Lockheed Martin has signed an agreement with Cognex Corporation to jointly promote each others' products to help Department of Defense (DoD) contractors meet new government requirements for unique identification (UID) of parts. Lockheed Martin developed and uses a UID Compliancy Software package known as I- GUIDES(TM), while Cognex carries a full line of industrial identification products that read and verify data matrix codes used by both industry and the DoD for UID compliancy.

The Department of Defense Unique Identification (UID) Compliancy Initiative requires that every piece of equipment purchased by the Department of Defense with a value greater than $5,000, or that requires serialization, be marked with a two-dimensional (2D) matrix code which clearly distinguishes each individual item from all others. I-GUIDES is a flexible and easy to install software application that streamlines the management of the UID process and meets the needs of large and small businesses. Lockheed Martin, which last year became the first DoD contractor to deliver a product with UID, developed I-GUIDES to support its compliance with DoD requirements.

"UID compliancy requirements represent a big change for Defense Department suppliers, and this agreement can make those changes easier for suppliers and accelerate the success of the Defense Department's UID program," said Richard Erickson, program manager for I-GUIDES(TM) at Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors' Tactical Systems line of business. "This agreement gives us a key relationship with a world leader in machine vision systems, vision sensors and ID readers. It also gives us access to vision technology that will keep us at the forefront of developments in data matrix technology as it relates to UID compliancy."

"This agreement enables Cognex and Lockheed Martin to approach customers with a simple-to-adopt solution for meeting Department of Defense compliancy requirements," said Justin Testa, senior vice president of ID Products for Cognex. "As a result, customers can get state-of-the-art technology, and avoid the cost of reinventing the process internally."

Lockheed Martin offers the I-GUIDES(TM) Compliancy application to DoD contractors and suppliers as either an application license for in-house installation or as a Web-based subscription service. I-Guides is also available through a distribution network across the United States, including several printer manufacturers, direct part-mark device manufacturers and reader/verifier companies in the UID/RFID industry.

Cognex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets machine vision systems and machine vision sensors, or computers that can "see." Cognex is the world's leader in the machine vision industry, having shipped more than 250,000 vision systems, representing more than $1.8 billion in cumulative revenue since the company's founding in 1981. Visit Cognex online at http://www.cognex.com/ .

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services.

For additional information, visit our web site: http://www.i-guides.com/ or http://www.lockheedmartin.com/ .

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin