Wednesday, October 29, 2008

UID Laser Marking: an elementary Component of UID Registration

These days a number of industry groups including ISO9000 and other international manufacturing standards have mandated permanent part identification and Direct Part Marketing (DPM) to boost the traceability of their items. Therefore, the Unique Item Identifier (UID) laser marking method bears immense significance in this scenario. The product identification must be permanently marked directly onto the part’s surface as per the directive of Department of Defense (DoD). Among all the methods used for marking identification number onto products, UID laser marking is considered to be the most efficient and error-free.

UID marking is compulsory for all the items delivered to the Department with a unit acquisition value of $5,000.00 or above, including all embedded sub-assemblies, mission essential components or parts that are serially managed by the DoD. In addition, the format of the mark must satisfy the requirement of the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS).

Advantage of UID Laser Marking
UID laser marking is one of the most lasting, dependable, high contrast, and versatile marking technology available for UID applications. The rising popularity of UID laser marking applications can be attributed to the following advantages.
1. UID laser marking is an eco-friendly option to silk screening, chemical etching, pad printing, mechanical engraving, stamping and various other costly, lower quality processes.
2. UID laser marking has higher resolution than other methods, which makes it easy for embedding more data in the UID marks.
3. Laser marking and engraving are a unique method to identify and decorate your product items.
Therefore, for the different fields of medical, ad specialties, automotive, to the latest in UID code identification, serialization, and verification, UID laser marking is suitable for a variety of marking purposes.

Benefits of UID Laser Marking to the DoD
The UID laser marking 2D Matrix symbol on parts or sub-assemblies helps the DoD to improve inventory accuracy, accurately source items on property, decrease inventory management costs, improve access to part history during the design or lifespan of items, and reduce workforce burden through augmented efficiency and productivity.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

How Do UID Labels and UID Nameplates Affect Your UID Compliance?

An Introduction to UID Label

The Unique Item Identifier (UID) labels and UID nameplates play a critical role in the process of achieving UID compliance from the Department of Defense (DoD). As a matter of fact, UID labels are mandatory, particularly when you want your items to be UID compliant. Only after correct UID labels are on your items are you qualified to apply for UID Registry. In recent times, UID label is used for all the Department’s identification requirements and serialization tracking programs (SNTs). Selecting the right UID label is extremely important for achieving UID compliance. The UID Labels, UID tags and UID nameplate s you use must be long-lasting under challenging climatic conditions and should not wear away.

To manufacture the UID labels, there is a huge choice of materials to select from such as stainless steel, polyester, aluminum or laser marked adhesive backed tape. However, the UID label s or plates have to meet the MIL STD 130 code standards.

All companies requiring UID labels, UID nameplates, and Mil-Std 130M UID compliance can be described in the three main categories that are stated as follows:

Full Resource Medium-to-Large Size Companies
– Usually these companies have all the available resources to fully implement Mil-Std 130M compliant label and tag, UID verification and WAWF and UID registering processes. Yet, they still search for a UID partner that can help them choose suitable UID equipment or processes for their operation.

Limited Resource Small-to-Medium Size Companies – These companies have a Mil-Std 130 requirement but cannot afford to buy thermal transfer printers, CO2 laser etching equipment or UID label verification equipment and qualified staff to cater the UID orders. Thus, they generally look for a reliable UID partner who can offer UID compliance labels, UID nameplates, verification reports and also a process to submit UID information to the Wide Area Work Flow (WAWF) and UID Registry.

Selective Resource Medium-to-Large Size Companies – Even though these companies have abundant resources to implement the critical equipment and processes to attain Mil-Std 130 UID compliance, they choose to partner with a vendor that can provide UID labels and UID nameplate s including on-demand and verification reports in a timely fashion.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

UID Data submission practice to the UID Registry

Brief into about UID Registry
The (Unique Item Identifier) UID registry is a software system developed by the Department of Defense (DoD). It acts just like a database containing a bank of information on all the items that cater to the UID standards and criteria. In addition, it also facilitates the Department of Defense’s need to exercise a better visibility into their wide network of assets. If you want to comply with the DoD’s mandate for UID, you must submit all relevant and essential UID information to the UID Registry.

The items to the UID Registry can be submitted in the following ways:

UID Registry Web Interface: you can submit your UID information through the UID Registry Web interface. The UID registry website allows you to type in all UID data directly. Though it’s a time-consuming, cumbersome and error-prone process it can be used efficiently in cases where you deal with a very low volume of UID shipments.

Direct UID Registry Transaction: You can submit all computer files that contain your UID information via the Internet but you must take adequate precaution regarding security while sending the files.

Wide Area Work Flow (WAWF) Web Interface: UID registry can also be done via the WAWF Web Interface. The WAWF system can accept the UID data with receiving reports and combo (2-N-1) documents. The WAWF system forwards all the UID data to the UID Registry.

UID Registry Data Elements:The UID registry data elements include contract and shipment numbers, product identifier (NSN/PN), the item number (CLIN) and unit cost of each marked item.

1. Fully constructed UID
2. UID Type (Construct 1 or 2)
3. IAC (Issuing Agency Code) which controls the Entity ID
4. Entity Identifier (such as CAGE) of company assigning the UID
5. Serial Number
6. Part Number (Construct 2 only)

Monday, October 6, 2008

Do You Know The Submission Process of The IUID Registry?

Item Unique Identification (IUID) Registry is regarded as the central repository of IUID information. It plays a crucial role in the identification of the classification of items that are at the disposal of the Department of Defense (DoD). Besides, it also helps the DoD to find out the preliminary value of the items during their acquisition, acquisition time, rightful custody and the marking process.

IUID acts as a universal method of parts identification. It is the key which assists the Department in its goal to locate, control and value its assets again and again. In its IUID policy, the DoD has mandated that all the qualifying items must be marked with two-dimensional Data Matrix which should be encoded with a Unique Item Identifier (UID).

Unique Identification is a system devised and planned by the Department of Defense to easily distinguish one object from another throughout their life cycle process. IUID has become a vital part of the DoD. IUID has been useful to the Department in capturing the value of items it buys, controlling these items during their use, and tracking counterfeiting of parts at different periods of time.

As the DoD’s information systems have become more web-savvy, the IUID assists with financial integration, accountability systems, maintenance and life cycle visibility of the items that are stored within it. While it does enhance the quality of information available for management configuration, it will also help in other significant areas such as operational planning, logistics support and systems engineering. In a nutshell, IUID Registry facilitates joint, paperless management of DoD property.

Procedure of Submitting Data in the IUID Registry
All the government manufacturing activities and commercial manufacturers must be registered with the Central Contractor Registration (CRR) system before their registration can take place with the IUID Registry . If you are interested in conducting business with Government Furnished Property, you have to submit data to the IUID registry. The users must register themselves to acquire their login credentials and access rights before using the Controlled Access portion of the IUID Registry. In addition, you have to be a government employee or an U.S. Government Contractor with approval from the DoD Program Manager to get login to the IUID Registry.