Also the US Department of Defense has made it mandatory for all federal contractors to have UID-marking on their government furnished military and non-military equipment by September 30, 2007.
Only after the products have UID-marking containing uniquely identified numbers, they are eligible for IUID Registry.
IUID is similar to social security numbering used to distinguish citizens of the United States from one another.
For example, a manufacturer might place a unique IUID physical mark on the exterior of a kit or container that holds a gross quantity of mission critical items.
The choice of which identifier to use is based upon normal industry practices of the organization assigning the serialization.
To create a compliant unique item identifier, all required information about the part and the organization producing it is linked together – concatenated – into a single data field of up to 50 numeric, alphabetic or alphanumeric characters.
This unique item identifier can also see use within manufacturing, maintenance and logistics organizations for any number of varied purposes.
Marking of tangible items or assets in accordance with IUID policy is mandated by incorporating Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) clause 252-211-7003 in DoD contracts.
Metal tag with a permanent adhesive or durable polyester label are suitable for many environments but other marking items such as laser etch, dot peen, Metalphoto photosensitive anodized aluminum, chemical etch or ink jet can also be used for direct part Unique Identification.
According to the guidance, IUID is required at the component level based on a program manager determination.
After conforming to the set standards with regard to printing and marking, the next step is syntax and formatting.
All the contracts, deliverables and government properties, that meet the criteria, possessed by the contractors need to be marked with this 2D data matrix code standard.
All the items and properties either owned by or in the contract with the [DoD], and that meet the criteria, need to be identified with a unique serialized identification number and for them UID Compliance standard is obligatory.
IUID - Item Unique Identification is the strategic system implemented by the DoD to enhance the traceability of the property.