Microscan Helps Laser Devices Hit Its Target For UID Marking

Military and law enforcement personnel use aiming assistance products from Laser Devices to make their weapons more accurate. Laser Devices, in turn, relies on Data Matrix two-dimensional (2D) bar code verifiers and readers from Microscan Systems to make sure the equipment it supplies to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) includes an accurate, reliable Unique Identification (UID) bar code.

Laser Devices supplies the DoD with laser and infrared aiming devices and illuminators that can be used with a variety of firearms to locate and site targets up to 450 meters away. When the DoD included the products in its Unique Item Identification (UII) program, Laser Devices had to quickly learn about the program requirements and find a partner who could deliver a solution to comply.

"We hadn't had much experience in government contracting at that time, and we were very concerned about the scope of the project and how it would impact our costs," says Joe Hotz, vice president of sales and marketing and general counsel at Laser Devices. "We thought we'd have to put together a system from scratch, which is a bit scary."

The UII program requires goods supplied to the DoD to be marked with a permanently readable UID bar code that includes a serial number and other defined data formats. The UID code must be encoded in a Data Matrix bar code symbol, which can express a lot of information in a small space and can remain readable in challenging conditions. Prior to shipping an order to the DoD, data from the UID symbol, plus additional contract and order information, must be submitted electronically to the DoD's Wide-Area Workflow (WAWF) system, which can be a tedious process.