Lot Traceability for Mil-Spec O-Rings

The chain a buyer checks

1. The supplier's certificate of conformance: part number, specification, manufacturer, lot and quantity, signed and dated.
2. The manufacturer's certificate for the same lot and the same document, which ships with a specification part.
3. The cure date, given as a quarter and a year, against the age limit on your order (shelf-life guide).
4. The package: where MIL-STD-129 applies to a shelf-life coded item, the unit pack carries the cure date as a quarter and the last two digits of the year, and the lot number sits on the unit, intermediate and exterior packs. The lot and date on the bag should match the paper.
5. The sellers in between: if the parts passed through a distributor, the chain of invoices or authorizations back to the manufacturer.
6. Where the document has a qualified products list, the manufacturer on the certificate against the listed source (how to check a QPL).

Keep the set together with your receiving record, because a later request asks for all of it at once.

Which clauses apply to an O-ring

What DLA asks a non-manufacturer to hold

The June 2023 version of procurement note C03 says that by quoting, the seller confirms it has, or will have before delivery, documentation showing the item conforms and, for a part-numbered item, comes from an approved manufacturer. The documentation names the item, the part number, the drawing or specification, the national stock number, the manufacturer and its CAGE code, and every intermediary between the manufacturer and government acceptance, plus the manufacturer's lot or date code when one exists. The seller produces it within three business days of a request and keeps it for ten years after final payment; the June 2020 version still printed in DLAD 4.703 says six years, so read the version your solicitation cites. DLA's published examples accept, from an authorized distributor, its distributor agreement or a letter of authorization from the approved source, and from other sellers, the invoice or packing slip from the approved source or its authorized distributor. DLAD 11.392 tells contracting officers to confirm that trail and to reject redacted documents.

Counterfeit prevention for seals

FAR 52.246-26 defines a counterfeit item as an unlawful or unauthorized reproduction, substitution or alteration knowingly misrepresented as the original manufacturer's authentic item, and its reporting duty covers any end item, component, part or material. GIDEP, the Government-Industry Data Exchange Program, is where those reports and other nonconforming-part notices are shared between government and industry members. For non-electronic materiel such as seals, the SAE standard is AS6174B (revised February 2026); AS5553 covers electrical, electronic and electromechanical parts, and AS6496 electronic parts in authorized distribution. DLA's qualified distributor lists (QSLD) cover semiconductors, microcircuits, connectors and certain hardware, not packing and gasket items. Conquest's own supplier clauses bar counterfeit and suspect counterfeit goods and any removal of a previous seller's identification (see the supplier requirements page).

What the Conquest paperwork gives you

A certificate of conformance ships with every order and names the part number, the specification, the manufacturer, the lot, the quantity and the manufacturer's cure date. The manufacturer's own certificate ships with specification parts, and the batch test report where the program requires it and the manufacturer issues one. Conquest can also supply the manufacturer's certification on the raw material, or from the maker of the finished part. Conquest's purchase orders to its own suppliers require batch and cure dates on all items. If your contract carries C03 or another traceability requirement, say so on the request and name the documents you need.

Conquest keeps its certificates permanently for customers whose contracts require it and for 15 years for everyone else, and its digital records, kept from 2020 on, are retained indefinitely. A contract that sets its own period, such as the ten years in C03, belongs on the purchase order.

What to put on the purchase order

• The part number and the specification with its revision
• The traceability documents you need, by name, and how long you need them kept
• The manufacturer's certificate for the lot, and the lot number on the supplier's certificate
• The cure-date age limit and any MIL-STD-129 marking requirement
• Any quality or counterfeit standard your prime contract flows down, such as AS6174B

Send it with the callout through the quote form, and a person replies within one business day.

Sources

1. FAR 52.246-2 (Aug 1996), 52.246-11 (Dec 2014), 52.246-15 (Apr 1984) and 52.246-26 (Aug 2024), with FAR 46.317 and 46.504, acquisition.gov, read 2026-09-24
2. DFARS 252.246-7007 and 252.246-7008 (Jan 2023) and DFARS 246.870, acquisition.gov, read 2026-09-24; scope unchanged in DoD Class Deviation 2026-O0035 (FAR overhaul, Part 246)
3. DLAD Procurement Notes, effective 30 April 2025, note C03, Contractor Retention of Supply Chain Traceability Documentation (JUN 2023), dla.mil (archived copy), read 2026-09-24; DLAD 4.703 and 11.392, acquisition.gov
4. DLA Land and Maritime, Supply Chain Traceability Documentation Requirements and Examples (Counterfeit Detection and Avoidance Program), dla.mil (archived copy), read 2026-09-24
5. DLAD 9.202 and the DLA Troop Support Qualified Suppliers List page (QSLD and QSLM scope), read 2026-09-24
6. MIL-STD-129R with Change 2 (27 September 2019), Military Marking for Shipment and Storage, sections 5.10.1 and 5.10.13, read 2026-09-24
7. SAE AS6174B (2026-02-17), AS5553E (2025-11-13) and AS6496 records on SAE Mobilus, title, revision and scope only, read 2026-09-24
8. Government-Industry Data Exchange Program description, DIAR 1446.170, acquisition.gov, read 2026-09-24
9. Procurement Quality Clauses F-840-005-F, revision 1/26, Conquest Seal: clause 16 and the purchase-order line on batch and cure dates
10. Conquest Seal, company statement of 2026-09-24: the manufacturer's cure date printed on its certificate of conformance, and its record retention (certificates kept permanently where a customer's contract requires it, 15 years otherwise; digital records, kept from 2020 on, retained indefinitely)