New Specification to Enable Companies to Capture and Share Electronic Product Code (EPC) Event Data; Expecting to be Put Forward for Ratification Later This Year
EPCglobal Inc today announced the successful completion of interoperability testing of EPCIS (Electronic Product Code Information Services), a technical specification that will enable trading partners utilising the Electronic Product Code to capture and share event information in key supply chain processes.
The new specification, which is expected to be put forward for ratification by the EPCglobal Board of Governors later this year, represents another step in the worldwide rollout of EPC technology, which utilises Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to provide a new level of product movement visibility in the global supply chain.
The interoperability testing of the EPCIS v1.0 specification was conducted at the Auto-ID Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Twelve organisations participated in the tests, including: Auto-ID Labs Cambridge, Avicon, BEA Systems, Bent Systems, IBM, Globe Ranger, IIJ, NEC, Oracle, Polaris Systems, Samsung, and T3Ci. The EPCIS specification will enable trading partners to capture and share EPC information with seamless, standardised interoperability by providing both interfaces for the EPC data exchange and the specifications of the data itself.
"The real value of EPC technology comes when data is shared collaboratively across the supply chain. EPCIS will serve as the information bridge of the EPCglobal Network connecting trading partners, facilitating their exchange of EPC data and enabling companies to utilise this data in collaborative business processes," said Craig Asher, an IBM WebSphere product manager and co-chair of the EPCglobal Inc EPCIS work group said, "This interoperability test marks a significant milestone in the development of EPCISa culmination of years of effort by more than 150 companies and organizations participating in the working group. The test demonstrates the benefits of open standards, and the degree of choice and flexibility end users can have in implementing EPC technology to meet their business needs", said Ken Traub, chief technology officer for RFID and Edge Servers, BEA Systems and the lead editor of the EPCIS specification.
"The successful testing of the EPCIS v 1.0 represents a critical event in promoting the global deployment of EPC technology across a broad range of industries," said Chris Adcock, President of EPCglobal Inc. "An incredible amount of work went into this project and the credit goes to all of the companies that were involved in the development and testing of the specification."
EPCIS v1.0 Specification will now pass through the remaining steps of the EPCglobal Standards Development Process. Once the specification is ratified by the EPCglobal Board of Governors, it will become an EPCglobal Inc standard.
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