EPCglobal concludes first phase of RFID pilot project to enable sea container visibility between Hong Kong and Japan
Brussels, 30 April 2007 – GS1 EPCglobal today announced the completion of the first phase of their Transportation and Logistics Industry Action Group RFID pilot programme.
The pilot tracked in real time the location of cargo containers shipped from Hong Kong to Japan.
Phase One of the pilot, which was extensively supported by The Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry (METI) in Japan, assessed the use of both passive and active EPC tags for sea-shipment of cartons and containers. The pilot addressed specific business needs of the partners, such as matching tagged products with purchase orders.
This multi-industry, multi-stakeholder initiative extensively tested EPCglobal standards developed in response to specific user requirements. Through the use of the EPC Information Services (EPCIS) standard in particular, true visibility at critical junctions throughout the global supply chain was achieved.
“Phase One of the pilot has demonstrated the value of the EPCIS standard which was used to track the progress of cartons and containers across the supply chain between multiple trading partners” said Chris Adcock, President, EPCglobal Inc.
“We strongly recommend EPCglobal as a reliable RFID standard to secure and facilitate global trade,” said Tetsuya Hamabe, Director of Distribution and Logistics Policy Division of METI.
Based on this phase of the pilot, ran in collaboration with the consignee, a footwear manufacturer, we can already anticipate that EPCglobal standards users will gain advanced cargo visibility, enabling them to control lead time, inventory and cash flow.
A second phase, scheduled for completion in February 2008, is set to reinforce the EPCIS dimension. Information will be exchanged between potential end users, such as customs administrations for automatic customs clearance. The trade lane to be used in this phase is Shanghai to Long Beach, California.
Pilot participants include several hardware and software companies, government bodies, and global supply chain providers including METI, Maersk Logistics, Schneider National, Inc, APL, DHL, NYK Logistics, GS1 Hong Kong, IBM, BEA Systems, WhereNet, Symbol, Toppan
Printing, Toppan Forms, Savi, Allumis, NRI, Oracle, IIJ, NTT COMWARE, Monohakobi Technology Institute, VeriSign and Schenker.
Notes to the Editor:
About EPCglobal Inc
EPCglobal Inc, a subsidiary of GS1, is a not-for-profit standards organisation dedicated to driving global adoption of the Electronic Product Code as a global standard to enable accurate information and visibility about products in the supply chain. More information about EPCglobal Inc can be found at http://www.epcglobalinc.org
About EPCglobal Standards
EPCglobal provides the globally accepted standard that ensures universal applicability and optimal functionality across the globe for all industry sectors. Without such horizontal standards, industries and/or geographic regions would be left to develop their own standards, which would create diverse, incompatible systems that inhibit collaboration across industries, commercial sectors and geography.
About EPCIS
EPCIS is used to track the progress of objects as they move through the supply chain. The data shared at each read point in the supply chain provides the WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and WHY of each EPC event. The EPCIS Standard provides the foundation necessary for the capture, communication and discovery of EPC event data. It enables standard event capture and query interfaces for obtaining and sharing data about unique objects in the supply chain within and across organisations.
For more information contact:
Australia: Mary Riekart
GS1 Australia
+61 (3) 9550 3409
Mary.riekart@gs1au.org
Brussels: Audrey Ni Cheallaigh
GS1 Global Office
+32 (0) 2 788 7825
Audrey.nicheallaigh@gs1.org
United States: Jeffery Oddo
GS1 US
+1 609 620-4548
Joddo@gs1us.org
