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EPCglobal Ratifies EPCIS Standard
The standard's progression has included interoperability tests—something that does not often occur in standards development until after the completion of a standard. In late summer 2006, EPCglobal successfully wrapped up tests of EPCIS software prototypes to see whether the software could interoperate, and to determine if the specification (a candidate standard at the time) was interpreted consistently by all parties involved (see Interop Tests Bring EPCIS Closer to Standard).
"One of the things that is really important to understand about EPCIS—more than any other standard we've developed—is that it already has been tested with trading partners coming out of the gate," Meranda says. "So it is a very reliable, very strong approach that also has the support of a number of technology providers."
Indeed, Unilever and P&G have already run their own EPCIS tests. Unilever, for example, launched a trial last summer using EPCIS-based software from IBM and T3Ci (see Unilever Launches Trial Using EPCIS Protocol).
According o Cantwell, the consumer packaged goods manufacturer stands to gain a great deal from EPCIS, particularly in regard to its display and promotions initiatives. The company has been affixing RFID tags to its displays to track when stores move its displays out on the floor. In a study of the cumulative results of numerous promotions, P&G found that only about 45 percent of the stores actually put out the promotional displays when they were supposed to. "We have a huge opportunity," Cantwell notes, "to utilize EPCIS to exchange data with retailers and achieve greater visibility of where displays are."
With automated exchange of specific data, P&G could leverage EPCIS to find out, in real time, when displays were placed on the floor. If a promotion was not displayed, and was instead sitting in a store's back room, P&G's systems could automatically send out an alert to the store, asking it to place the display out on the floor.
By making sure promotional displays are moved out to the sales floors on time, Cantwell estimates P&G could increase its sales by 10 percent. "That could result in a return on investment of 9 to 1," he says, explaining that for every dollar P&G spends on tags, interrogators and related EPC software, it could generate $9 in sales.
"The lifeblood of our industry is to create excitement among consumers, and we can do that with promotional events and new item introductions," he says. "EPC data has allowed us to see huge opportunities in optimizing our ability to excite the customer."
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"One of the things that is really important to understand about EPCIS—more than any other standard we've developed—is that it already has been tested with trading partners coming out of the gate," Meranda says. "So it is a very reliable, very strong approach that also has the support of a number of technology providers."
Indeed, Unilever and P&G have already run their own EPCIS tests. Unilever, for example, launched a trial last summer using EPCIS-based software from IBM and T3Ci (see Unilever Launches Trial Using EPCIS Protocol).
According o Cantwell, the consumer packaged goods manufacturer stands to gain a great deal from EPCIS, particularly in regard to its display and promotions initiatives. The company has been affixing RFID tags to its displays to track when stores move its displays out on the floor. In a study of the cumulative results of numerous promotions, P&G found that only about 45 percent of the stores actually put out the promotional displays when they were supposed to. "We have a huge opportunity," Cantwell notes, "to utilize EPCIS to exchange data with retailers and achieve greater visibility of where displays are."
With automated exchange of specific data, P&G could leverage EPCIS to find out, in real time, when displays were placed on the floor. If a promotion was not displayed, and was instead sitting in a store's back room, P&G's systems could automatically send out an alert to the store, asking it to place the display out on the floor.
"The lifeblood of our industry is to create excitement among consumers, and we can do that with promotional events and new item introductions," he says. "EPC data has allowed us to see huge opportunities in optimizing our ability to excite the customer."
