Do you supply products to the US Department of Defense (DoD)?
If so, then according to DFARS 252.211-7006 you will have to affix RFID / EPC tags to those products. If you are not aware of this, then we suggest you read this article . All of the essential websites and documents regarding DoD RFID compliance are listed here: DoD RFID Compliance for Supply Chain.
According to the February, 2007 Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS 252.211-7006), DoD suppliers ?shall affix passive RFID tags, at the case and palletized unit load packaging levels, for shipments of items? being sent to eighteen (18) Defense Distribution Depots and four (4) Air Mobility Command Terminals.
Carl Brown, President of SimplyRFID and DoD Compliance Subject Matter Expert, is working with over a thousand of DoD suppliers to provide RFID / EPC enabled shipments. According to Carl, most of these companies were not aware of the RFID / EPC requirement until after they renewed their supplier contract. "They?re shipping products, business as usual, when suddenly they?re notified they are not in compliance with the RFID directive", explains Carl. The problem most of the suppliers seem to have is a disconnect between their contracting office and their operations staff. The company signed-up, but nobody bothered to tell the people doing the heavy lifting.
If you?ve not mapped out where passive RFID is currently being implemented in the DoD supply chain then take a look at this picture:
BACKGROUND
To provide a little background, the Office of Management and Budget released a Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) on September 13, 2005. It states that all new contracts executed with DoD suppliers who send material to Defense Distribution Depot, Susquehanna, PA (DDSP) and Defense Distribution Depot, San Joaquin, CA (DDJC) need to apply RFID Tags at the case and palletized unit load levels when shipping packaged operational rations, clothing, individual equipment, tools, personal demand items, or weapon system repair parts. This Federal Acquisition regulation became effective 60 days from the publication date of the announcement in the Federal register, November 14, 2005. This announcement impacts 40,000 DoD suppliers over three years.
The first document you want to read is the DoD Suppliers? Passive RFID Information Guide. This official document serves as a summary of the DoD?s requirements and guidelines related to passive RFID implementation for their supplier community and is a great overview.
Your second reading assignment is the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 252.211-7006 on Radio Frequency Identification. It provides the detailed expectations including which products get tagged, what DoD facilities expect RFID tagged shipments, and all electronic data requirements.
HOW TO TAG YOUR SHIPMENTS
The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) has made significant revisions to its implementation of marking requirements in MIL-STD-129, Revision P, which apply to shipments of packaged material to DOD. These revised requirements took effect on January 16, 2006. This official document explains the standard minimum requirements for uniform military marking on shipment and storage. For example, the labels pictured below.
If you want to get paid for the products you sell the DoD, this is a very important document. According to the DLA, ?improperly marked shipments become frustrated freight at our Consolidation and Containerization Points? and ?cannot proceed through the Defense Transportation System. These frustrated shipments are costly and time-consuming to research. These delays can result in untimely payments to the contractor. The ultimate result is delayed shipment to the war fighter.?
These documents will tell you about tagging requirements and will even give you some guidelines as to where to place RFID tags on products, but they WILL NOT tell you what tag to use or the best place to affix RFID tags so they read properly. We have an in-depth article to help with tag placement: Tag it Right!. We also have an entire section dedicated to Passive RFID tags and Smart-labels here: /rfidtags.
ELECTRONIC DATA REQUIREMENTS
The current acceptable method for an Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) submission is through the DoD Wide Area Workflow (WAWF) system. The RFID mandate requires all suppliers to send an ASN via WAWF. The ASN is not a new process/transaction, but it is the same existing Material Inspection Receiving Report (MIRR) transaction being sent to WAWF with additional data (RFID data elements) added to the transaction. In April 2005, WAWF added the RFID tag ID as an additional data element in the MIRR.
GETTING IN COMPLIANCE QUICKLY
The fastest way to get compliant is to purchase RFID tags pre-programmed and verified with your Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code. This is a 5 digit code that the DoD issues to suppliers. By encoding this number in your RFID tags, you can create your own 'DoD ready' RFID tags and you can be compliant in less than 24 hours. RFIDWizards.com recommends Pro-Tags, which are currently used by over a thousand DoD suppliers. These tags are manually affixed to products before they are shipped to the DoD, which means personnel must be trained on tag placement.
If you are going to supply RFID tagged product to other commercial companies, then you're going to need to join EPCglobal http://epcglobalna.org. There are numerous benefits, the most important being the ability to create Electronic Product Codes (EPCs) which allows your company to create unique RFID tags universally identify products in the global supply chain.
The Long-Term Solution To RFID Compliance
Ultimately, the RFID compliance solution that is best for your company may be based on the volume of shipments you send to the DoD every month.
Less than 1,000 shipments to the DOD every month.
At this volume, it makes the most sense to continue purchasing pre-programmed and verified RFID tags, such as Pro-Tags. However, as your other customers start requiring RFID tags, then you may want to start considering the higher volume options.
Between a 1,000 and 10,000 shipments to the DoD every month
At this volume, you may need a system on-site at your facility to create tags as you need them. There is now a handful of simple DoD, RFID-enabled shipping systems available that include an RFID printer-encoder and software. These systems produce RFID tags and military shipping labels at a variable cost of cents per tag and can produce many more labels than you will use at this level. RFIDWizards.com recommends On-Demand - a perfect starting system for total DoD compliance.
More than 10,000 shipments to the DoD every month OR shipments to other commercial companies
You need to start developing your long term strategy. RFIDWizards.com suggests a RFID Facility Assessment.
Remember, you don't have to wait until you have a mandate to get started. Companies that are proactive have more time to build and test their solution and the fact is, the longer you wait, the more complicated your solution is going to have be.
Help & Information
Do you have a question
about RFID, RTLS, or Wireless technology?
If you?ve not mapped out where passive RFID is currently being implemented in the DoD supply chain then take a look at this picture:
If you want to get paid for the products you sell the DoD, this is a very important document. According to the DLA, ?improperly marked shipments become frustrated freight at our Consolidation and Containerization Points? and ?cannot proceed through the Defense Transportation System. These frustrated shipments are costly and time-consuming to research. These delays can result in untimely payments to the contractor. The ultimate result is delayed shipment to the war fighter.?