DOD UID Data Submission – Best Practices

If you have a UID requirement on your contract, you have to get that UID data
to the government.

 

Which is the best road to take?

 

You have different options to get UID data to the UID Registry –

 

 

• The government’s stated preferred method to get end-item UIDs into the UID
  Registry, for new acquisitions, is for you to put the UIDs on your WAWF
  Receiving Report. WAWF will send the UID data on over to the UID
  Registry.
• WAWF will presently accept end-item UIDs and first-level embedded UIDs.
  WAWF will accept up to 100 first-level embedded UIDs per end-item UIDs.
• Everything not account for in the above two descriptions can be submitted
  directly to the UID Registry.

 

Whether you submit UIDs through WAWF, direct to the UID Registry, or a
combination, you have a choice of methods to submit the data –

 

 

• Type it into a web browser. Open Internet Explorer or your favorite web
  browser, log in, and start typing. And typing. And typing. Seriously, if you
  have small amounts of data and submit infrequently, this is a pretty simple
  and free way to go.
• The DOD knew from the start that typing data into a web browser would only
  be a viable option for a small number of suppliers. So they provided an
  alternative method of submitting data both to WAWF and the UID Registry-a
  transactional interface. That’s just a computer term for putting the entire
  shipment together and then submitting the shipment as a single file, rather
  than filling in all the fields in a collection of web screens. Here’s how it
  works:
  • Use a piece of DOD-savvy software to build a transaction file with all
    your shipment data.
  • Send the transaction file to WAWF or the UID Registry through an
    approved communication method. (Your software should know how to do this
    with just a press of a button on your part.)
  • WAWF or the UID Registry posts the transaction in exactly the same
    manner and to the same fields as if you had typed in the data (except that
    you saved all that time that it would have taken you).

This article is an excerpt from the DOD Suppliers Guide
– “Ten Key Questions about your UID Plan.”