Many people familiar with the UID mandate from the Department of Defense understand compliance with this mandate is very important. However, what people may not realize is that so much more can be accomplished with this information other than just becoming UID compliant. Unique Item Identification is the foundation for larger policy goals aimed at improving logistical readiness across DoD such as Serialized Item Management (SIM) and Joint Total Asset Visibility (JTAV).

Popular throughout the second half of the twentieth century for both machine tools and architecture, anodized metal can also be used to transpose photographs onto its surface. For over 50 years, the technique has been one of the principal methods by which labels and barcodes are exported onto metal surfaces. Unlike laser engraving, which many mistakenly believe to be a more indelible technique, photo anodizing never breaks up the metal’s outward layer; instead, photo negatives are printed on polyester film and then exposed onto the photosensitive metal.

Sometimes it's the little things that make a big difference. We developed the tabbed nameplates for our Metal Barcode Nameplates and have since added the tabbed option to our "AUTOGRAPHS" Nameplates as well with a simple premise - to make it easier for our customers to remove the liner from the nameplate without touching the adhesive.

While there is a lot of hype (deservedly so) out in the marketplace right now surrounding QR code it is not the only 2D bar code symbology available on the market. In other words, not all 2D bar codes are QR codes. There are a variety of others, but I would like to direct some attention to one in particular - DataMatrix.

One of the key points in the UID mandate is the UII must last the lifetime of the item. This is true regardless of whether you are complying with a pre-printed UID label or are creating the UID labels onsite. Laser engraved UID nameplates are one way users can create their own UID nameplates onsite when quicker turnaround times are needed, but yet you don't want to sacrifice too much durability over pre-printed tags.

Durable - it's a term that is thrown around pretty loosely in our industry, but can mean different things to different people. Does it mean it stands up to high temperatures, chemicals, or abrasion? What about all three?

You’re looking for durable labels? Honestly, now, most of the asset labels used these days for inventory and tracking have a whole lot more durability than they’ve had in the past. Most have some sort of coating to protect the text from bleeding off and some sort of adhesive to keep them stuck, for the moment, to whatever they are identifying. But, honestly, many ultimately have problems with readability, adhesion, and deterioration of other sorts. So what you’re looking for is a really, really good label that will stand the test of time.