Successful Compliance With Mil-std-130

By Author: Id Integration
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The United States Department of Defense requires that any companies who they deal with to comply with the mil-std-130 specification. Just what does this mean for your business? Mil-std-130 compliance exists to assure that machinery, tools and other resources can be clearly identified, inventoried, and tracked. There are previous standards that are covered by the mil-std-130 specification. Wherever there is a conflict, the mil-std-130 takes precedence over previous standards.

In a work place where equipment is often moved, repaired, decommissioned or reconfigured, proper tracking of resources is crucial. The mil-std-130 standard requires that all devices be clearly marked in a visible place with a bar code or other machine readable information coding if the item allows a direct application of the text. An attached plate or hard plastic tag may also be used in places where physically imprinting the equipment is not possible. These machine readable codes can be used to tie back specific items to database records for tracking of inventory.

The mil-std-130 standard also allows for human readable text to be posted ...
... on equipment or on an attached tag. There are guidelines for ease of readability for text labeling. The guidelines are very specific - outlining approved fonts, minimum sizes and quality of print. For this reason a machine readable standard is a better choice.

For both machine readable or English text standards, there are very specific standards for print quality that may be difficult to fill without consulting a professional. There are also specific rules for creating a subset of codes for duplicate, identical items in the inventory. On the other hand, there are some items that do not require any mil-std-130 marking since they already come imprinted with a unique identifying bar code or ID number.

Complying with mil-std-130 without outside help can be difficult. There are lots of nuances to conforming to these rules that are easily missed. Working with a professional company is your best bet to get your company on track with mil-std-130 specification. If you plan to work with the Department of Defense, visit www.id-integration.com to find out how you can contact a professional to get your company up to standards.

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ID-integration provides complete solutions for UID Compliance and MIL-STD-130 related needs and can assist with complete UID policy in accordance with DFARS 252.211-7003.