One interesting fact I learnt from the UNSPSC slides is the fact that the coding is divided such that the segments are numbered from low to high in the order they add value to the product. So, for example, currently
10-15 is raw material
20-27 is industrial equipment (that can process the raw material)
30-41 is components and supplies (that are produced from 1 & 2 above)
42-60 is end use products (that are produced from 1 & 2 and 3 above and available to the end user, as opposed to, say businesses as intermediate components or supplies)
70-94 is services (one manufactured, ofcourse, the end products should be sold, shipped, distributed, serviced etc. So, this is a catch all for all types of services).
Obviously, there are some gaps in the segment numbers above. Not sure why. Perhaps, something may get added in between or the existing ones can get expanded once they run of out space (which by the way, is quite big).
But, first time I read this idea, I really liked the approach.
