Importance of UID to the UID Registry

Unique identification or UID is a universally applied method for parts marking. The DoD has mandated this method so as to keep track of Govt. furnished assets.

What’s UID?

UID is a part of DoD’s serialization tracking programs (SNTs). For all Government furnished tangible assets, Unique Identification or UID for each item is a must as per The Department of Defense (DoD) mandate. UID nameplates, UID labels, and UID tags are a must for items to be UID compliant. Also they need to withstand the rough climatic condition. The DoD devised this UID program to keep track of all info about defense related and embedded items. Starting from acquisition, repair, and to deployment, the DoD can easily trace any info about military items in much easier and faster way through this UID program.

To meet the UID registration standards, the Department of Defense has clearly mentioned which items are eligible to be UID compliant. Those items whose

• Unit acquisition cost is $5,000 or more
• Is serially managed, is mission essential or is a controlled inventory
• the item is a DoD mandated serially managed embedded item
• Designated by the Program office for permanent identification, are required to be marked by UID.

Stainless steel, Polyester, aluminum and laser marked Tessa tapes are most commonly used for UID labels. Some of the popular types of UID labels are Metal bar code UID labels, Polyester bar code UID labels, Foil bar code UID labels and Ceramic-Steel UID nameplates. These types of labels offer robustness and last for a long duration. Now many online stores even offer customized UID Tags and Labels. It doesn’t matter, what materials are used for UID labels, but they must meet the MIL STD 130 code standards.

All the product info such as serialized item number, part number, CAGE Code, manufacturing details are to be written in a 2dimensional data matrix code. As per a recently added clause, an additional batch or log number of the product is also required to be added in the 2D-datamatrix code.

UID registry submission process

It is essential that all the government as well as commercial manufacturers should register with Central Contractor Registration system (CRR) before they apply for registering with the UID registry. For Government Contractors or government employees, the DoD Program Manager facilitates special login access rights to the UID registry. All other users are required to register themselves. They can access the Controlled Access portion of the UID Registry only after they get login credentials from the UID registry.

There are certain things which the contractors should take care of while submitting to the UID registry. Item description should also be included along with the serialized item number, part number, and log or batch number. Initial acquisition info and any major modification info should also be mentioned clearly. Detailed shipment and delivery info about the acquisition of item should also be included in the list of submitted data. Contractor custody info and acceptance data should also be present in the accountability section of the info.

The Department of Defense now facilitated UID data submission via wide area workflow (WAWF). This technologically advanced and paperless mode of data submission to the UID registry is easy to approach. The UID registry is updated

automatically each time the data is submitted through WAWF. Contractors can not only transmit data electronically, they can acquire contract receipt too this WAWF. WAWF has made UID data submission process comparatively faster.