UID Marking Information Required for the Vendors

The vendor information required for submission of data to the UID Registry is defined in the guidelines provided by the Department of Defense. It also provides details of submission of data to the UID registry.

According to the IUID standards and guidelines, the vendors are required to upload certain data into the UID Registry to support the submittal of IUID data. While submitting the items, the data must be included with the shipment notification. The information required to submit data are discussed below.

Necessary Vendor Information

At the time of shipment of the material to the procuring General Dynamic Business Unit, the vendor has to provide the following necessary data for each item or unit that require IUID marking.

1. Vendor Name
2. Gov’t. Contract Number
3. Gov’t. Delivery Order (D.O.) Number
4. GDLS Purchase Order (P.O.) Number
5. Shipment Number (if multiple shipments; e.g., back-ordered item)
6. Ship Date
7. Carrier and Tracking Number
8. Ship-to Address
9. Ship-to Address DoDAAC

The embedded item is marked with its parent end item IUID. As all the items of the Government are not controlled on the basis of batch or lot, the batch number or lot number is not a part of concatenated IUID marking. In case there is a need for the lot number, the GDLS informs the vendors about the requirement with purchase order.

When there is a need for a change in the IUID of the registered item, the additional data included in the IUID marking are original part number, current part number and the current part number effective date.

Vendor Information Required for the Submittal Format

There is a specific format in which the vendor should submit the data to the General Dynamic Business Unit. The required information for the submission is arranged in a tabular format for which Microsoft Excel file is generally preferred. An alternative to the excel sheet format is comma-separate-variable file. Each field is identified with maximum alfa-numeric characters. For the items that require IUID marking, a separate row is used.

Information Provided by GDLS for IUID Marking

The vendors are provided with certain information by the GDLS with the purchase order. The info are

1. Purchase Order Number
2. Gov’t. Contract Number
3. Gov’t. Delivery Order (D.O.) Number
4. Ship-to Address
5. Ship-to Address DoDAAC
6. The items in the GDLS purchased order that require IUID marking should be so identified.

Quality Verification of IUID Marking

An essential part of data submission is the quality verification of the IUID marking as it is required by the IUID standards. The verifications are performed either on a sample basis or on each label. The Government verifies the data in accordance with the Quality Verification records of the IUID. At the time of material shipment, the vendors are required to maintain a said record or provide IUID label Quality Verification reports.

The registration data is the most important part of UID registry submission process. IUID marking of items are crucial for item identification and management of the items. The U.S. Department of Defense has defined the guidelines for the vendors about IUID marking and submittal of required data to the UID Registry. The vendors are required to follow the IUID marking guidelines so that the marking should comply with the IUID standards.

IUID Marking Methods and Verification

The IUID marking for the items involve strategic marking methods and verification procedures before the data are submitted to UID Registry.

According to the Department of Defense, it is mandatory for all the tangible items of the department to have unique identification or IUID. It is the strategic process implemented by the DoD to keep track of the items across the organization. As the IUID is a globally unique identification, proper care and attention is crucial for IUID marking. The MIL-STD-130 has mentioned certain criteria for the contractors and suppliers who apply IUID marking on the military and non-military items.

The MIL-STD-130 is the governing document of DOD for IUID application. The usability of the nameplates in the Department of Defense depends on the accuracy, durability and flexibility of the IUID marking. The IUID of the items are anodized, screen printed, serialized, hot stamped or thermal transferred.

Different Features of IUID Marking

Unless the items of the DoD are labeled with IUID marking, they are not eligible for submission to UID Registry. There are different aspects of IUID marking:

• Methods of IUID marking
• IUID verification

IUID Marking Method

There are two kinds of IUID marking- direct part marking and label or nameplates. The items are required to fulfill certain conditions for direct part marking. In case the environment of the items is not appropriate for direct part marking, use of nameplates or label is considered for IUID marking. Generally, polycarbonate/lexan, metalphoto, aluminum, vinyl, polyester or mylar are the materials used for the nameplates and labels. The IUID is directly marked to the items using techniques such as dot-peen, chemical etch, laser etch, and stencil printing. The IUID are marked on the items in the form of 2D data matrix code that are identified by barcode readers.

The IUID of the items are marked or the IUID labels are affixed to the items on a particular location meant for the purpose. The sizes of the nameplates are selected by the manufacturer so as that it can contain all required data mentioned in the MIL-STD-130. The commercial products require information such as part number, serial number and manufacturer’s logo. Enterprise identifier is the additional information that is marked on the parts. Apart from the machine readable 2D data matrix code, the human readable data are also provided during the IUID marking.

IUID Marking Verification

Before submitting the IUID data to the UID Registry, the IUID marking of the items are verified to ensure that they meet the standards of MIL-STD-130.

• The marking should pass Error Correction Code (ECC) 200
• The 2D data matrix should be atleast a ‘GradeB’ and should maintain the quality of at least ‘Grade C’over the service life of the marked item.
• The methodology of print quality measuring is specified in ISO/IEC 16022 and the acceptance of the DoD UID code should have a minimum print quality of B/05/660.

It is important for the IUID marking to use the metal that can withstand adverse weather conditions and chemicals. The data provided in the IUID marking should be as per the requirements of the MIL-STD-130 standards. It is imperative for the contractors and suppliers to follow the guidelines of IUID marking while submitting the data to IUID Registry.