Description
Tangible items are distinguished from one another by the assignment of a unique identifier in the form of a unique data string and encoded in a bar code placed on the item. An item unique identifier is only assigned to a single item and is never reused. Once assigned to an item, the IUID is never changed even if the item is modified or re-engineered. IUID is similar to social security numbering used to distinguish citizens of the United States from one another.
In the case of a lot or batch of items that are not individually serialized, the entire lot or batch may have a unique identifier assigned. 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 government would refer to this IUID at the point of acceptance. The entire gross quantity in this case is treated as a single item. In this case, the IUID is no longer useful after the items are separated, and the individual items from the batch or lot are never uniquely identified.
IUID is physically marked on tangible items or assets using a two-dimensional (2D) Data Matrix symbol with the data formatted in accordance with specified standards. The encoded data is identified by the use of data identifiers, application identifiers or text element identifiers. The choice of which identifier to use is based upon normal industry practices of the organization assigning the serialization. The formatted data is called a Unique Item Identifier (UII). The Data Matrix symbol is a machine-readable representation of the UII.
When DoD requires this marking it shall be applied directly to the surface of the item or shall be applied to an identification plate, tag or label securely fastened to the item. The UII is intended to be a permanent mark and cannot be changed over the life of the item.
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 data must be entered into the IUID Registry to “ensure uniqueness” of each item submitted for listing in the registry. 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.
Read more about this topic: UID Compliance
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“The Sage of Toronto ... spent several decades marveling at the numerous freedoms created by a “global village” instantly and effortlessly accessible to all. Villages, unlike towns, have always been ruled by conformism, isolation, petty surveillance, boredom and repetitive malicious gossip about the same families. Which is a precise enough description of the global spectacle’s present vulgarity.”
—Guy Debord (b. 1931)
“The next Augustan age will dawn on the other side of the Atlantic. There will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xenophon at New York, and, in time, a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newton at Peru. At last, some curious traveller from Lima will visit England and give a description of the ruins of St Paul’s, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)
“Whose are the truly labored sentences? From the weak and flimsy periods of the politician and literary man, we are glad to turn even to the description of work, the simple record of the month’s labor in the farmer’s almanac, to restore our tone and spirits.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)