In an attempt to keep track of all its products and properties, the United States Department of Defense initiated a tracking system known as UID (unique item identifiers). Each UID label or mark must be created in accordance with rules and specifications outlined in MIL STD 130. According to these specifications all government products must contain a UID label or direct-to-part mark.

Defining UID labels

These labels are a way to keep records of all the tangible assets of the DOD until they are retired. According to these specifications, these MIL STD 130 markings must be permanent, scratch resistant, and chemical resistant. They contain information about the manufacturer, the nature of the item, its operational condition, and maintenance or repairs. Polyester, polymide, and brushed aluminum are usually used as substrate materials to create the labels, but for harsher climates laser etching methods and programmable stylus marking methods are also adopted.

Various developments

With the gradual amendments to MIL STD 130 there have been a number of developments and changes for the requirements of MIL STD 130 markings.

• The concept of these labels was first introduced in MIL STD 130. It set up the guidelines and methods of marking and identifying all parts and products used by the DOD. It initially included the requirements that labels must be visible, machine-readable, and contain a 5 position alphanumeric CAGE code.

• The introductory ideas about the labels are explained in detail in the 130 M amendment. This update states that these labels must contain a PIN and EID. It also discusses details about the types of barcodes, the syntax, the printing materials, and other related topics.

• The 130 M amendment was superseded by the 130 L, which is the most recent amendment. It discusses in detail what was already incorporated in the previous amendments. This amendment emphasized the importance of human readable text along with machine readable information. It also made some changes to the 2D data matrix bar code. It introduced the two new parts for the labels, construct#1 and construct#2 that contain detailed information about the product.

Advantages

UID labels have many different advantages. Some of these benefits are listed below:

• Keeps one informed about equipment availability.

• It can reduce the asset management costs.

• Facilitates tracking from receipt to distribution, maintenance, repair and eventual retirement.

For more information about labels and the different ways to create these labels to be long-lasting and durable, visit www.uid2go.com. Jet City Laser can help with the entire process of becoming UID compliant.

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