UID Compliance: A Brief Overview

UID, or Unique Item Identification, has been made a mandatory practice by the United States Department of Defense (DoD). All military property, assets, and products are now required to possess compliant UID markings, or tags. This exclusive system of assigning specific ID codes to unique items was introduced with a strong motive for protecting these valuable assets from loss, damage, or misuse. Compliance with the requirements outlined by the DoD, means that the manufacturers’ experiences will be more positive throughout the duration of their government contract. Non-compliance may result in hefty fines and ultimately, the loss of a contract.

UID Specifications and Requirements:

The Department of Defense has a wide range of essential UID requirements. For improved adoption and compliance by contractors, the DoD has prepared a series of published guidelines to assist in meeting these requirements. Two excellent resources for UID compliance include MIL STD 129 and MIL STD 130 guidelines.

Both these documents contain a many of do’s and don’ts for the manufacturers. Generally these articles are categorized under the UID compliance regulations on the basis of the cost, usage, or overall value of the product. These processes are very rigid and fulfillment of successful contract terms requires full compliance on each product or part supplied to the U.S. military.

UID Compliance Methods

UID compliance, as stated earlier, covers a huge area. Starting right from accepted methods of UID marking, label substrate materials, UID scanner models, and data collection, storage, and analysis, the DoD has carefully thought through each facet of product identification to ensure better end results. Each and every process has specific rules and regulations of critical importance. Therefore, before a manufacturer enters into a contract to supply the U.S. Government one must attain thorough knowledge of these guidelines and restrictions as provided in detail throughout all MIL STD 130 and MIL STD 129 documentation for full UID compliance.

UID Compliance and Verifiers:

UID compliance verification helps to systemize the entire chain of production, storage, and circulation of production data amongst manufacturers. Such identification solutions immensely help to actually track down records, capture and analyze valuable production details, and enforce safety and quality control measures. Many successful contractors choose to integrate a UID verifier into their UID application solution for an added measure of quality improvement when it comes to meeting UID compliance requirements.For more information on UID compliance and the wide range of solutions, visit ID Integration at www.id-integration.com.