idWorx! GFP

GFP (Government Furnished Property) is a subset of PIPC (Property in Possession of Contractor) and consists of government property that has been made available to the contractor in order to perform a contract. Suppliers who hold onto this property in order to fulfill their government contracts are required to communicate to the DoD whenever the property enters or leaves their facilities. This process is usually closely coordinated between property managers and shipping and personnel. Although manual communication of this information has been allowed in the past, new specifications from the DoD are requiring that all GFP data be tracked electronically through the UID Registry.

This new requirement ties GFP closely to the UID processes. It also introduces a whole new set of issues that need to be addressed by the supplier. The DoD is requiring that all GFP items be UID marked. In addition to this, the supplier is given a couple of different options in this mark/submission process. When GFP items first arrive in the facility, an electronic submission of the GFP items must be sent to the UID Registry. Sometimes the supplier just doesn't have the time to UID mark all of the GFP items right away. As long as the GFP item has some kind of serial mark that makes it physically unique (such as a linear barcode), the supplier can submit what is called a Virtual UID, which has the final data of the UID, but declares the marking process as incomplete. Once the supplier has time to mark all of the GFP items, it can send an update to the UID Registry to let them know about the state changes.

This new capability of GFP submission to the UID Registry presents its own set of tracking problems. It becomes necessary for a supplier to know exactly what the state of the UID is in order to communicate effectively to the Registry. Different states require different ways of structuring the electronic documents used for communication. An incorrect submission due to confusion on the UID state can potentially result in the rejection of the document by the Registry. idWorx! keeps track of the state of the UIDs as they move around within the warehouse. A supplier using idWorx! doesn't have to worry about what state the UID is in, since idWorx! handles everything for the supplier automatically, including submission of the GFP items to the UID Registry. In doing so, idWorx! uses workflows which help to guide easily along the path to GFP compliancy.