The Defense Logistics Information Services recently issued a long anticipated “improved multilingual logistics tool” on compact disc and on the Web.

The NATO Codification System, which is based on the Federal Catalog System, includes standard dictionaries for naming, classification and description of materiel with data exchanged between nations in a predominantly “coded” format. “Decoding” occurs at the receiving nation using national translation tables. Thus the NCS becomes a “common language” for logistics within NATO and the many other nations using this system.

English and French have long served as NATO’s two official languages, but DLIS technicians have worked with the national cataloging centers of 11 other nations to publish the NCS classification and naming standards in 12 languages.
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The NATO Multilingual Supply Classification Handbook and the NATO Multilingual Item Name Directory are published on CD-ROM by DLIS as the “Multilingual Allied Codification Publication 2 and 3 (ACodP-2/3).” The disc offers information in Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Slovakian, Slovenian and Spanish. Users can select the language in which they want to view the data and navigate easily between languages.

Recent software enhancements (using eXtrect software) will allow the display of virtually any characters. Using this software, Korean data will be included on the disc for the first time beginning with the April 2005 edition. Plans are underway to incorporate many other languages into this product in the future. In early 2005, the information on the compact disc will also be made available on a newly established NATO-sponsored Web site, http://www.acodp2-3.com/.

The product is available to military, government and private industry customers around the world and is published semi-annually during April and October. This data can be a useful tool for naming and classifying supply items in accordance with the NCS. The multilingual disc can be ordered through a military publications account, a Foreign Military Sales case or by direct purchase from DLIS.

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