Eight tips for DoD bar code compliance

By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 9/1/2006

Companies supplying products to the U.S. Department of Defense have several choices for meeting the DoD's unique identification (UID) bar coding requirements. Choices range from applying printed labels, to affixing metal data plates, to directly etching bar codes onto the surfaces of products.

Zebra Technologies, a maker of thermal bar code printers, provides the following eight tips for choosing a permanent marking method and creating a successful DoD UID marking program:

UID compliance requires special software for producing UID numbers (called UIIs, for "unique item identifier") and for interfacing with the DoD's wide area workflow (WAWF) application—not to mention the time it takes to master a new set of acronyms.

Catalog all the items, noting their life cycle or shelf life, their shape and size, the materials with which they're made and the conditions under which they'll be used.

Important considerations include cost to acquire and maintain the marking system, ease of implementation, and how well the system works for permanently marking all items.

The team should include representatives from IT, purchasing, engineering, etc.

Marks are permanent, so they must be accurate.

An estimated 80% of DoD supplies can be permanently marked with an adhesive label.

Suppliers who choose on-demand printing as their marking method should examine their labeling system to be sure they're using the most appropriate ribbons and labels for meeting DoD requirements.

Suppliers who will eventually need to comply with the DoD's RFID labeling requirements should consider investing in a marking system that could support both initiatives.