TAMS · Products and their production records
Connecting physical products to manufacturing data
A manufactured object can carry a permanent link to information about how it was produced. Made is a TAMS demonstration of that connection: a physical product, an engraved identity, and associated MTConnect manufacturing evidence.
Follow the connection
The object is the starting point. Its web identity makes the context and evidence behind its production discoverable.
Physical product
An item you can hold, use, or pass on to someone else.
Serial and QR code
An engraved serial identifies the item. Its QR code points to a permanent TAMS URL.
Permanent product page
The same web address provides a place to find the item's serialized record over time.
Production metadata
Material, manufacturing date, equipment, and batch describe the associated production operation.
MTConnect evidence
An associated .mep package makes archived manufacturing information available for inspection.
For example, serial TAMS26-0047 corresponds to
https://tamsconnect.com/made/TAMS26-0047.
That address identifies the physical item even when the way its data is stored changes.
Information that remains discoverable
What an MTConnect Exchange Package demonstrates
An MTConnect Exchange Package (.mep) is a proposed, experimental container format for packaging MTConnect information. It has been proposed to the MTConnect Institute in connection with the Capabilities Working Group. It is not an approved MTConnect Standard or approved Institute specification.
In this prototype, the package holds archived manufacturing evidence associated with an item's production operation. Keeping that evidence discoverable from the product lets a visitor move from seeing an object to exploring its manufacturing context.
The item, its description, and its evidence
The serial identifies the physical product. The page describes that product and its production context. The associated package contains the archived technical data.
The web record also expresses the relationship in structured metadata that software can read. The intent is to make manufacturing information easier to find and understand beyond the system that originally captured it.
This is an exploration of how physical products and manufacturing information can stay connected. The evidence available depends on what was actually captured during production.
One physical item, a shared production operation
The initial demonstration uses TAMS promotional magnets for IMTS 2026. Several magnets can be made from one sheet during the same Glowforge operation.
Each finished magnet has its own serial and permanent page. Magnets from the same operation can reference the same batch-level MTConnect capture and .mep package.
That association does not establish individually isolated machine observations for every magnet. It connects the serialized item to the operation in which it was produced, with the scope of the record explained on its page.
The same approach can be used for future serialized products. The magnet is the first example of the connection.
Explore the data behind a product
Scan the item's QR code to visit its permanent product page. Read the production context, then request the associated package when it is available.
The request form asks for your name, company, and email. After a successful request, you can download the .mep package from that product experience. Check the product page for package-specific viewing guidance and its verification status.