How would you keep track of a part if there are no distinguishable features (mass produced) and you can make no mark of any kind on the part (no engraving, etching, paint, marker, etc)?

We are having a frequent issue with a part that we make at my facility and there is a need to track the parts from one building to the next, but we have no reliable way to do this. A batch of parts will have a serial number attached to it, but each individual piece is exactly the same, and one or two pieces out of the batch often fails.

At building A each piece is tested. During that test preliminary issues will sometimes arise, but not serious enough that the test fails. They are then sent to building B, where often times, but not always, the parts will fail a second test. It is thought that the parts that fail at building B, are the ones that showed issues at building A but passed the test at A. However, we really have no way to prove this.

We can't do the building B tests at building A, and like I said, we can not modify or permanently mark the parts in anyway. Any thing like a sharpie gets cleaned off between A and B.

I've looked into RFID tracking, but you need a physical tag for that. I've also considered slightly irradiating parts and tracking them that way, but that might not be safe (cost is not an issue for this problem by the way). This is a very interesting problem. It is likely impossible to solve, but I thought you guys might have some good suggestions. TIA.

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