Can industry codes tell you what a company sells?
A company passes your industry filter. Does it sell the right product, buy your component or manufacture it at its own site? Work through four fictional firms and keep those questions separate.
An industry code can help find candidates. It does not establish a company’s exact catalogue, purchasing need or production site. Record the classification system, country, version and unit. Then check the product, commercial role and relevant location separately. A matching code is a reason to investigate; a different or missing code alone is not a reason to reject.
Read the category before deciding whether the firm fits.
Start with your actual task: finding a reseller for your product, a factory that uses your component, or a supplier that makes a part. These searches can involve different firms in the same supply chain. A general “manufacturing” label cannot choose the commercial relationship for you.
The US Census Bureau’s NAICS manual classifies establishments by production activity. Eurostat’s 2026 NACE guide distinguishes principal and secondary activities. A principal-activity field is not an inventory of everything a business does.
| Field | Question it helps answer | Check still needed |
|---|---|---|
| Industry / activity code | Which activity category is recorded for this unit? | System, version, definition and source. |
| Product evidence | Which particular range does the firm state it makes, sells or uses? | Exact product page, specifications and current scope. |
| Commercial role | Is it a producer, reseller, agent or end user for this product? | Role for this range, territory and purchasing process. |
| Operating location | Where would the work or production happen? | Relevant site and responsibility for the process. |
Keep the original code and description. Add your product-fit decision in a separate field. Replacing an official category with “good customer” loses both the original information and the reason for your decision.
A manufacturing category does not prove ownership of a factory.
The NACE guide’s outsourcing rules, paragraphs 103–108, allow certain outsourced production arrangements to be classified as manufacturing. Conditions matter. A manufacturing code alone therefore does not establish an owned factory or an in-house process.
Suppose you sell production equipment. A firm can offer exactly the product you searched for while another business performs the relevant process. You still need to find the site and organization that would use the equipment. A catalogue proves neither who runs the machine nor who approves its purchase.
- Ask where the specific process is carried out, rather than whether the company is “a manufacturer.”
- Record which steps are in-house and which are contracted out, when the firm can confirm them.
- Check the relevant operating site; a registered office address does not identify the production line.
- Keep ownership, operation and purchasing responsibility as separate questions.
A code-only filter can include the wrong firm and miss a useful one.
Fictional brief: a supplier of industrial three-phase motors wants resellers serving maintenance teams in one target market. It can supply the stated range; technical specifications still need review. The four firms and their supplied facts are invented. No real industry codes are assigned to these examples.
| Fictional firm | Category result | Product and role evidence supplied in the example | Decision for this brief |
|---|---|---|---|
| A — Lale Motor Works | Passes the chosen motor-manufacturing category. | Makes only miniature hobby motors and sells to consumers. | Exclude from this reseller brief: the supplied product and channel do not fit. |
| B — Atlas Drive Brand | Passes the chosen motor-manufacturing category. | Offers industrial motors under its own brand; the relevant production is outsourced. It is not seeking a resale range. | Exclude from this reseller brief. Its category and relevant product alone do not make it a channel prospect. |
| C — Delta Maintenance Supply | Falls outside the chosen manufacturing category; recorded as wholesale. | Its current example catalogue lists industrial three-phase motors for maintenance customers. | Continue research: check specifications, territory and who evaluates new suppliers. |
| D — Mira Technical Trade | No code available in the research record. | Its example website says industrial supply; the motor range and channel are unclear. | Hold: ask for the range and customer channel. Missing code is not proof of poor fit. |
Continue means another research step, not a qualified buyer. Catalogue statements do not prove stock, authorization, technical compatibility or willingness to buy.
The code-only manufacturing search admits A and B while missing C. This demonstrates two possible failure modes. It does not measure their frequency in a real database. D stays unresolved because the product evidence is missing, not because a blank code deserves a negative score.
Change the brief and the decision can change. If you sell hobby-motor packaging, A may become relevant. If you supply outsourced production services, B may deserve another check. Product fit belongs to a particular offer and role; it is not a permanent quality label attached to the company.
Keep the observation beside the question it cannot answer.
Write one product-and-role brief
Name the range, application, market and relationship you need. State what would make a firm unsuitable for this particular job.
Save the classification record
Keep the raw code, definition, scheme, country, version, source, unit and check date. Mark unavailable fields as unknown.
Find the specific range
Read the relevant catalogue, specification sheet or service page. Record the exact statement and its source, rather than copying only the homepage slogan.
Identify the role for that range
Check whether the firm makes, resells, represents or uses it. A business can have different roles for different products.
Resolve the question that changes the decision
Ask about a missing range, production site or supplier-review responsibility. Do not treat a directory description as confirmation of capacity.
Record continue, hold or exclude
Write the reason, next check and date. Revisit the decision when the firm supplies contradictory or newer information.
A company’s own catalogue is evidence of what it states. It is not an independent inspection. Record “the catalogue lists…” and keep stock, specifications and authority unconfirmed until the appropriate check. An absent product on a short website can mean missing information; an explicit incompatible range gives a different reason to exclude.
Market brief
“Delta’s example catalogue lists industrial three-phase motors. Supplier review and technical requirements are unknown.”
First message draft
Your catalogue lists industrial three-phase motors. We supply [actual range and specifications]. Who reviews new motor suppliers, and which technical documents would they need to assess this range?
Use only an observation you have checked, introduce your business and replace the placeholder. This draft has not been sent. It does not presume demand.
Compare definitions before comparing the digits.
TÜİK’s classification server lists Türkiye’s national six-digit NACE extension and conversion tables. Eurostat identifies Rev. 2.1 as the version used for European statistics from 2025, with a transition process. Label the version found in each source.
The 2022 NAICS manual includes country-specific six-digit detail. A code from one country should not silently become a global label. Likewise, “SIC” needs a country and version; the name alone is not a complete definition.
| Situation | Check | Preserve in your record |
|---|---|---|
| Two sources show the same digits | Are the scheme, country, version and definitions the same? | Both raw fields and their source context. |
| An old record uses another version | Which official correspondence applies, and does the category split? | Original version plus the mapping you actually used. |
| A converter offers several categories | Which definition fits the recorded activity? Is the unit known? | Possible categories and an unresolved flag until checked. |
| A vendor supplies a sector label | Is it an official code, a vendor category or a text inference? | Label origin; do not relabel an inference as a registry fact. |
A correspondence between categories is not fresh evidence about an individual firm’s catalogue. Keep the product check even when the mapping is correct. This guide concerns company research; it does not choose or change your business’s tax or registration code.
Product descriptions can reveal relationships a category misses.
Hoberg and Phillips (2016) study competitor relationships using text from firms’ 10-K product descriptions. Their published abstract and author data library describe firm-specific, changing competitor networks. This supports investigating product detail alongside a category; it does not establish a sales-filter success rate.
Our application is narrower: preserve the actual product statement and role before deciding to keep a prospect. We have not reproduced the research model. Public-company filings, small-business websites and private supplier catalogues differ. A competitor relationship also differs from a supplier, distributor or buying relationship.
We consulted the published abstract and author documentation, not the full journal paper. The fictional decisions and worksheet are our own manual aids. They have not been tested as an Anivo feature or a production classifier.
Download the brief, four examples and blank decision form.
Use a plain-text working file with the four fictional cases and a blank candidate record. No signup is required. It works independently of Anivo.
- Keep the category and exact product evidence in different fields.
- Record the commercial role for this range and the relevant site when needed.
- Name the missing check that could change your decision.
- Preserve the source, check date, reason and next action.
To inspect your own filter, compare candidates from a code search with candidates from a specific product-and-role search. Review some accepted and some excluded records using the same brief. If you count errors, define the reviewed set and reference decision first. These checked records cannot establish the error rate across firms you never observed.
Make the next search describe the product and the relationship.
Example research brief: “Find resellers of industrial three-phase motors in [target market] serving maintenance teams. Check their stated range and channel. Keep stock, technical compatibility and interest in a new supplier unknown until confirmed.” Add your actual supply limits before using it.
In Anivo, describe the target business and job in your research request, then review the proposed plan. Use the returned company information as a starting point for the manual checks above. This guide does not claim an official NACE lookup, automatic crosswalk or factory-verification feature.
Industry codes remain useful for an initial search when the category fits your task and the source coverage is understood. Add product and role checks to that search. After establishing a possible channel match, use the export distributor guide for the wider commercial review.
Industry codes and company fit: questions
A category match, a product match and a buying decision require different evidence.
Can a NACE or NAICS code show exactly what a company sells?
It describes an activity category for a particular unit. Check the current product range separately. A code alone does not establish exact specifications, stock or a complete catalogue.
Does a manufacturing code prove that the company owns a factory?
No. Some outsourced production arrangements can fall within manufacturing under the applicable classification rules. Check where the relevant process happens and who operates it.
Should I reject a company with a different industry code?
Not solely for that reason. A reseller, producer and end user can be relevant to different offers while belonging to different categories. Evaluate the product and role for your specific brief.
What should I do when the code is missing?
Keep it unknown. Look for product and role evidence. Hold the candidate if those facts are unresolved; a missing code is not evidence that the business is unsuitable.
Are six-digit codes identical across countries?
Do not assume so. Check the country, system, version and definition. National details and extensions can differ even when classifications have common elements.
Does a code conversion verify the company’s current activity?
No. It relates classification categories. It does not check an individual firm’s present products, role or site. Preserve the original field and verify the company separately.
Does a catalogue listing confirm that a distributor will buy?
No. It is a statement about the range. Technical requirements, supplier review, stock, territory and willingness to add your product remain separate checks.
Can I use this worksheet without Anivo?
Yes. The free TXT contains a blank record and four fictional examples. It has no automated score and is not a supported Anivo import format.
Primary sources and reading scope
Checked on 7 October 2026. Classification guidance, academic research and our practical examples serve different purposes.
- Eurostat — NACE Rev. 2.1, 2026 edition
Relevant PDF sections checked: principal activities, outsourcing and classification correspondences.
- US Census Bureau — 2022 NAICS manual
Introduction checked for establishment scope, production-based categories and country detail.
- TÜİK — National six-digit NACE classification
Official classification page and indexed conversion-table entries checked. Not a company-specific verification.
- Hoberg & Phillips — Text-Based Network Industries and Endogenous Product Differentiation (2016)
Published abstract checked; full paper not read. Journal of Political Economy 124(5), 1423–1465. DOI: 10.1086/688176.
- Hoberg–Phillips — Author data library
Author documentation checked for text-based competitor networks; not a supplier or sales-performance validation.