RFID renders electronic product codes even more secure

The current BRIDGE project, initiated in 2006, represents a step in continued development of global applications for EPC, the electronic product code used in uniquely label objects. The initiative, which is supported by the European Commission, is being spearheaded by the international standardization organization GS1. BRIDGE is an empirical study with the aim of developing a model open standard, to be used in practice, for tracking products or logistic units throughout the supply chain. This standard, based on EPC (electronic product codes) and EPC information services (EPCIS), defines the uniform use of EPC RFID labels by all of the companies involved in the supply chain. Specifically, investigation is aimed at rendering RFID even more reliable, secure and user-friendly when used by companies active in textile production, logistics or retailing. For an integration platform, all of the practical trials rely on the scalable You-R OPEN OPerating ENvironment by RF-iT Solutions. This application offers various communications modules for data exchange with lower-level systems such as SAP Navision, PC databases and files, in addition to EPCIS. This makes RF-iT Solutions the pioneer in EPCIS-enabled solutions for the fashion industry.

Northland comes to rely on RFID

Northland, Austrian outdoor experts specializing in selected textiles for the mountaineering segment, is the newest firm to join the research project. This Austrian company offers shop-in-shop concepts as well as franchise chains in 36 countries. In China and South America, Northland ranks amongst the best-selling outdoor brands. The company continues to be privately owned by the Pichler family. Gerwalt Pichler, the company founder, was an extreme athlete, frequently dissatisfied with the quality of his sports clothing. In response, he started designing his own clothing for extreme sports beginning in 1973.

"RFID contributes toward improved efficiency at individual identification points as well as in the logistics process overall. Consequently, the textile and clothing industry has come to be recognized as a very attractive market for the implementation of RFID technologies. When you consider the materials to be identified, the volume of goods and the global logistics chain involved in this case, this sector provides excellent reference customers for successful implementation of projects," Dominik Berger, managing director of RF-iT Solutions GmbH, observed. The Graz-based technology craftsmen rank among the international market leaders in RFID solutions for the fashion industry. In addition to other projects, RF-iT have developed the software which serves as an integral component of every process implemented by Germany's gardeur AG to control the flow of goods. "The You-R OPEN OPerating-ENvironment and our Fashion Solutions equip system integrators and software manufacturers with the expertise required to make a swift, competent entry into the RFID market," Berger added. "We are pleased about the support from recognized experts in the RFID fashion solutions sector in carrying out this challenging project. You-R OPEN is suitable for integration as well as open for many different types of hardware; these features additionally convinced us," Otto Url, responsible for RFID projects at Northland GmbH, stated.

You-R OPEN allows existing enterprise software to be used for optimally processing data provided by RFID processes - regardless of the readers and tags used in the specific case. In this way, the operating environment serves to bridge the gap between RFID hardware and the existing IT infrastructure. The empirical research being done as part of BRIDGE represents an important basis for continued development at RF-iT Solutions: "We are gathering a wealth of experience about how You-R OPEN responds in the EPCIS environment," Berger added.