FAQ Questions

1 - Does IUID require manufacturing drawings to be changed?

Answer

<p>This is the proverbial "it depends". Where the drawing includes a standard central marking or label/data plate reference it is entirely possible to change the reference one time to impact all drawings. It is also often not necessary for the drawing to change immediately; rather, a cover change notice and manufacturing instruction updates may be acceptable. When drawings must be updated they will be changed in accordance with contract provisions, or in their absence, contractor practice. Drawing or technical documentation updates that impact marking are normally required to be done by or approved by the cognizant design authority. Generally, any markings to be placed on an item are required to be detailed in the technical documentation. The policy requires that IUID markings comply with the provisions of MIL STD 130 latest version. </p>

Question
1 - Does IUID require manufacturing drawings to be changed?

2 - If a contractor elect to mark all of its serialized item

Answer

<p>Yes. Marking additional items beyond contract requirements is acceptable, provided they are registered in the DoD IUID Registry. </p>

Question
2 - If a contractor elect to mark all of its serialized items as part of its internal business rules or strategies, which may mean delivering marked items in addition to those required by a contact, is this acceptable to the Government?

3 - Can a prime contractor direct their vendors to use their

Answer

<p>The prime should flow down to its suppliers the requirements of DFARS 252.211.7003 and the supplier should use its EID to construct the UII. However, the prime contractor may direct their vendors to use the prime's EID in instances where the prime is the source control for the item being procured from the vendor. </p>

Question
3 - Can a prime contractor direct their vendors to use their (prime's) EID on the items the vendor produces for the prime to deliver to the Government or would the vendor need to use their own EID since they are the one's actually manufacturing the item?

4 - If an item with no UII and valued at over $5,000 is brou

Answer

<p>If the Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) contract requires the CLS contractor to furnish spares/repair parts to DoD as a part of CLS, then the CLS contractor is delivering items to DoD. Thus, the CLS contract should have the DFARS clause on item identification and valuation included and the CLS contractor should be required to IUID items that it delivers to the DoD. If the CLS contractor is just a depot maintenance operation and is only repairing items that DoD owns, then the requiring activity has the option to have the repaired items IUID'd by the CLS contractor, if it chooses to do so.</p>

Question
4 - If an item with no UII and valued at over $5,000 is brought in for repair to a contractor who is not the OEM, the item is repaired and returned to a condition ready for use, does the repair contractor need to put a UII on the item before acceptance?

5 - If COTS parts are identified with a DoD recognized IUID

Answer

<p>It is not necessary to change a UII if the item is modified. The UII identifies an item, not its state or configuration, therefore the IUID Equivalent would be adequate in both circumstances as long as it met all of the criteria for an equivalent including the ECC 200 Data Matrix.</p>
<p>The owning activity is responsible for IUID marking and implementation.</p>

Question
5 - If COTS parts are identified with a DoD recognized IUID Equivalent code and it is modified to satisfy a DoD requirement can the equivalent code be updated or will it be required to get a DoD IUID? If the equivalent code can be updated, who is responsible to ensure it happens?

6 - Are the data elements marked on an item for unique ident

Answer

<p>Yes. The UII component data elements, at a minimum, shall be contained in a Data Matrix ECC200 symbol so that an Automatic Identification Technology (AIT) device can be used to read the data elements and construct the UII. Data may be contained in other AIT media (e.g., contact memory buttons, linear bar codes, radio frequency identification, etc.) in addition to the IUID Data Matrix. Where space is available, human readable information for UII data elements should also be marked on the item.</p>

Question
6 - Are the data elements marked on an item for unique identification required to be machine-readable?

7 - Is it permissible to encode additional information, such

Answer

<p>Business Rule 13 in the DoD Guide to Uniquely Identifying Items (<a target="_blank" href="/uploads/799">DoD UID Guide</a>) states: </p>
<p>13. Data elements not required to construct the concatenated UII shall remain discrete but may be contained within the same mark or media as the UII-required elements, provided that (1) all data elements contained in the mark or media are properly identified with a data qualifier, (2) the added data elements do not introduce ambiguity in the concatenation of the UII, and (3) the added data elements do not violate other business rules stated herein. Single data elements that are sufficient to derive UIIs (i.e., 18S, 25S, UID , UST , USN , and DoD recognized IUID equivalents) shall always be interpreted as the UII regardless of any apparent ambiguity introduced by additional data elements in the symbol. The UII data elements should appear first in the sequence.</p>

Question
7 - Is it permissible to encode additional information, such as Country of Origin, in the Data Matrix symbol if it is desired?

8 - Do you need two Data Matrix marks when the current part

Answer

<p>Current part number is not a required data element for IUID. The current part number may be included in the IUID Data Matrix (but that would require the IUID Data Matrix to be replaced each time the current part number changed). A second 2D Data Matrix could be added to hold the current part number and other format codes for traceability purposes. Regardless of part number changes, the original UII does not change. So the original IUID Data Matrix must continue to reside on the item, providing the item's unchanging unique identifier information.</p>

Question
8 - Do you need two Data Matrix marks when the current part number changes?

9 - How do you decide where to place data elements for uniqu

Answer

<p>IUID data elements will be placed on qualifying items in accordance with the latest version of MIL-STD-130, Identification Marking of U.S. Military Property. Often, IUID marks can be placed near existing identifying marks on the item. For other items, engineering analysis maybe required to ensure the mark(s) do not affect the form, fit, or function of the item.</p>

Question
9 - How do you decide where to place data elements for unique identification on items?

10 - How are the items marked and how is the selection of th

Answer

<p>Regarding the application of IUID to items, there are a number of methods that can be used, including labels, data plates, and direct part marking (laser, chemical etching, dot-peen, etc). </p>
<p>The application of labels and data plates can also vary, depending on the material of the label and the data plate. Location is usually determined by system engineering staff to ensure that performance is not jeopardized by the placement and type of marking. How and what methods are used to apply IUID to items is left up to the item vendors. For a large majority of items, there is existing part marking occurring, and compliance with IUID policy will be more a function of adding to or changing the existing processes, rather than introducing a whole new process. For many suppliers, application of labels is incorporated into the manufacturing processes.</p>

Question
10 - How are the items marked and how is the selection of the IUID location on the item determined?

11 - How do we manage requirements where the specifications

Answer

<p>IUID marking per MIL-STD-130 would be additive to other marking, unless the IUID marking would supplant the need for other marking. </p>

Question
11 - How do we manage requirements where the specifications require marking in accordance with something other than MIL-STD-130?