<Li> Buyer goal adjustment (How flexible are the buyers' purchasing habits with regard to this product?) </Li> <Li> Duration of product satisfaction (How long will the product produce benefits for the user?) </Li> <Li> Duration of buyer search behavior (How long will consumers shop for the product?) </Li> <P> The National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) developed a commodity and services classification system for use by state and local governments, the NIGP Code . The NIGP Code is used by 33 states within the United States as well as thousands of cities, counties and political subdivisions . The NIGP Code is a hierarchical schema consisting of a 3 digit class, 5 digit class - item, 7 digit class - item - group and an 11 digit class - item - group - detail . Applications of the NIGP Code include vendor registration, inventory item identification, contract item management, spend analysis and strategic sourcing . </P>

Products used by companies to produce other products are referred to as