SIN: 617 13FOR A VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS INCLUDING SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, LOGISTICS, ANDANTI-COUNTERFEITING, TO IMPROVE INVENTORY MANAGEMENT AND REDUCE OPERATING COSTS. UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION (UID) IS A SYSTEM OF DISTINGUISHING ONE OBJECT FROM ANOTHER. UID OF ITEMS REQUIRES THAT QUALIFYING ITEMS HAVE A DATA MATRIX INSCRIBED EITHER DIRECTLY ON THE ITEM OR ON A PERMANENT MACHINE-READABLE LABEL AFFIXED TO THE ITEM. UID IS A MANDATORY DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DOD) REQUIREMENT FOR ALL ACQUISITIONS BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2004. IT IS ALSO MANDATORY THAT ALL LEGACY ITEMS ANDALL GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY (GFP) BE MARKED BY JANUARY 1, 2006. RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION (RFID) IS A METHOD OF REMOTELY STORING AND RETRIEVING DATA USING DEVICES CALLED RFID TAGS/TRANSPONDERS. AN RFID TAG IS A SMALL OBJECT INTEGRATED WITH A SILICON CHIP, SUCH AS AN ADHESIVE STICKER, THAT CAN BE ATTACHED TO OR INCORPORATED INTO A PRODUCT. RFID TAGS CONTAIN ANTENNAS TO ENABLE THEM TO RECEIVE AND RESPOND TO