Should You Outsource Your Defense Commerce Labeling and Reporting with Transaction Services?

Supplying the government with any kind of physical goods, from boots to jet engines, requires a completely different set of business processes to manage shipping, fulfillment, and compliance with DoD standards.

Understandably, many companies choose to outsource these business processes. For example, Odyssey offers Transaction Services, where we manage the labels and data submission requirements to ensure your contract is fulfilled according to government compliance standards.

Here are four questions you can ask that may indicate outsourcing this aspect of your DoD contract management is the right move.

1. Are you new to working with the Department of Defense?

As you’re probably finding out, supplying the federal government comes with a considerable learning curve. Between the terminology, compliance requirements, labeling processes, and often confusing government sites and databases, fulfilling a defense contract presents numerous challenges.

Until you know how much business you’re going to be doing with the DoD, it might not make sense to invest in the hardware and software required to effectively handle all the required processes.

2. Does DoD commerce account for a relatively small portion of your overall business? 

Because the requirements for labeling and reporting compliance are complex, many suppliers end up spending a disproportionate amount of time managing their work with the government compared to their private-sector clients. If you don’t do a lot of business with the DoD relative to your other customers, outsourcing these processes on a per-contract basis could be the right choice.

As you are awarded more contracts, you can decide to continue outsourcing these processes or to bring the work in-house using a defense commerce software like Odyssey’s.

3. Do you have limited staff to help with the requirements of working with the government? 

If managing the labeling of items and submitting data to VIM or iRAPT is pulling staff away from other work, getting some outside help with this time-consuming process may be the best approach. Outsourcing this business process to a provider like Odyssey frees up valuable capacity on your team. And if staffing changes, you can opt to have your team handle those tasks for your next defense contract.

4. Were you awarded a contract that involves UID? 

This is specific to current Odyssey users who leverage our iRAPT/WAWF Console, RFID and MIL-STD-130 capabilities, but are awarded a contract that requires UID. The Odyssey team can handle these requirements on a per-contract basis, saving you from having to upgrade your Odyssey software to manage UID. This is a good option if you don’t typically deal with UID, and don’t expect to have future contracts of this type.

If any of the situations above apply to you, it’s worth considering Odyssey’s Transaction Services. On a per-contract basis, our team creates all required labels and submits the necessary data to iRAPT in a compliant, timely fashion. Learn more about our Transaction Services.