The Benefits of RFID for Slab- and Coil-Logistics - Falken Secure ...

6.2.3 EPC Information Services (EPCIS)
Instances of EPCIS are essentially gateways
to information about products
tagged with EPCs. Multiple EPCIS
instances can contain different parts of
information corresponding to a single
EPC-tagged product. This means
tracking information for any EPCtagged
product is distributed by nature.
In the future, data from several EPCIS
servers will be automatically extracted
and merged to provide a global view for
a particular product.
EPCIS today is all about sharing tracking
information. In future, it could easily be
extended to act as a “façade” to
different business back-ends, such as
Warehouse Management Systems
(WMS), enterprise resource planning
systems (ERP), and homegrown
systems.
Access to the EPCIS instance(s) of a
company can be shared with supply
chain partners such as suppliers, logistics
companies and customers, to provide
the enhanced collaboration and visibility
that is the benefit and very promise of
RFID-technology.
6.3 The suggested standardization
approach
As of this writing, many companies
across different industries are testing
37
first operational implementations of the
EPCglobal Network in pilots of
national, international, and global scale.
Other companies, including some of the
steel industry’s major customers, are
joining the EPCglobal initiative to
benefit from its advantages and to
ensure they influence the way that the
service evolves.
Although the EPCglobal Network is not
fully built, it is poised to take off in the
short term because of widespread
support such as the growing number of
EPCIS implementations that are being
launched by many well-established software
companies.