IUID Blog

Since the inception of IUID policy back in 2003, the debate over encoding syntax with UID has raged on. Early in the adoption, what I’ll call the “engineering mindset” won the debate, which prompted many to choose construct 2 as their format of choice. Now that almost 8 years have passed, the practicality and direct experience involved in part marking has pushed construct 1 directly into the planning psyche. Both constructs are viable options for encoding the UID however this post will act as a recap of the two approaches to MIL STD 130 and UID encoding. (Read More)

Last week I talked about spreadsheets and how woefully inadequate they are for property management. I’ve actually come across large organizations that are managed by spreadsheet, and I have to say it’s like stepping back in time. The 1983 movie title “Risky Business” comes to mind. The first problem such companies face is the challenge of correct data entry, with the greatest impediment being an inability to fully incorporate auto ID. (Read More)

Last week I attended the National Property Management Associations’ national conference in Las Vegas. As typical, I presented to a broad audience of property professionals on the topic of UID and what the policy and technology means to the property manager. In preparation for the meeting, I found myself cramming in updates on UID and FAR policy as it applies to the property administrator. (I often get the cliff notes from Doug Goetz who is one of the most knowledgeable property professionals that I’ve ever met). During my session, I provided a brief policy update and then dove into best business practices for property identification and accountability. I focused on users preparing for auto ID technology or UID but don’t know where to start. More often than not, they’re managing property by spreadsheets and sometimes trying to manage property with spreadsheets at an enterprise level!

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Wide Area Work Flow (WAWF) is bringing two parts of the organization together that typically don’t interact with regularity: contracts and production.  UID or Item Unique Identification is the common thread.  More and more, contracts require that UID data is to be registered to the IUID Registry through WAWF.  The real challenge to this approach is getting the UID submission correct.  Many organizations use WAWF through the DoD provided web portal.  That portal provides for the submission of contract deliverables with UIDs.  The UID must be manually entered as part of that submission.  Imagine “hand-jamming” a string of alpha-numeric characters (e.g. D1TZJ4P9983100023623401BE410987) that will vary, sometimes drastically, hundreds of times as part of the submission process.  This not only poses risk to submitting incorrect UID data to the IUID Registry, which is very time consuming to correct, but as the government becomes better prepared to accept UIDs in their receipt and acceptance process, any inconsistencies between the data on the MIL STD 130N label on the item and what has been entered to the IUID Registry will become painfully obvious.  Shipments will be rejected and invoices will be held for payment. (Read More)

I was faced with a recent discussion that really surfaced a debate over the use of 2D bar code (UID) vs. pRFID (passive RFID) for serialized item identification and tracking. Let’s assume for a moment that there is absolutely no cost difference between the implementation and ongoing sustainment of these two technologies.



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As I write this entry, I’m traveling back from a very large US manufacturer and supplier to the Department of Defense. I’ll remain vague in describing the company to protect the innocent, however, it’s safe to say that they are in a business that requires an extraordinary amount of precision and discipline. As we prepared for the site visit to this company, it became obvious to me the commonality between implementing IUID (Item Unique Identification, although I’ll refer to it as UID going forward) and a manufacturing operation much like the one we were about to visit. What’s the common thread? Making critical decisions based upon precision data. In their business, accuracy is critical. Low to zero tolerances are the norm. Fast forward to the meeting and our discussions quickly moved beyond the UID compliance obligation, DFARs 252.211-7003, and MIL STD 130N discussions and into benefits of UID to their organization. I was impressed with how quickly this organization acknowledged UID benefits to precisely and accurately tracking parts through manufacturing, production, final assembly as well as back through maintenance and repair cycles. All facets of the company were represented including materials management, maintenance, logistics, supply chain, contracts, and IT. Without question, this represented a very diverse group to tackle the UID initiative laid out by DoD.  (Read More)

When WAWF is mentioned by our clients, there is typically a “groan” and telling of a not-so-flattering experience with the application, especially as it applies to UIDs. However the fact remains that more and more contracts are requiring that UID submissions take place using WAWF. So what’s the big deal? (Read More)

As if supporting the DoD’s successful implementation of UID weren’t a large enough undertaking, A2B is also providing support to AIM NA’s (www.aim-na.org) early formulation of the Internet of Things working group.  (Read More)

It’s difficult to predict when OUSD memos come out and what they’ll look like when released. That said, the latest, “ IUID of Tangible Personal Property – Policy Refinement for Secondary Items in Use or in Inventory” dated Dec 30, 2010, is important. It stresses how critical property accountability is to DoD, while referencing a Joint Logistics Board (JLB) recommendation that it is still acceptable to count items where no item level traceability is required during that item’s lifecycle. In so many words, they refine the use of IUID for secondary items in use or inventory to include only those items that meet the following criteria: (Read More)

When we started the year, the March 2011 UID Forum in Orlando Florida www.uidforum.com seemed so far away. Now we’re only two week away from the debut of numerous and exciting IUID products and services that have been developed for the DoD and DoD contractor enterprise. Here are my top three picks: (Read More)