Attaching a node to a taxonomy term

Hi,

I have a set up where I have three types of objects: work orders, parts, and assets.
Work Orders I've set up as nodes and I assign assets to work orders (assets to be worked on). Parts make up an asset.

What I'd like to do is create a taxonomy vocabulary out of both the parts and the assets. However, I need to store more information about parts than is allowed in the default add term page. So, is there a way that I can attach a node to a taxonomy term? For example, I'd create a product content type through CCK. Then when I create a node of this product type, it would also create a taxonomy tag with the same name and if needed I could reference the values stored in the node. This would be useful for searching and categorizing of content. I know that I can create a node reference through cck that would allow similar results, but I like the power of taxonomy and, as my site grows large, I don't want to have to load many nodes at once, the lighter taxonomy loads will allow for better performance.

Thanks.