Hi Gary,
This is my second startup company and I've had the most fun helping to
create it.
You will have a great sense of accomplishment when it succeeds.

Since you are always on a tight budget and behind schedule, start with an
Excel spreadsheet.
This type of spreadsheet is cheap and can be easily translated over to a PDM
later on.
The numbering system can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it.
I would recommend that you use at least eight characters.
The amount of characters in each field is also variable.

Here is the part numbering system I created:

The part numbering system will consist of ten characters in three seperate
fileds. These three fields will identify the category,
numeric ID number and version/part family of the Engineering part. A dash
will be included between each field to have a total
length of twelve characters.

      XX-YYYYW-ZZZ

The first two characters (XX) will identify the category of the part.
Example:

10-     Mechanical Fasteners
32-     Resistors, Chip
35-     Capacitors, Chip

The five character numeric ID number (YYYYW) will be the document number
with the last character (W) used as an indicator
of the type of item or document.
An initial list of ID numbers for (W) is as follows:

1               Schematic
2               PCB/BOM
3               PCB Fabrication Dwg
4               PCB Assembly Dwg or Mechanical Assembly Dwg
5               Untested Board
6               Test Procedure

The next three characters (ZZZ) will be used for version of family of
similar parts or assemblies.

You will also need a filing system with copies of each vendor spec sheet
attached to a cover sheet
with your new company part number and all critical information.

Good Luck!

Raymond Smith
Sr. PCB Design
Tellium Inc.
Oceanport, NJ
http://www.tellium.com

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