Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc.
About the Company
Headquartered in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc. (BFMI) is the world’s leader in large-caliber rifle design and manufacturing. Well-known for .50 caliber rifles, the company now produces rifles in .416 Barrett and 6.8 SPC calibers and is a growing innovator in the design and production of optics for long-range shooters. The United States Army named the Barrett M107 as one of the Top Ten Greatest Inventions of 2005. Indeed it was a 2006 Department of Defense (DoD) contract for the purchase of M107 rifles that first brought the Army’s unique identification (UID) requirement to light at Barrett.
After BFMI management gathered initial information on UID requirements, and the impact of UID on the company’s business was established, it was decided to assign the implementation task to a single individual, Director of Operations, Eddie Macon. His first step was to learn all he could about UID. Finding the answers he needed was challenging. His search included the DCMA (Defense Contract Management Agency), the official UID website and various seminars. What he found, he says, was information, but no clear path for implementation.
Developing an Implementation Plan
“We found information and suppliers to facilitate the implementation of UID, but BFMI found it diff icult to locate a single-source provider to assist with hardware, application software and an understanding of the submittal process to the IUID Registry,” says Macon. “BFMI is a smaller volume business with multitasking personnel, and we did not have resources to focus only on the UID initiative. We were very fortunate to discover A2B Tracking as a single-source provider for solutions to our UID needs.”
Working with the BFMI military contracts, quality and manufacturing departments in conjunction with A2B Tracking‘s assistance, Macon established an implementation plan. The contracts department needed to become familiar with all UID requirements in order to ensure that contracts would be fulf illed. Quality needed to ensure that the ISO 9001 - 2000 STD would be met, and manufacturing became involved with applying the UID label. Among other things, A2B helped Macon settle on Construct 2 for the label design and also informed him of a dummy test site for use before actual uploading to the IUID Registry.
Labeling and Technology Decisions
One of the earliest decisions Macon faced, after choosing A2B as his single-source UID provider, concerned the type of label that should be used. Given the harsh environment to which the rif les would be exposed, Macon had to ensure that the label would be robust in extreme conditions. BFMI’s lower volumes of product requiring UID marking, however, did not support the f inancial investment of direct part marking technology. In the end Macon choose polyester labels for their rugged dependability and the ability to print them in low volume as needed. Aff ixing a white label to a sniper’s rif le was originally a concern, but then it was determined that the label could be aff ixed in a visually non-intrusive location. Each rif le gets one 2-D matrix, Construct 2 UID label located on the rif le’s magazine side plate.
BFMI uses high-tech machine shop technology for its manufacturing operation with a supporting IT network, so they only had to purchase the required printer (Zebra 105SL) to generate UID labels. BFMI has employees with experience in electronic product manufacturing and computer technology, so the technology part of implementing UID had minimal impact once hardware and application software were purchased.
“Initially there was some confusion relative to the requirements and need for hardware, software and submittal to the Registry,” says Macon. “But once requirements were established that fit the BFMI business model, using A2B Tracking as the primary resource, the confusion was eliminated and the required plan and procedures were implemented.”
Barrett’s UID Solution Path
BFMI’s complete UID solution consists of UID Comply! software from A2B which drives the Zebra printer, a Siemens verifier and Siemens scanners. Barrett is able to create their UIIs, verify the quality of the mark created with their verifier, and then they are able to validate the syntax using their scanners.
“Eddie was an extremely educated buyer,” says A2B sales specialist Brad Smith. “He had been involved in new software/hardware rollouts previously, and as a result he took the unusual step of visiting a current UID Comply! customer. He said he needed to see how the system worked so he would know exactly what to expect when A2B’s installation team arrived.” Eddie met with a fellow manufacturing engineer that had already traveled down the UID road. Because of his due diligence, Eddie had no surprises. He asked a myriad of questions, and learned all he needed to know about UID. He did his homework, and it paid off.
When asked what advice he would pass along to others who must comply with UID requirements, Eddie says, “Don’t depend solely on information that is provided by government sources for UID requirements and solutions. Get in partnership with a knowledgeable, single-source provider like A2B Tracking, a company that provided excellent customer service for BFMI’s needs.”
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