For the purpose of allaying any suggestion that BEMS if it were published is the panacea to all problems Routemaster, I'll try and explain what it actually was. When I left Aldenham for good in 1978 I worked for LT Internal Audit as Stores Audit Manager. My team's job was to maintain effective controls in all of LT's Main Stores including carrying out regular stock checks. As part of that job I was als involved in reviewing the procurement decisions and then the systems testing of BEMS.

BEMS stood for Bus Engineering Management System. It was a computer system, any books that may be around are the operating manuals and contain no information of any use to us today.

BEMS was purchased at great expense and based on the system used by Tube Investments who used to make Raleigh bikes amongst other things. It was essentially a production control system designed to generate the automatic supply of an item following a demand for it, a requisition from the "end user". It was to absorb the Garage Stock Location system (introduced first at Camberwell and Tottenham) which gave current stock levels at all Garage District Stores and visibility to all other garages of stocks held at other districts, this was to try and encourage loaning of parts to meet local needs.

BEMS by its design had to incorporate every assembly and parts of that assembly that was used on a bus, whether repaired or made at Chiswick or purchased new, but each part was identified by the part number LT used and LT as we all know used few manufacturer's part numbers even for fixings, preferring to use the BRISCH system of identification.

The problem with BEMS was that it never really worked as intended For a start the "end user" (the garages) had never had to hand in requisitions for parts before, all garage stores were free issue, so demand notifications had to moved "up the line" to record demand from the District Store, this in turn frustrated the costing aspects of the system and attempts to actually establish what real maintenance costs per bus were. However, the biggest problem was that TI had a totally different materials management and stores distribution system to that of LT and also only made new parts, they didn't recondition returned parts, so BEMS or the management structure of materials in LT buses needed changing. LT decided to adapt BEMS to its systems and managed to rewrite most of BEMS to the point where they might as well have started from scratch instead of trying to buy an off the peg system. The net result of this was BEMS never really worked and became essentially two separate systems, a production control system at Chiswick and a stock control and location system in the garages, which is what they actually had in the first place!.

What might be useful if anyone has one is a Garage Spares Reference Schedule for the RMs. It will not solve David Colin's problem as I doubt it breaks assemblies down to piece parts but it does contain valuable information and specifications on many items particularly electrical and body parts that might allow suppliers to be identified.

My bus number (if any): RTL 960 RMC 1458 RM 1585 and several RTs

Later vehicles (M, T, LS) tended to use the vehicle manufacturers numbers unless the part was used on an earlier vehicle, in which case the earlier vehicle part no may be used (you may have an RM part on a Metrobus)or where a part was built at the works to replace a manufacturers part a new LT part was created. An engine harness for a Metrobus is M002CA1. It replaced around 5 MCW-X part numbers which had all been slightly different but not enough to merit the different parts being stocked.

I have just looked at a BEMS master parts list for M040CA1 (a Metrobus wiring harness). What it did do was show the breakdown to component manufacturer level including their 3 code reference (i have a whole book of suppliers references) and their component part number. What I found it useful for was tracing the components to enable me to manufacture the wiring harnesses. Another report I have here is a "used on vehicles Inquiry." By entering a part number it would tell you where that part is used by bonnet number (M106-M1440) as well as by vehicle code (13/10M2/18, 13/10M2/19 etc).

The Brisch system (I didn't know it had a name) shows up in the M002CA1 and M040CA1 part numbers above where M is Metrobus, 002 and 040 is a numerical sequence number and the CA means cable assembly. Not sure what the 1 is for. Similarly Routemaster parts started RM (the bleeding obvious, I know)

The BEMs books were simply a method of the engineer find a code that would then trace the actual part depending on the vehicle.

The only use the BEMs manuals would have now is to show another person a picture of what is needed and where it resides on the bus. That in itself could be quite useful except some many or all of the 1990 modifications were probably never included and parts will not look the same or be in the same position.
Other than that (and like many lists and details that some publish from time to time) it is what I call bus pornography.

Not sure what the Garage Spares Reference Schedule is

David

My bus number (if any): M1001 RML2276 T806

David, when you say you looked at BEMS did you mean a book? I was not aware that there were books with the system other than how to operate it, obviously after I left the bus side other uses of the BEMS information were made including, it appears,the incorporation of the Garage Spares Reference schedules (which are lists of parts by body area available to the garages for maintenance). This information as you have pointed out would have uses for bus owners provided that the part numbers still hold good and that is where I suspect many problems will be found.

All LT part numbers like those you quote ending in a 1 are assemblies, like M040 CA1. On the RM and RT I think some of the body mounted electrical assemblies were RT or RM *** W1 number. On the body side one of the best examples that many will know is the garage running number stencil plate assembly RF 864 C1 its made up of the casting which is RF 864 C6 and the brackets, it also endorses what you said about earlier part numbers being used on later type buses.

The use of manufacturer's part numbers started with the MBs and SMs, they were a nightmare! The initial reference was the drawing number which say for the front frame was MCW 2226773. Then every part shown on that drawing had an alphabetical reference going to double letters on some drawing so a part would be MCW A (or ZZ)2226773. That gave great scope for confusion. LT tried to tidy it up a bit when they started making parts and assmblies for garage use by giving them MB or SM numbers but it was still totally confusing to most people. The BRISCH numbers are those like 21314-952 which was the part number used by all manufacturers and companies that used the BRISCH system for a 2BA x 2 1/4" csk screw. BRISCH was also used for cleaning items, brushes, handles and for painting equipment, IIRC correctly there were at least 3 volumes of it.

My bus number (if any): RTL 960 RMC 1458 RM 1585 and several RTs