EPCglobal Inc. (Brussels) has released thenew radio-frequency identification (RFID) industry standard that provides the capability for better visibility into the movement, location and disposition of assets, goods and services throughout the world. EPCIS (Electronic Product Code Information Services), by providing a standard set of interfaces for EPC data, enables a single way to capture and share information, while still allowing the flexibility for industry and organization-specific implementations. The specification supports business cases and consumer benefits such as container tracking, product authentication, promotions management, baggage tracking, electronic proof of delivery, chain of custody, returns management, and operations management.
“With the EPCIS industry standard, the technology supporting visibility into the movement and whereabouts of goods and services is coming of age" said Chris Adcock, president of EPCglobal Inc. “In terms of industry significance, I believe that the EPCIS standard may have much more of a transformational impact on the industry than the 2004 release of the UHF Gen2 Passive RFID standard. Capturing EPC data has proven, well-defined advantages for businesses and consumers, but the technology’s true potential will be realized when enterprises begin to share that data about products using the EPCIS standard to improve efficiencies in a controlled setting throughout the supply chain.”
In October 2006, EPCglobal completed interoperability testing of the platform along with 12 other large and small solution providers from Japan, Korea, and North America, including Auto-ID Labs, Avicon, BEA Systems, Bent Systems, IBM, Globe Ranger, IIJ, NEC, Oracle, Polaris Systems, Samsung, and T3Ci. The interoperability test marked a significant milestone in the development of EPCIS, which is the result of years of effort by more than 150 companies and organizations participating in the EPCIS working group. The positive results of this test and solution provider support have led to the ratification of this standard.
"The EPCIS standard is a major step in the greater adoption of RFID and sensors that can help protect us from counterfeit drugs, secure our ports and provide food traceability," said Craig Asher, IBM WebSphere Product Manager and EPCglobal EPCIS Software Action Group Co-Chair. "This standard has already been deployed in real business scenarios around the world and will facilitate revenue-enhancing and cost-saving collaboration among supply chain trading partners."
EPCIS is the foundational specification for capturing granular event information across and within organizations. It is anticipated that EPCIS will be built upon, with additional end user and community use cases serving as the driver for enhanced data sharing models.
Source: EPCglobal Inc.
