How to Search for Manufacturers by SIC Codes
Your company would like to form a mutually beneficial relationship with a manufacturer in a specific industry. Manufacturers who sell their goods wholesale-only can be challenging to find. One way is to search for them by their SIC codes. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, uses SIC codes to classify by industry those companies required by law to file forms with them. A "Company Search" page on the SEC website allows you to search by name, partial name, ticker symbol, state, country or SIC code.
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Instructions
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Search by Industry via SEC
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Search the Securities and Exchange Commission website to find a manufacturer's SIC code. Use to the Division of Corporate Finance's Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code List.
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Browse through the list manually or click in your browser window. Press the "F" key while holding down the "ctrl" key to activate your browser's search function. Type the industry you are looking for into the search box and click "Enter."
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Use the "Next" feature or, if available, the "Highlight" feature in the search box to view all possible choices containing your search term.
Search by Industry via OSHA
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Use the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) website to find an SIC code. Go to the site's "Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) System Search" page.
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Click "Enter a SIC CODE" in the top box and press the "Submit" button to find the name of an industry and information about it if you already have the SIC code.
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Click "Enter the search keyword(s)" in the second box and press the "Submit" button if you do not know the SIC code for the industry. For example, entering "oil" will return all the SIC codes that either contain the word "oil" or are in a division or group whose name contains the word.
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Click the name of the industry in the search results section of the page to review information about the industry.
Search by Companies
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Go to the "Company Search" page on the Securities and Exchange Commission website.
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Enter "Company name." If you are entering the full name or just the beginning of a name, select the "Starts with" button under the name. If you are entering any other part of the name, select the "Contains" button under "Company name."
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Enter the "CIK or Ticker Symbol" if you have it. The SEC uses the Central Index Key, or CIK, on its computer systems to identify corporations and persons who have filed disclosures with the commission, according to the SEC website. The ticker symbol is used on stock exchanges to identify publicly traded companies.
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Enter the "State," using the pull-down lists. Enter the "Country" for manufacturers based outside the United States.
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Search also by the SIC code if you have it.
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Click the "Find Companies" button.
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Review the list of manufacturers that match the criteria you set. The list contains the CIK number, company name and state or country where the company is based.
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Select a company to see the company's name, CIK number, SIC code, address and telephone number. Additionally, there is a list of all documents filed by the company with the SEC, complete with file numbers and effective dates.
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Click on individual file numbers for more detailed information.
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Tips & Warnings
Be aware that manufacturers that make less than $1 million a year may not have SIC codes.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit electronics industry image by Scott Dorrett from Fotolia.com
