The DoD Crackdown on Labeling
There’s a reason why you don’t see many drivers today swerving down the road, fumbling with a map to figure out where they’re going. Or office spaces crowded with filing cabinets, and stacks and stacks of printed documents taking up space. It’s because the GPS app on almost everyone’s phone will do the navigating for you so you can keep your eyes on the road, and the rooms of filing cabinets have been consolidated to cloud storage that is accessible virtually anywhere with a Wi-Fi signal. Technology has taken these manual processes and replaced them with reliable solutions that are far easier and more accurate, freeing us up to accomplish more with our days. Sure, you could get by without these technological advances, but why would you? Managing item labels for your DoD contract is no different.
Doing business with the DoD comes with its unique challenges. The work is reliable and steady, as even in times of financial hardship our country must continue to supply its military men and women with the mission-critical supplies for them to continue doing their important jobs. But these contractors must also abide by the military’s strict regulations, and a recent trend is seeing the DoD cracking down on the product labels to make sure they are correct. Even the smallest label error can have dire consequences for the contractor.
Manufacturing the product to the appropriate quality and specifications is just the first step. Seasoned DoD contractors know that they must also abide by the minimum requirements for uniform military marking for shipment and storage outlined by MIL-STD-129R. This applies to both unit and NSN labels, which must accurately display all the required information about the product including lot number, manufacturing dates, expiration dates, name and description of the item as it appears in the contract, and more. Failure to do so will result in re-labeling charges, delayed payments, or refused shipments.
Running a successful DoD contracting business means maximizing your profit margins. While some might try to accomplish this by decreasing overhead and taking on the task of labeling without the help of technology, the inevitable mistakes caused by sheer volume and human error will end up costing you. In the end, it would be far better for your bottom line to invest in technology that replaces manual labeling processes and eliminates the possibilities of any human error.
Odyssey’s technology was developed specifically to help contractors comply with these strict regulations, and prepare shipments properly the first time, every time.
To learn more about how Odyssey can help your business add efficiency to its DoD processes, contact us.