Standards – December 2008
GS1/EPCglobal continues to develop standards through several EPCglobal industry work groups. The Transportation and Logistics Services (TLS) Industry Action Group RFID Pilot Program will conduct its third phase with a shipment between Tokyo and Amsterdam, which began earlier this month. The pilot will test the ability of EPICS to provide real-time product and shipment information of 50 containers to a wide number of supply chain participants and customs officials as the shipment moves throughout its four-week journey.
The initial phase of the pilot program was to validate that both passive and active tags could be used on sea-shipment containers. These tests were conducted by reading tags on shipments between Hong Kong and Japan. Phase two confirmed that base standards enabled sufficient visibility for goods shipped between Chinese factories and distribution centers in the U.S., including at the ports of Shanghai and Los Angles.
The TPL 3 pilot will use the Global Shipment Identification Number, which is a customs-compliant unique consignment reference, and allows a group of transported containers to be identified with one commercial purchase order. In an effort to help define standards for conveyance asset tags and passive e-seals, the TPL 3 Pilot will use active Extended Conveyance Asset Tags (XCAT) and e-seal tags on sea containers. Active tags will also be tested at the pallet level. The passive e-seals combine mechanical bolt seals with Gen 2 tags, which allows for electronic detection of a tampered seal as the tags cease operation. The TPL 3 pilot program includes a wide number of supply chain partners as well as product vendors, including Allumis, Canon, Confidex, Marubeni, Mitsubishi Electric/Alien, IBM, Motorola, NEC, Nippon Express, NTT, NYK Logistics, NXP, Oracle, SATO/UPM Raflatac, Secura Shield, Toppan and Vue. The ports of Tokyo and Rotterdam as well as associated customs officials were supporters of the pilot program.
