Codification System is the global language of logistics, providing four key capabilities to underpin the defence logistic support system:

• a common language, including codes for which different nations can provide translations into local language;
• master data describing the items within the defence inventory (items of supply), covering naming, identification (the NATO Stock Number), classification and characterization of items;
• master data for the purposes of logistics management of those items, covering, for example, inventory accounting, packaging, pricing and units of issue;
• equivalence between form, fit and function of items available from different manufacturers (items of production), creating an association with items of supply.