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Radio Frequency Identification,
RFID, continues to gain acceptance and implementations gain speed in a
variety of application areas from luggage tracking at a major international
airport to patient tracking within a health organization.
As of March, Wal-Mart has
implemented RFID with 100 suppliers. They are making plans to have all suppliers RFID
capable during 2006.
The DoD has just approved
implementation of the electronic product code (EPC) and RFID for it's 60,000
suppliers. The EPC is the identification code used in RFID applications and it
contains more information than available in a UPC. It is an expanded code which
can be used to track individual instances of an item with a unique serial code
for each item.
Clearly, implementations of RFID
are moving along at a fast pace. However, the standards are also continuing to
evolve. Many applications will become more cost effective as prices on tags
drop. So like any new technology, we recommend that you plan your
implementations carefully and if you are not one of those top 100 suppliers,
bide your time.
Additional information on RFID
applications can be found here.
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The
Uniform Code Council has changed it's name to GS1 US. If you utilize UPC
codes, this is the organization that you joined to get your manufacturer's ID. GS1 is the new name
for the combined legacies of UCC and EAN International. They provide global bar
code standards and global EDI standards. More information can be found on
the