ABI: Container Tracking Pilot Highlights Benefits of RFID Standards in Port Management
May 17, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS
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A recent EPCglobal pilot project using active radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, along with software from Oracle and Savi Technology, highlighted the importance of common standards in maximizing the benefits RFID can bring to port operations.
According to ABI Research, the pilot tagged seaborne shipping containers traveling between Hong Kong and Japan to provide real-time tracking information to Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS), a draft EPCglobal standard enabling trading partners to communicate in a common computer language on objects moving throughout the supply chain.
"Container tracking can deliver supply chain management benefits - both cost reductions and revenue increases - that may add up to thousands of dollars per container," said ABI Research director Michael Liard.
"Smaller inventory, fast transportation and routing troubleshooting, lower insurance, greater efficiency and heightened security are all demonstrable advantages that RFID tracking can provide."
The benefits seem clear, but analysts said many vendors and end-users believe the prerequisites for greater RFID adoption in this sector are a common nomenclature for RFID data, and a standard framework for the way in which that information is shared via open standards such as EPCIS.
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"The EPCglobal pilot with Savi and Oracle represents a significant step toward the practical realization of a truly useful standard," said Liard. "It is the first real world demonstration among port operators of the potential created when multiple trading partners and service providers can speak the same language."
Source: ABI Research.