As part of AirBorn’s continual improvement efforts, the company recently qualified the use of a new laser marking technology to mark its Nano Catalog — MIL-DTL-32139 and MicroD — MIL-DTL-83513 connector product and now the verSI product as of February 2024.
Source: AirBorn
Currently, ink marking is used to mark product per MIL-DTL-32139 and MIL-DTL-83513 requirements. To achieve qualification, a plan was drafted and approved by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for both MicroD and NanoD products. AirBorn successfully completed the qualification plan and is now ready to implement the new marking process, which has been approved to be used on all MIL-DTL-32139 and MIL-DTL-83513 products where base metal is aluminum and plating finish is nickel per AMS2404 Class 3. The same testing and qualification was used to implement laser marking on verSI metal shells.
DLA approved product qualification testing for ultraviolet (UV) laser marking consisted of:
- Testing: Permanency testing per MIL-DTL-202 and Salt Spray per EIA-364-26C Condition B.
- Results: All products tested passed and the UV laser marking process is now qualified per the DLA as of August 25, 2022.
AirBorn’s transition from ink marking to UV laser marking on verSI Catalog product is underway. Targeted notifications will occur when customer drawing updates are needed to allow the use of the new laser marking process, which will be AirBorn’s preferred marking process. The customer base should take note of the upcoming transitional period as some product will begin shipping with the new laser marking and other products will be used to phase out ink marking during the course of 2024. Please note, AirBorn does not intend to mix marking types within a single work order.
