This disclosure relates generally to methods and systems for determining whether at least a first component and a second component of a personal protection (PP) configuration are compatible so as to be assembled into an approved PP configuration, responsive to being compared against at least one predetermined criterion. Included is a smart tag for each of the first and second components. The first and second smart tags include respective first and second data. A data acquiring system is provided for acquiring the first and second data and a data processing system processes the acquired first and second data for determining if the first and second components are compatible to be assembled as an approved PP configuration.