Direct Part Marking- A Complete Solution to Item Traceability

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Marking of items with globally unique identification being the primary consideration of all business sectors, direct part marking is the reliable and permanent method used for marking the items. In this method the UID data are directly applied to the surface of the parts or items using various techniques. The markings required to be permanent for the lifetime of the items. As the functional lifetime of the items vary for different items the direct part marking procedures also vary depending on the lifetime of the items.

Predominantly, the process of direct part marking is common method of marking used in aerospace, automotive and electronic manufacturing industry. The method ensures efficient traceability of the items parts and products for their lifetime. DPM of the parts also conform to various safety regulatory requirements and durability along with aiding to the data logging for safety.

Direct part marking is a method of marking the parts or items with 2 dimensional data matrix barcode on the surface of the item. The data entered as UII are critical information about the item. The machine readable data that are entered through the direct part marking appear very small to the normal vision. The possible human errors are removed while encoding the data into 2D data matrix code.

The most common method of direct part marking is the Inject part marking technology that has a widespread use in the aerospace, automotive, electronics, home building products, lumber, food, medical and packaging industries. The technique is useful for it offers better resistance of the marking for a longer period of time when compared to other marking methods. The direct part marking method is especially useful for building products with which it produces the premium quality marks. Apart from the DoD products, the automotive, pharmaceutical, packaging, electronic and consumer goods manufacturing industries are also applying the Inject part marking technique for enhanced tracking of their products.

Apart from the Inject part marking, there are other popular methods of direct part marking. Digital process technology is ideal for wide range of products. The process doesn’t require consumables or curing, and produces high contrast permanent marking solutions. It one of the cost-effective direct part marking solution for the manufacturer and especially effective for the 3D plastic products. For products with limited surface area, the digital process technology of marking is the best solution for it can produce micro-marking.

Apart from ensuring lifetime traceability of the product with permanent UII marking direct part marking has several other advantages. It doest require added material such as nameplates or labels for marking of the items. Rather the essential data are etched on the surface of the parts. It avoids any detrimental effect of the labels or the materials used in the labels. As the data are directly etched on the surface of the there is low risk of any damage to the data even if the part is exposed to adverse environment. In brief, direct part marking is able to meet the growing requirements of unique identification of products and item traceability.

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About The Author: Uid2go is a premier supplier of direct part marking that are 100% verified and meet UID MIL-STD-130 requirements. It has helped numerous customers in UIDregistration products to register data to the UID Central Registry.