Traceability is the ability to identify all variables that go into the production and use of an item; from procurement of raw materials, to details of production and distribution, to eventual consumption and disposal. The purpose of product traceability is to clarify “how, when and where the product was produced, and how, when and where the product was consumed,.” Due to improving product quality and the rise in safety awareness in recent years, traceability has been increasing in importance and spreading into a wide range of fields, such as automotive, electronics, food and pharmaceutical. The permanence and flexibility of laser marking is ideally suited to accomplishing the goals of traceability. If your material can be laser marked, it can be traced using the latest technology.

Part identification and traceability are accomplished by manufacturers using part numbers, serial numbers, heat lots, raw material lots, product expiration information, etc. Using traditional 1D barcodes or more modern 2D matrix codes allows manufacturers to include all of the traceable information of a product’s production, distribution, and use into a machine readable code that only takes up a small portion of the product’s surface area.