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U.S.
DoD RFID/UID Compliance
While the consumer goods industry was hard at
work with the implementing bar code/RFID compliance mandates
and looking for new ways to exploit the use of the technology
for their own benefits the US DoD also began leveraging the
use of these technologies to assist in their own supply chain.
The US DoD began to create and enforce bar
code/RFID mandates on its suppliers to that it may gain
benefits in inventory tracking, asset tracking and shipment
tracking.
Bar codes (and soon RFID tags) no longer were
optional if one wanted to do business with the US DoD. Over
time the US DoD developed a number of standards that are still
being expanded and used today. Some of these require the use
of 2-dimensional codes with special data formatting (UID as
per MIL-STD-130N) for the direct marking of parts in addition
to linear 1-dimensional bar codes applied to cases and unit
loads on shipments.
Smaller manufacturers find difficulty in
funding the purchase and implementation of bar code/RFID
technology. So they continue to look to find ways in which
they could use the technology not only for compliance but to
improve their own internal processes and way of doing business
in an effort to save enough money to pay for its costs. Bar
coding began to be used to mark items for inventory tracking
in storage facilities, work in process, and more.
Today bar codes are a fact of life and are
used in almost every walk of life to identify all goods that
may be sold to the US DoD. Direct Part Marking using 2
dimensional codes are now a compliance requirement on certain
items. And with the RFID compliance mandates starting to be
enforced in new contracts the use of that technology will soon
be a widespread requirement.
Marking your shipments is only a part of
complying with these mandates. You must also transmit your
ASNs including RFID/UID identifiers to the WAWF and updated
the UID registry with your part marking UIDs. Without these
updates you run the risk of not getting paid for your efforts.
Even today companies have yet to realize the
full potential of using these technologies in their daily
operations beyond compliance.
Are you prepared to meet compliance mandates
or leverage the use of these technologies today or in the near
future?
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