Making sure that your government property is properly marked with fully compliant IUID labels is critical to meeting your military contract obligations. At first glance, asset labels seem pretty cut and dry; but, there are a number of factors to consider with an IUID label.
I recently hosted an A2B Tracking webinar on how to select fully compliant IUID and Military Shipping Labels (MSL). Click here for the full webinar recording. For this blog post, I would like to focus on the critical factors to consider with an IUID label.
IUID Label Specifications
Sometimes you’re lucky and you will be provided with the exact specifications of the UID label. When that happens it makes this process very simple. Your customer is telling you, specifically, the material type, the marking method, the size of the label, where it should be applied to the asset etc. If this is the case, there’s really not much fact finding that you need to do. All that’s left is to find a vendor who can accommodate your specific layout and delivery time frame.
However, if you don’t have a drawing or specifications, here are the key factors to consider with an IUID label:
-Exactly what is the asset that are you marking?
-What is the asset surface that the label will adhere to?
-Will the label be exposed to the indoors or outdoors?
-How much UV exposure will it have?
-What kind of temperatures do you expect?
Temperature exposure is a key factor that is often overlooked. Don’t make the assumption that just because the asset will be indoors means that it will not be exposed to extreme ranges in temperature. Make sure that you consider where the asset will be stored when it’s indoors and what that temperature range will be. We have run into situations where the asset was going to be indoors; however, once the client dug a little deeper they learned that it was going into a test environment and was going to be repeatedly exposed to extremely hot and cold environmental conditions. You must have an IUID label that can meet these conditions in order to maintain compliance.
IUID Label Durability
Another important factor to consider is how rugged the environmental conditions for that asset will be. An IUID label that is suited for office equipment is very different than one specified for field equipment. Before you choose a label you should determine if the asset will be exposed to harsh chemicals, salt water or abrasions and then choose your label accordingly. Also be aware of CARC painted and other tough-to-bond surfaces which will require special adhesives.
The key thing to understand here is that in order to be compliant with MIL-STD-130 your IUID label has to last the lifetime of that asset. In other words, the IUID label must adhere and stay affixed to the asset for the life of that asset. And the 2D Data Matrix barcode, or the unique identifier, must be readable for the lifetime of that asset.
As you can see there are a number of factors to consider with an IUID label. But, it is imperative to go through this list of things to consider in order to be able to properly identify the IUID label material and marking method. With this information in hand and working with an established vendor, like A2B Tracking, you will be able to easily choose the appropriate label for the asset.
It is certainly worth the effort to do it right the first time — you do not want to learn a few years from now that your labels are non-compliant or that they are falling off of the assets. This is a painful, embarrassing and costly process that should be avoided.
To learn more…
Watch this quick video segment from my recent webinar about the factors to consider with an IUID label.
