RF Database tags are not yet in wide commercial use. The tag
type is the RF Data tag described in Section 7.1.4, but the application
is to hold a database designed to travel between
domains. Eventually, this type of tag will be widely used to
solve a very difficult problem in the integration of data
between companies on both sides of the supply chain.
Simple RFID tags contain a unique number used to identify the
tag. To identity the tagged item, the tag number must be associated
with the item’s identity such as its Stock Keeping Unit
(SKU). That association is found in a database. When the goods
are shipped, the portion of the database describing the shipment,
including the RFID tag number, is sent from the manufacturer
or distribution center (DC) to the customer. For the
customer to use the database, the format must be known. In the
past, the format was defined, in many cases, by a standard
known as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), a complex encoding
based upon use of Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1), an
international standard for defining data structures. Data formats
for interchanging data were defined for many industries
using the standard identified by the ANSI X.12 committee. To
use EDI, a private communications link between trading partners
was required, limiting use to only large companies. There
was also the need for consultants capable of using ASN.1 to
specify the database structures and to adapt these structures
for model and usage changes.
ANSI X.12 has now been replaced by Electronic Data Interchange
For Administration Commerce and Transport (EDIFACT),
defined by the ISO 9735 standard, and administered by
the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
(UNECE). Under direction of UNECE, new standards have
been prepared for building data exchange standards in many
industries and applications. The latest efforts for simplifying
EDIFACT use eXtensible Markup Language (XML), an Internet
standard. XML uses human-readable data identifiers to define
data items and structures.
The primary problem in data handling across the supply chain
is associated with timing. Often, the goods are delivered before
the old rules of EDI, or even the newer EDIFACT formats, can
deliver the data. Therefore, the goods remain on the receiving
dock until they are registered in the on-line inventory database.
Initially, this problem was to be corrected using barcoded
shipping container labels, but these required special equipment
to read the two-dimensional barcodes, operator training
to read all of the item barcodes on the shipping label, and the
discipline to actually read the label when the goods were
received. RF Database tags are designed to solve this problem
in real-time without the use of real-time data communications,
specialized training, or difficult-to-administer work processes.
An RF Database tag reader/writer records the shipping container
information when the container is loaded to the common
carrier at the manufacturer or DC. Another RF Database tag
reader reads the RF Database tag as the shipping container is
received from the common carrier and then registers the data
as a transaction with the on-line database. For factory operations
using just-in-time processes, another layer of work-in-process
inventory can often be removed, immediately paying
for the equipment installed.
RF Database tags can also be used to transport item data during
the manufacturing process. While Information Technology
(IT) networks are widely deployed to the shop floor in large
assembly line manufacturing operations, they are not usually
designed to deliver real-time data to the workstations where
parts are machined or assembled. For example, when an automobile
chassis is moved into a workstation, the IT network
may take an indeterminate time to look up the chassis ID verified
by a barcode scan and inform the operator which of several
options are to be mounted. This information, including full
text descriptions of the options, can be contained on an RF
Database tag for immediate action by the manufacturing cell
workstation. Furthermore, the ID of the options can be added
to the tag, along with any quality test results as manufacturing
or assembly takes place, keeping a running record of the
assembly with the chassis. The RF Database tag creates a traveling
database that functions within the manufacturing environment
without requiring a real-time network to be installed.
RF Database tags are not yet in wide commercial use. The tag
type is the RF Data tag described in Section 7.1.4, but the application
is to hold a database designed to travel between
domains. Eventually, this type of tag will be widely used to
solve a very difficult problem in the integration of data
between companies on both sides of the supply chain.
Simple RFID tags contain a unique number used to identify the
tag. To identity the tagged item, the tag number must be associated
with the item’s identity such as its Stock Keeping Unit
(SKU). That association is found in a database. When the goods
are shipped, the portion of the database describing the shipment,
including the RFID tag number, is sent from the manufacturer
or distribution center (DC) to the customer. For the
customer to use the database, the format must be known. In the
past, the format was defined, in many cases, by a standard
known as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), a complex encoding
based upon use of Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1), an
international standard for defining data structures. Data formats
for interchanging data were defined for many industries
using the standard identified by the...
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