A2B Tracking Solutions found its initial success developing label-generating software for retail giants such as Wal-Mart and Target. But recent years have seen the company grow outside walls of the big box and into the realm of government and military.
With several contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, the Portsmouth-based company is revolutionizing the way military assets are tracked.
Company President Peter Collins recently spoke to PBN about company’s history and the challenges of developing UIDs for military use.
PBN: How did A2B start in terms of its technology and why in Rhode Island?
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COLLINS: A2B began operations in Massachusetts in the mid-90s but moved to Rhode Island about seven years ago. The move was a lifestyle decision since many of us live here.
In terms of technology, A2B was born out of the necessity to provide simple, functional software for companies that required bar code compliance labels when shipping their goods to KMart and Wal-Mart. The original software was designed for small businesses using the Mac platform.
PBN: What is different between the UID that A2B is creating for the U.S. Defense Department and a bar code on a gallon of milk in the grocery store?
COLLINS: Milk, or any grocery item, uses a UPC or Universal Product Code to track SKUs in quantity using a linear bar code. Linear (or picket fence) bar codes are still used in many industries, but they are limited in the amount of data that can be encoded. UIDs are different in that they are scanned in two dimensions (thus the 2D bar code) and therefore can contain a great deal more data. This “super” bar code is also globally unique. Think of it as one of a kind, much like your social security number or unique fingerprint. Imagine an aircraft such as an F18. Every part or component on that aircraft will have its own UID, and that would mean thousands and thousands of UIDs.
PBN: Is it more difficult to design the military’s UID or manufacture it? Similarly, is it more difficult to make the UID or install it? And why?
COLLINS: It is much more difficult to manufacture UIDs and to install them on military equipment. UIDs must last the entire life of the item, often in extraordinary conditions (e.g. sand storms, fire, abrasion, salt water, etc.). Some components on the Chinook helicopter have been in operation for 50 years. That means the bar codes must hold up for 50 years, often in extreme environments. A2B is currently making 10 million UIDs on many durable materials such as aluminum and polyacrylic for the Air Force.
Installing is also a huge challenge. If the item that requires the UID is not marked further up the supply chain, at the point of manufacture, then the problem is getting access to the equipment. We’re now headed out to more than 220 Air Force bases to find the equipment and to mark it with UIDs in the same consistent approach that Air Force maintenance expects of their nameplate markings. As we proceed with this task we are cleaning up any inconsistencies in inventory data.
Here’s a good example that illustrates the challenges we face: A2B was required to provide UIDs on a completely nonconductive material to support the military marking of Nuclear Weapons Related Material. We worked with industry and developed a process at A2B to accomplish this task. In February, A2B received an award along with the Air Force for this effort.
PBN: While the company has been successful in garnering military contracts, do you see broader uses for your technology in civilian life?
COLLINS: The DoD is really paving the way for industry with the UID standard. A tremendous amount of innovation, from software to equipment, is taking place to support this effort, and that is going to result in a huge benefit to industry as their need to track equipment becomes more critical. UID is going beyond a need that only the “bean counters” have in finance to meet Sarbanes Oxley. UID enables more efficient and accurate business processes in maintenance/returns processing, engineering and configuration control and serialized item management for assets that might previously have been identified by part or NSN.
On top of that we, as consumers, are becoming much more demanding about knowing where our goods are manufactured, at least for safety reasons (lead in toys, legitimate components in air craft, etc.). UID enables this visibility in the supply chain and authenticates the point of manufacture.
PBN: In 10 years, do you see A2B with more military or non-military contracts? Does it matter to you one way or another?
COLLINS: The U.S. military has a long way to go. They are just “laying the tracks” to put UID in place in order to take advantage of the benefits. So far they have marked and registered over 10 million items, but many think the true number of items requiring UID is in the hundreds of millions. A2B’s mission, to be the enterprise standard in UID software and services to the military, will remain for many years to come.
That being said, we are already doing work with industry that’s leading us into some very exciting non-military applications for UID. We’ve been investing in this space for over seven years now, and it’s comforting to see this kind of activity taking shape.
