Knowing the age of a Petzl product / Deciphering the Serial Number
All new Petzl products are individually serial numbered and this number can also help the user establish the exact age of the item. Depending upon the age of the product, you will find one of a number of varieties of Petzl serial number designs.
Gradually being implemented (from 2016 onwards), the serial numbers will be 13 digits and will look like the following:
The first two numbers (16) are the year of manufacture (2016), the single letter (C) is the month of manufacture (March), the next sevens numbers are the batch number, and the final three numbers are the incrementation.
Prior to the 13 digit format serial number was an 11 digit format:
The photo example shows the serial number (15041OI4974) which is taken from one of Petzl’s newer products. The first two numbers (15) corresponds to the year of manufacture I.e. 2015, the next three numbers (041) corresponds to the day of manufacture in that year I.e. the forty first day of 2015 (10 February), the two letters (OI) is the code of the person who inspected the product and the final four numbers (4974) is the individual product number.
You will find products with the same first five numbers (i.e. have been manufactured on the same date) and furthermore which have been inspected by the same person (so the first 7 digits will be the same) BUT the complete last four numbers will be different (0001, 0002 etc) and it is this difference that makes the full serial number unique.
For older Petzl products the serial numbers differ:
Oldest Petzl products my be marked with a 6 digit serial number like the one above 01009A. 01 is the year of manufacture (2001)/ 009 is the day of manufacture in that year (9th January) / A is the code of the person who inspected the product. Older products may be marked 05 06, where 05 is the month of manufacture in the year / 06 is the year of manufacture.
