Consider a time when you had to change your phone number, your home address, or your email. It probably took some time before you could recite the new information with assurance.

When we use or say something repetitively, it becomes a part of our behavior. The names of famous institutions, people, and sports teams you’re familiar with roll off the tongue so easily that it can be difficult to make the mental adjustment when these names change. For example, in 2003, the beloved Chicago baseball stadium, Comiskey Park, became U.S. Cellular Field; however, to this day, fans will continue to refer to it as Comiskey Park.

Chicago fans unable to adjust to the U.S. Cellular field name prove that familiar things can be difficult to break away from. Therefore, when the U.S. Department of Defense’s Wide Area Workflow (WAWF) system changed to iRAPT in 2014, defense contractors found it difficult to change their process and not use WAWF terminology.

The U.S. Department of Defense began using the WAWF in 1999, reported CACI, an information technology company that helped the Pentagon implement the system. In a feature article on its website, CACI described the WAWF system as “a solution that would virtualize and automate the federal procurement process and become DoD’s primary enterprise solution for electronic commerce.”

CACI reports that WAWF is more convenient to defense contractors than the paper system, makes transactions more secure, reduces errors on invoices, improves the efficiency of the billing process, and expedites payments. The automated system helped numerous contractors get paid on Government contracts.  Fifteen years later, in November of2014, the WAWF became iRAPT:  Invoicing, Receipt, Acceptance, and Property Transfer.

Most defense contractors are aware of the change but have yet to adopt the terminology or fully understand its different processes. A2B Tracking blogs, “Moving from WAWF to iRAPT: What This Means for the DoD Commerce World” and “How iRAPT (Formerly WAWF) Affects Your Asset Reporting,” helps guide defense contractors through the change and what you need to know.

The “Moving from WAWF to iRAPT” blog details the differences between the WAWF and the iRAPT system. The changes include:

* A new software package called WAWF e-Business Suite Version 5.6. The software includes a portal to the iRAPT system as well as the following applications : EDA, myInvoice, IUID, MRS, CORT, Tool, and eMIPR.

* Changes to the IUID registry process. “Users can no longer add new acquisition deliveries directly to the IUID Registry—you must submit them via the iRAPT Receiving Report,” reports the A2B Tracking “Moving from WAWF to iRAPT” blog.

* An iRAPT receiving report that replaces the WAWF’s Department of Defense’s Material Inspection and Receiving Report. The new report requires more information on foreign military sales. The new information is needed to “ensure that the shipments can clear customs when shipped internationally,” according to the “Moving from WAWF” blog.

There is no data about what percentage of people who work with the iRAPT system still use the old terminology. It’s clear from history, though, that many people like the White Sox fans who prefer Comiskey Park to U.S. Cellular Field have difficulty changing from things they have grown comfortable with.