AIT Alliance Praises NDAA Provisions on IUID

Pittsburgh, PA — May 16, 2016.   The House Armed Services Committee passed H.R.4909, the FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes extensive language on the Department of Defense’s item-unique identification (IUID) policy.  Acknowledging the vital importance of the IUID policy to defense logistics, the bipartisan language would limit funding for the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) until the DCMA Director provides a briefing on the agency’s plan to foster the adoption, implementation, and verification of the policy.
 
The DOD’s item unique identification (IUID) policy was first formulated in 2003 to enable the Department to track its assets through the use of automatic identification technology (barcodes, 2D data matrices, RFID chips, and so forth).  The policy requires contracts to have language providing for the marking of new and legacy items that met certain criteria.  In September 2015, the Office of the Secretary of Defense revised the IUID policy, assigning specific responsibilities to DCMA for the implementation of the policy, as well as to the military services and other entities within the DOD.
 
“Private industry has long since learned the immense benefits to be gained from effective deployment and use of IUID and other automatic identification technologies,” said Bob Fudge, Chairperson of the AIT Alliance.  “At the AIT Alliance, we’re excited to hear that the House Armed Services Committee is taking this major step towards leveraging IUID to enhance asset tracking, in-transit visibility, and inventory management in the DOD, which will help the warfighter and save the Pentagon—and the taxpayer—tens of billions of dollars.”
 
The FY 2017 NDAA also includes report language directing the Secretary of Defense to present a briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services on efforts of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics; the Defense Logistics Agency; the Deputy Chief Management Officer and the Department of Defense Chief Information Officer; and the Secretaries of the military departments to facilitate the implementation of the IUID policy in their organizational jurisdictions.
 
The AIT Alliance is a not-for-profit trade association of automatic identification technology (AIT) suppliers and manufacturers dedicated to raising awareness about AIT and encouraging the adoption of AIT policies—such as the IUID policy—within the Department of Defense, the U.S. government agencies, and the U.S. government contractor community.  For several years, the Alliance has worked closely with Congress and the Department of Defense to improve asset tracking and in-transit visibility capabilities through IUID, AIT, and automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) processes.  The Alliance has spearheaded advocacy for IUID provisions in several past NDAAs and hosted events to raise awareness about the use of IUID, AIT, and AIDC in the DOD.  To learn more about the AIT Alliance, visit our website, http://aitalliance.org/.
 
Press Contact: Mary Lou Bosco — marylou@aimglobal.org — 1 (724) 742-4473