Highly interconnected manufacturing chains, cost issues and technical feasibility make it difficult to trace individual components in mass production. Efficient “track & trace” solutions are, however, an important prerequisite for production and process optimization—especially in the context of digitized manufacturing. With its “Track & Trace Fingerprint” solution, the Fraunhofer-Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM in Freiburg, Germany, has developed a marker-free system for tracing mass components.