Articles
A Practical Approach To Applying UID Marks To Legacy Assets
November 26, 2007
White Paper: A Practical Approach To Applying UID Marks To Legacy Assets
The value of any asset management program grows with the number of items that are included in it. That's why the DoD is accelerating efforts to include more assets in the Unique Identification (UID) program, which assigns permanent, unique serial numbers to components, parts and material to provide accurate service and maintenance histories. Enforcement is being stepped up, and more suppliers are being required to apply UID marks at the factory, resulting in the branches of the DoD receiving thousands of goods each month that include a UID mark and are ready for efficient automated tracking.
This aggressive approach to UID marking will raise the value of the system as these new items age and require service. But unfortunately, it does nothing to improve traceability for the estimated 98 million legacy DoD assets that are not currently marked. Identifying these parts with standard UID marks often provides a more immediate benefit, because legacy assets are more likely to require service and maintenance, making accurate records more critical to ensure availability and readiness.
In the past, most UID solutions were focused on meeting the needs of manufacturers who supply the DoD, not for marking legacy assets. Therefore, many of these solutions are impractical for legacy UID marking. They typically lack the controls or safety features necessary to ensure accurate UID marking without altering or damaging the item being marked. This white paper describes the challenges to marking legacy assets, explains what's required of a marking system, provides an overview of available options and introduces a new solution jointly developed by Intermec and the U.S. Coast Guard specifically for marking in-service assets, parts and components.
Click Here To Download:White Paper: A Practical Approach To Applying UID Marks To Legacy Assets

