Kaimera Industries
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KM-T-07 / Documentation · Part Numbering

Part Naming & File Structure

Part numbers, file families, and folder trees from a project code, a date, and a description. Deterministic — no counter, no registry to keep in sync.

Live

A free part numbering and file naming tool for small shops and solo engineers. Enter a project code, date, sequence, revision, and description and it generates a deterministic part number, matching file names for the whole CAD family (model, drawing, CAM, export), and a project folder tree. Intelligent-vs-sequential numbering arguments aside, the point is that every file sorts, searches, and versions predictably.

Part Naming & File Structure

PART NUMBERS · FILE FAMILIES · FOLDER TREES
DETERMINISTIC · no counter — the calendar owns the numbers

Part identity

Revision letters follow ASME Y14.35: I, O, Q, S, X, Z are never used (too easy to confuse with numerals and other marks), so the dropdown simply doesn’t offer them. After Y, the standard continues AA, AB, … Pre-release work uses numeric revs (01, 02) so the first release is unambiguously Rev A.

File family

Batch — name a whole subsystem

Part number & file root — the unmarked master; every file starts with this
PT-260910-01_A_Z-Motor-Plate
part no: PT-260910-01

File family

CAD native (master) · 01_CAD/ · saves as your CAD format (f3d, sldprt, …)
PT-260910-01_A_Z-Motor-Plate
STEP exchange · 02_Exports/ · saves as .step / .stp
PT-260910-01_A_Z-Motor-Plate_STEP
Flat pattern (plasma/laser) · 02_Exports/ · saves as .dxf
PT-260910-01_A_Z-Motor-Plate_FLAT
3D print · 02_Exports/ · saves as .stl
PT-260910-01_A_Z-Motor-Plate_PRINT
NC program · 04_NC/ · saves as .nc / .tap
PT-260910-01_A_Z-Motor-Plate_CNC
Setup sheet · 04_NC/ · saves as .pdf
PT-260910-01_A_Z-Motor-Plate_SETUP
These are stems — paste one into the save dialog and let it supply the extension, so you never get .stl.stl. The bare root is always the master; every derived file carries an ALL-CAPS role token (FLAT, PRINT, CNC…), readable even with extensions hidden. Search _PRINT across all projects to find every printable in the shop.

Project folder tree

Projects/
└── PT/
    ├── 01_CAD/
    │   └── PT-260910-01_A_Z-Motor-Plate
    ├── 02_Exports/
    │   ├── PT-260910-01_A_Z-Motor-Plate_STEP
    │   ├── PT-260910-01_A_Z-Motor-Plate_FLAT
    │   └── PT-260910-01_A_Z-Motor-Plate_PRINT
    ├── 03_Drawings/
    ├── 04_NC/
    │   ├── PT-260910-01_A_Z-Motor-Plate_CNC
    │   └── PT-260910-01_A_Z-Motor-Plate_SETUP
    ├── 05_Docs/
    └── 99_Archive/
Folders are numbered in workflow order so they sort the way you work; 99_Archive is where superseded revisions go — never the trash, never renamed. 05_Docs holds the part-number log, quotes, and correspondence.
The rules this tool enforces, and why: part numbers are project prefix + birth date + same-day sequence (PT-250803-01) — no counter exists anywhere, because the calendar is already a perfect one. Meaning still lives in the description: the documented failure of category-coded ("intelligent") numbers is that parts outgrow their categories, and renaming a part number is the one unforgivable sin — a birth date is the single fact about a part that can never change, which is what makes it safe to encode. No spaces or special characters — they break G-code senders, some CNC controllers, command lines, and cloud sync. The 2-digit day sequence keeps file managers sorting numerically. Underscores separate fields; hyphens join words within a field. The name grammar has a case signature — UPPER-digits _ rev _ Title-Case _ UPPER-role — so identity, revision, meaning, and role parse at a glance; the unmarked name is always the CAD master. Names are extension-free stems: the save dialog owns the extension. Revision letters per ASME Y14.35 (no I, O, Q, S, X, Z); dates, if you add them to docs, in ISO 8601 (YYYY-MM-DD) so alphabetical is chronological.

The log, demoted: with the date and description in every filename, the filesystem largely self-documents — searching PT-2508 finds everything from that month by itself. A spreadsheet log is now an optional index for status and notes rather than a required registry; batch mode hands you its lines ready to paste.

§ Common Questions

Frequently asked

What makes a good part numbering system?
It should be short, sortable, collision-free without a central counter, and readable enough that a person can tell which project and revision a file belongs to. Avoid packing too much meaning into the number itself — that is what the description field is for.
Should part numbers be sequential or intelligent?
Sequential numbers scale better and never break when a part's function changes. A light amount of intelligence — project code and revision — gives you human readability without the maintenance burden of a fully significant number.
How should I name CAD files?
Use the same root for the model, drawing, CAM file, and exports so the whole family sorts together, and keep the revision in the name so superseded files are obvious in a folder listing.

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