L-3 Titan Group, AP&D Division
The Company
Founded in 1981 The Titan Corporation is a leading provider of comprehensive information and communications products, solutions, and services for the Department of Defense, intelligence agencies and other government customers. Titan is a public company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TTN. Titan Corporation’s Advanced Products & Design Division (AP&D) offers a unique product and service portfolio for commercial and government customers developing mission-critical and real-time applications.
The Issue
The Department of Defense (DoD) has adopted policy that requires all tangible items, including assets and personal property owned by the DoD, to be marked with a unique serialized identification number (UID). The UID is required in order to bid and complete DoD contracts. Government contractors and suppliers must immediately meet marking requirements and have a fail-safe method of reporting the data to the UID Registry so that they are in compliance.
The Solution
The impact of UID compliance ripples across many business functions. Strong leadership and teamwork enabled Titan Corporation’s Advanced Products & Design Division (AP&D) to achieve compliance in just two months. A2B Tracking Solutions was called in for analysis and to provide step-by-step guidelines for implementing a fully compliant UID marking process. UID Comply!™ was chosen as a total compliance solution to handle all technical requirements, from label generation and validation to data management and electronic download to the UID Registry.
Project Manager’s Quality Methodology Leads to Quick UID Compliance at Titan Corporation’s AP&D Division
When Don Griffin, AP&D’s ISO Q. A. Compliance Manager first heard about the new DoD unique identification (UID) marking requirement, he was unfamiliar with the specific policy requirements, as well as what the impact would be on the organizations product lines. Additionally he wondered what information the UID could provide that a normal bar code couldn’t. With these thoughts in mind, he began researching the UID requirement. This led to an appreciation of the long-term benefits of a permanent identification marking that would provide many advantages, including item visibility to the DoD, regardless of which contractor provided the item. Furthermore, he realized that becoming UID compliant wasn’t an option, but a requirement for performing DoD contracts which form 80 percent of AP&D’s effort.
Mr. Griffin began looking for, and noticing, UID marks on products being received from AP&D’s suppliers. This in turn led him to consider what direct impact the marking requirement would have on AP&D’s various product lines, especially those that are sold by AP&D as a distributor and are shipped direct from suppliers to end customers but are not physically processed at the AP&D facility in San Diego, CA.
UID Spelled Competitive Advantage in Winning Contracts
Mr. Griffin realized that AP&D would need to become fully UID compliant in order to maintain competitive advantage bidding on government contracts. “It’s better to be proactive, than reactive,” he says. That meant an all-out effort that involved pulling together key departments throughout the division, including senior management, legal, marketing, production, design & development, document control and shipping. “Everyone said to me, ‘Don, you become “our” expert, and tell us what we need to do to implement this process,’ and that is the role I assumed in our implementation effort.”
Mr. Griffin began by reviewing information provided on the DoD website, researching companies via the Internet and contacting suppliers already utilizing the UID marking. “It quickly became evident that DoD guidance was lacking in terms of clear implementation assistance. This led us to conclude that turning to an outside expert was a viable, timesaving alternative rather than attempting to implement UID by ourselves.” Mr. Griffin chose A2B Tracking Solutions because of the company’s depth of experience with implementing bar code tracking and compliance. Also because A2B had developed UID Comply!™, a total compliance package that addresses all UID requirements from labeling to final electronic downloading to the UID Registry.
A2B Tracking provided an on-site seminar that explained all aspects of the DoD UID requirement. Then it performed a comprehensive analysis on the impact of compliance on each of AP&D’s product lines. “The first major hurdle was overcome by utilizing the services of A2B. They had a great grasp of UID requirements,” says Griffin. “The analysis phase resulted in A2B providing specific guidance regarding the actions we would need to address in order to implement a fully compliant UID marking process.”
The greatest internal challenge Mr. Griffin faced as project manager was gaining agreement from each of the internal groups affected by UID compliance. “As an ISO 9001:2000 company, there were numerous procedural documents to be revised or created, training to be performed and decisions to be made regarding possible contractual ‘flow down’ of the UID requirement. Document control, production, design and development groups were all directly impacted, as any additional inclusion of a marking on our products must be taken into consideration during the design phase. For example, the location of the marking must be reflected on each product’s drawings/schematics, and the location/placement of the marking on each product must be determined, and then a decision must be made as to what point in the product build cycle the marking will be applied.”
Armed with the information from A2B, Mr. Griffin said he was able to reach decisions regarding the direct impact on each group and their respective processes, then create and propose acceptable solutions.
A Straightforward Approach to Achieving Quick UID Compliance
AP&D was UID compliant in just two months. Here are some of Mr. Griffin’s tips for others who are faced with this challenge:
Seek expert advice from people who know tracking and compliance technology and have a thorough grasp of UID requirements. The time saved is enormous and more than offsets the cost.
- Utilize a good quality management system or methodology, and be consistent. It is important to identify the impact of compliance right up front. Mr. Griffin drew upon his skills in managing ISO design and development efforts.
- Educate each group in the company to the benefits of UID compliance, and explain that non-compliance is not an option.
- Be diligent in deciding how to apply UID to the entire product line, and consider the volume – Will you apply UID marking to every product or just those intended for the DoD?
- Pay special attention to the labels and marks and the environments in which they will be used. Will they hold up in harsh environments, including the battlefield?
- Identify unique needs and requirements in each department, and then respond with answers that are solutions to individual needs.
- Be solution-focused. If an individual product is too small to accommodate a UID, this might mean working with design engineers to develop a different layout.
Implementation – The Final Step
When all the planning and worst case scenarios were played out, Mr. Griffin chose UID Comply!™ a total compliance solution package from A2B, for the actual implementation of UID. Here’s how that works:
UID Comply!™ organizes all contract information so a user can create new UID labels and markings for items delivered under contracts linked to all necessary contract details.
- Labels and/or marks are validated using tools which are included in UID Comply!™
- Necessary data is electronically transferred, via UID Comply!™, to the UID Registry.
- Using UID Comply!™ mobile devices, all property managing and reporting is carried out with timeliness and detail to satisfy the Defense Contracting Management Agency (DCMA).
- In addition, UID Comply!™ contains the functionality to meet the DoD legacy item marking and reporting mandate.
- Soon, through UID Comply!™ RF-linked mobile devices, item inventory and item shipping and receiving can be seamlessly managed through the UID Comply!™ software.
Several months after implementation Mr. Griffin reports that everything is running smoothly. He particularly likes the UID Comply!™ software, which coaches users through the various steps. But he also points to another benefit; he can recover data for work in progress. “If I have 300 communication boards with different delivery dates, I am able to identify which UIDs have been manufactured, because UID Comply!™ keeps all that information in the database. And I’m looking forward to the next phase of tracking inventory with the handhelds. My experience with A2B Tracking has been completely positive,” says Mr. Griffin, “not only before the sale, but after, with their incredible technical and customer support staff.”
When asked whether becoming UID compliant so promptly had enhanced AP&D’s ability to be responsive to DOD contractual opportunities, Mr. Griffin had a quick and simple response, “Yes, without a doubt”.
The opinions expressed in this article are those solely of Mr. Don Griffin based on his personal experience, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Titan Corporation. This should not be construed as an endorsement by The Titan Corporation of any UID solution; individuals and companies should consult with their own experts and advisors for specific UID guidance.
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