With all of the excitement and enthusiasm surrounding the UID initiative some of those involved are forgetting a very crucial element. Yes, the UID mark whether it is on a UID label or directly on the item itself needs to last the lifetime of the item it is identifying. And yes, the mark needs to meet certain print quality standards set forth in the DoD and Mil STD specs. But what good does any of this do if the UIDs are not registered? Marking items with UIIs and not registering that information basically defeats the purpose of the UID initiative. Think about it. What good does it do to go to the trouble of identifying and marking these items, but then not register them? How is anyone supposed to find them once they are in service if they aren’t registered?
By some accounts only a fraction of the items that have actually been marked have also been registered. So what about the rest of the items? Are people not aware that the items need to be registered? Do they not know how to do it? Do they not know who is supposed to do it? What do you think is the reason items are not being registered? What do you think needs to be done in order to get companies to register their UIDs?
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