Smart tag

Imagine when you walk across the shelves of a Wal-Mart store and you see Gillette's "Mach 3" razor for sale because this is your favorite brand and model, so you decide to buy 10 packages at a time, only on the shelf The remaining two packages. At this time, the shelf uploaded "Thank you for your purchase of the Gillette Shaver!" The sound made you feel a little surprised, but you smiled and then continued to move forward.
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At the same time, a signal was transmitted to the supermarket staff room to inform them that there were only two bags of “Mach 3” razors on the shelf. The information system of the supermarket therefore knows immediately that the goods need to be replenished immediately, but at the same time, the system will also notice that disappearing 10 packs of razors is unusual and may be stealing.
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The unexpected gratitude that the customer hears also has twofold intentions. If you take 10 packets of razors at a time for normal purposes, this voice conveys the gratitude of the supermarket. If the thief took the razor for stealing purposes, the voice made the thief know that his actions were perceived by someone. At this time, in addition to the security warning signal, the EPC-equipped shelf will also send back the video signal recorded by the monitor.
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This is not content in science fiction. Currently, Wal-Mart Stores has teamed up with some of the largest consumer goods manufacturers to test the technology.
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In fact, what makes this possible is radio frequency technology, RFID—a technology that uses information from electronic product code EPCs to transmit data to computers. The EPC of each product is like a license plate. It can be read by the computer to identify the relevant information of the product into the database. If the transponder transmitter is further equipped on the EPC, a tag that tracks the motion of the object and reflects the product's environment and conditions in real time will follow.
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Although RFID-EPC technology shelves, tags or related products are still in the experimental stage, some companies have already implemented this technology in their supply chain. For companies, if you can achieve visibility control of the various goods moving in the distribution channels, it will undoubtedly greatly improve the management level.
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More data, more flexibility
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This technology was developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Automatic Identification Center and is now being used for testing by major companies such as Wal-Mart, Gillette, and Procter & Gamble.
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EPCs contain product-specific information like UPCs. However, EPC has more advantages than bar codes. For example, one of the advantages is that it can carry much more data even than the recently expanded 14-bit UPC. And RFID transmits data through radio waves, so there is no need for a straight line of sight between the tag and the scanner.
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Once an EPC-encoded tag has been scanned, information specific to each item is collected in a central database, and the central database can accurately determine the time and place of inventory or shipment. Reading these tags at each point in the supply chain will result in a real-time record of where the product is located, where it passes, and when and where the product is.
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This kind of label may not have been used on the shelves of department stores, but in fact they have already been applied. Peter Abel, director of global retailing at AMR Research in Boston, said that the US military has used radio frequency tags on military supplies destined for Iraq. In the first Gulf War, dust in the desert covered bar codes on munitions and data could not be read. This time, the US military avoided this problem by using RFID.
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In the United States, some large retailers are promoting the use of RFID. Wal-Mart asked its major suppliers to affix RFID tags to each pallet of goods by 2004, and by 2005 it will place RFID tags on each box.
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Potential difficulties
However, if the application of EPC tags is as popular as bar codes, there are two potential difficulties that must be overcome: price and standards.
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Zebra Technologies, senior product manager for RFID systems, Matt. Lim said: "The actual unit price for buying RFID tags in large quantities is now around 50 cents." 50 cents may sound scarce, but Gillette has purchased 500 million such tags for testing purposes. Obviously, for a $7 pack razor, the total price is definitely expensive. Therefore, it is not possible for companies to purchase in bulk to achieve visibility control of the supply chain.
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Paul Fox, head of Gillette’s global public relations department, said that the initial goal of the MIT Automatic Identification Center was to make the production cost of each tag below 10 cents, so that it had commercial value. Gillette gave Alien Technology a huge number of orders to make the price of a single label drop to the bottom line of 10 cents. Fox believes that the ideal goal is to reach a fraction of a cent for each tag, so that even the cheapest products can use this tag.
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But the cost is not the only roadblock to impeding EPC applications. If companies want to share EPC data, they need to develop common standards. At present, the UCC, which is responsible for bar code standardization in North America, and EAN International, which is responsible for international business, have announced the formation of a joint AutoID company. They will work with the MIT Institute of Automatic Identification to develop commercial standards and technical standards.
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At the same time, there is another issue that is the matching of existing software. The Accenture Technology Lab in Chicago is working to solve this problem. Joe Tobski, director of the laboratory's Silent Business Center, said that Accenture has developed a tracking system based on EPC technology that is compatible with existing ERP systems and inventory and warehousing systems in ERP systems. .
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Benefiting all parties
The potential benefits of real-time cargo tracking are enormous. But are these benefits worth the extra cost? Fox believes that companies will soon get a return on investment in RFID. He said that, first of all, the accuracy of data will be greatly increased for users, and problems such as the loss of halfway goods will also become history.
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Fox predicted that RFID will solve one of the biggest problems in the retail industry. He said, "Because consumers can't put the goods they need on the shelves at the time and place they need, the retail industry will lose billions of dollars every year." RFID technology enables real-time visibility of inventory. Management, it will enable retailers to make some changes to the production and inventory process to adapt to changing customer needs. He believes this will also promote sales growth.
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Fox believes that as more and more companies in the supply chain use this technology, the advantages of EPC/RFID will continue to increase. He said: "When all companies can enter the same system, when you can achieve from the manufacturing process of the goods through the logistics process to the entire process of visibility management during the retail process, the real advantages will be revealed."
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More great use of EPC tags
Because RFID tags can carry data such as manufacturer, purchase date, buyer identity, they can be used for product recall management. Similarly, if the returned merchandise is purchased at another store, the label can also immediately alert the store clerk, thus preventing theft and fraud. RFID tags can even appear in the pantry. When the last bottle of sauce is removed from the cupboard, the "smart" cupboard can promptly prompt you to buy more in time. These tags can even contain information on waste recycling, which can help consumers avoid putting used waste into inappropriate bins.