A surface marked threaded fastener comprising an elongated and threaded shaft and a head at one end of the elongated and threaded shaft; said head comprising on a surface contacting face a readable matrix comprising a dot pattern, said dot pattern defining a tightening specification.

A device for detecting freshness of a perishable item is provided. The device includes at least one sensor for detecting an analyte of interest in the perishable item. The device further includes an integrated circuit for converting information detected by the sensor into a signal. The device also includes an antenna portion for receiving and transmitting the signal from the integrated circuit. The at least one sensor, integrated circuit and antenna portion are printed on a single sheet such that the device is unitary.

A device for detecting freshness of a perishable item is provided. The device includes at least one sensor for detecting an analyte of interest in the perishable item. The device further includes an integrated circuit for converting information detected by the sensor into a signal. The device also includes an antenna portion for receiving and transmitting the signal from the integrated circuit. The at least one sensor, integrated circuit and antenna portion are printed on a single sheet such that the device is unitary.

A device for detecting freshness of a perishable item is provided. The device includes at least one sensor for detecting an analyte of interest in the perishable item. The device further includes an integrated circuit for converting information detected by the sensor into a signal. The device also includes an antenna portion for receiving and transmitting the signal from the integrated circuit. The at least one sensor, integrated circuit and antenna portion are printed on a single sheet such that the device is unitary.

A method of manufacturing a metal product comprise forming a base region on a surface of a metal member by repeatedly scanning along a predetermined first direction while irradiating the surface of the metal member with a base laser beam over a first set of rows. The method further comprises forming a marking by repeatedly scanning along a predetermined second direction while irradiating the surface of the metal member with a marking laser beam over a second set of rows. The second direction is different from the first direction. An identification code having a predetermined pattern comprises a combination of the base region and the marking.

A transaction card includes at least one metal layer having one or more apertures therein. A light guide is disposed beneath the metal layer. The light guide has a light output and a light input. The light output is positioned to transmit light through at least the one or more apertures of the metal layer. At least one LED is positioned to transmit light into the light guide light input

A microbead with a code engraved on an outside of the microbead. The microbead includes a central region and an edge region surrounding the central region. An outer contour of the edge region before and after engraving the code is non-circular. The edge region includes a plurality of coding positions. The code of the microbead is engraved on the plurality of coding positions. Each bit of the code corresponds to each of the plurality of coding positions. The present disclosure increases the utilization rate of the microbead.

A gramophone plate (P) having at least one face, the at least one face including at least one region on which is recorded audio data (2), wherein the said at least one region of the at least one face also has at least one visual image (7), or a portion of at least one visual image, recorded thereon.

A printed wiring board includes a lower layer including conductor layers and insulating layers, a conductor layer formed on the outermost insulating layer in the lower layer, and a solder resist layer formed on the conductor layer such that the solder resist layer is covering the conductor layer on the outermost insulating layer, and a two-dimensional code structure formed on the lower layer and including the conductor layer and a portion of the solder resist layer such that the portion of the solder resist layer has openings forming exposed portions of the conductor layer and that the openings of the solder resist layer and the exposed portions of the conductor layer form the two-dimensional code structure. The conductor layer includes a portion corresponding to the two-dimensional code structure such that the portion of the conductor layer has a residual copper rate that allows the two-dimensional code structure to be read.

A method for generating a digital production quality certificate for a component carrying a machine readable unique identifier undergoing a plurality of manufacturing steps is provided. The method comprises obtaining parameters indicative of the manufacturing steps from one or more sensors for a plurality of monitored manufacturing steps. The obtained parameters are linked with the machine readable unique identifier and one or more quality analyses are performed for a selected monitored manufacturing step based on the obtained parameters for said manufacturing step. A digital quality certificate is generated for the component comprising data related to the results of the quality analyses and the parameters obtained for the component are stored. The disclosure also provides examples of methods and systems of monitoring a manufacturing process.