The use of iRAPT and the nature of defense contracts can prove to cause various complexities in shipment requirements and reporting. This is an extremely vital part of the process. Incorrect reporting or labelling could result in snags like rejected payment or shipment from the customer. It is very important to understand how iRAPT affects your shipment reporting.
When both IUID and RFID requirements are listed on a contract, the relationship between the two is fairly complex. Both standards are followed which means that parts requiring IUID’s are labeled or marked with the appropriate IUID and containers and shipping containers that are packed with IUID labeled parts are tagged with RFID-enabled Military Shipping Labels (non-UII’d assets or materials can also require an RFID tag on the case or palette). This creates a parent-child relationship between RFID labels and IUID labels/marks. The parent-child relationship must be reported in the iRAPT submission. This reported relationship allows the receiving DoD depot to read the RFID label on a container and know what parts are contained in the container. This provides for an audit trail of both IUID and RFID labeled parts and shipping containers.
The challenge with generating RFID labels is that they have to conform to the exact specifications of human readable content (e.g. shipping address information, TCN) as well as machine readable codes (e.g. 2D barcodes and RFID encoding). In addition, in order to be compliant with shipping regulations, these labels have to be verified as readable according to MIL STD 129. It’s important to ensure that you’re getting your labels from a reputable source that knows and will satisfy these requirements.
Another notable change due to iRAPT is in the process by which final shipment information gets communicated and processed. Final shipment reporting data including RFID numbers, must be programmatically used to create the Advanced Ship Notice (ASN). The ASN must be submitted with the final invoice to iRAPT in order to complete the delivery.
It is extremely important to be aware of these changes and to implement them completely to ensure that your DoD contracts are not compromised and that you will get paid for your efforts. Make sure that your organization is utilizing iRAPT to its full potential and that everyone on your team understands How iRAPT affects your Asset Reporting.
Stay abreast of changes to iRAPT and the WAWF eBusiness suite and how they affect your organization. Reporting to iRAPT is a complex process that is a difficult organizational challenge and yet vital to your DoD contract. Keep your organization ahead of the iRAPT reporting requirements and attend our upcoming Webinar on June 23rd at 2pm EST.
Live Webinar:
How Property Reporting is Changing with iRAPT and IUID Registry
Join us for this free webinar with featured speaker Pat Jacklets and learn the tools necessary to meet the requirements for property reporting and keep your organization audit ready.
