Nonprofit standards organization GS1 US is offering a program slated to begin next month, and intended to guide retailers and suppliers through the process of adopting Electronic Product Code (EPC)-based radio frequency identification technology. The GS1 US EPC Item-Level Readiness Program will consist of webinars, community discussion groups and Web-based user tools. This program, the organization reports, is intended to help drive the adoption of item-level RFID EPC tags by suppliers and retailers, as the market for the tagging of apparel and other consumer products grows—prompted, in large part, by retailer adoption and subsequent requests to suppliers to apply tags to their products.
The Web-based educational programs and teleconference sessions are designed to help businesses develop their EPC RFID deployment plans, learn what their costs may be and follow a timeline for adoption. The program also provides guidance regarding usage of the EPC symbol.
Over the past two years, GS1 US has been working with individual retailers, as well as some suppliers, to help them develop RFID pilots or deployment plans, according to Patrick Javick, the organization’s VP of industry engagement for apparel and general merchandise. This, says Gena Morgan, GS1 US’ program manager, is part of the key support that the organization has been providing as the retail industry has moved toward item-level EPC tagging. While GS1 US has provided education and user tools to members on an individual basis for several years, it will offer a program beginning in February that will target both suppliers and retailers—some with prior RFID experience, and others with almost none.
Although the program is aimed at both suppliers and retailers, Javick says, enrollment is expected to be seven- to ten-fold greater among suppliers, simply because retailers are fewer in number and many of them have already completed pilots and worked with GS1 to adopt RFID solutions. The greatest push now, he adds, is to help suppliers meet retailers’ demands for RFID solutions, as well as to use the technology within their own operations.
The questions that retailers bring to GS1, Javick says, typically focus on launching RFID pilot programs, and on trying to understand how the technology works within their own facilities. Some retailers, however, are already past the pilot stage, and now seek assistance in rolling out an RFID program in such a way that suppliers can come on board with them.
For the suppliers, Javick reports, some seek to learn how they can employ the technology within their own four walls, and to their own benefit, while others are simply trying to learn how they can meet a retailer’s mandate. Both sets of questions will be answered during the readiness program, he says.
When it comes to education, Morgan says, GS1 US will offer a four-part weekly webinar series, beginning on Feb. 10. The webinars, which will be held every Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern time, will begin by addressing the business case for item-level RFID tagging, and discuss how RFID might bring greater value to a business. The first webinar is intended to help companies to understand their options, and to address such fundamental questions as “What is RFID?” and “You were asked to tag—now what?” The second will focus on how to get started, the best use cases, key steps to consider and messaging strategy. The third webinar will discuss technical details, such as tags, readers and software; how a company can select products that best suit its particular needs; and what the EPC standard provides. The fourth will address the EPC standard in greater detail, explaining serialization and how to shift from the Universal Product Code (UPC) bar-code standard to the EPC standard.
Separate webinars will be offered for suppliers and retailers, but in some cases, both business sectors will attend the same webinar.
According to Morgan, user tools accessible online will provide program participants with an “EPC Adoption Road Map,” to help them determine how much they will need to spend in order to roll out an RFID program, and what their timeline should be. Another tool provided is a UPC-to-EPC translator to ensure proper translation on EPC-encoded tags.
What’s more, the readiness program will provide users with access to community discussions—in some cases led by GS1 US—to explore RFID technology’s use cases and best practices. It will be this forum, Morgan says, that will enable users to ask specific questions and learn from the experience of others within the industry. “We may kick some of those [sessions] off with some self-guided discussion points,” she states, “such as ‘What key questions do you have?’ It gives participants the opportunity to share their challenges and their best practices.”
The entire readiness program, Morgan hopes, will “speed up adoption and implementation of RFID,” by providing users with a proper understanding of the standards and technology.
A product supplier can purchase a one-year membership into the program for $2,500. The annual cost for a retailer is $15,000, and includes site-specific support—including, in some cases, on-site assistance with a pilot or deployment. Suppliers can also purchase specific support for an additional charge. After the first year, Morgan says, webinar content will change to reflect users’ needs, based on what is learned from the initial webinars held during 2012, such as users’ greatest concerns, along with updates to the technology. Javick declines to reveal the number of businesses that have signed up for the program to date, but says, “It’s a large number of companies.” The organization is presently continuing to accept program participants. Additional information is available at the GS1 US EPC Item-Level Readiness Program section of GS1 US’ Web site.