Responding to the Air Transport Association SPEC 2000 requirement that manufacturers mark and track each part used to assemble airplanes, a major aero-engine manufacturer has selected Microscan's MS-Q handheld imagers as a key component in its direct part mark identification system. Taking the lead in adopting 2D Data Matrix as the standard method of marking its aero-engine parts, the manufacturer placed an order for several hundred MS-Q units.

After several months of vendor evaluations involving on-site operations testing, the MS-Q imagers were selected as the superior product for reading low-contrast, direct-marked 2D codes. "The new MS-Q is not just another portable 2D imager," commented Matt Allen, Microscan product marketing manager. "The MS-Q provides users with the same technological edge designed into Microscan's smart camera Quadrus EZ™ for decoding symbols directly marked on low-contrast substrates such as metallic, plastic, rubber, and glass. The MS-Q is quite possibly the most aggressive 2D handheld imager available."

"The aerospace industry's ongoing Spec 2000 initiative and the recent U.S. Dept of Defense mandate relating to Unique Identifier Codes on parts and equipment it procures, have made it more important than ever to have strong, reliable solutions for reading 2D codes," commented Bob Taplett, applications engineering manager for Microscan.