Niinja search engine keeps DoD's data public as DLA announces WebFLIS shutdown

CHICAGO, USA: Change is coming to the defense logistics industry with the planned shutdown of public WebFLIS in June 2014.

WebFLIS, the online interface for the Federal Logistics Information System (FLIS), provides essential information about supply items stocked by the U.S. Defense Department.

Access to FLIS data is critical for contractors to keep their products in compliance with the government's requirements. A FLIS search engine called Niinja, created by Chicago-based company Vital Axiom, provides public access to military stock data faster and better than WebFLIS.

The Defense Logistics Agency recently announced future changes, which exclude the public from WebFLIS. The notice posted on the WebFLIS landing page states,

"Upcoming WebFLIS improvements are projected for June 2014. <...> The new application will only be accessible by controlled access e.g. Common Access Card (CAC), ECA, or Federal Bridge card holders."

Losing access to WebFLIS will affect businesses that sell products to the federal government. Niinja provides the most up-to-date FLIS data available in a modern web-based application. It is built by defense logistics experts with over 20 years of experience with DoD data, the same team that builds and supplies FED LOG to military bases around the world.

Niinja has many unique features that make FLIS research easier, such as maps of product suppliers, graphs of changes in data values over past 12 months, and tooltip help to explain industry-specific abbreviations.

Businesses can use Niinja to explore government contracting potential in the following ways:

* Match products to Federal Supply Classes (FSC) or National Stock Numbers (NSN / NIIN)
* Research product names & codes posted in government solicitations
* See stock-listed products sold by competitors
* Discover which agency uses certain products
* Determine market pricing and track changes over time