Page 211 - DMGT546_INTERNATIONAL_TRADE_PROCEDURE_AND_DOCUMENTATION

International Trade Procedures and Documentation

Notes
Did u know? Regulations are imposed by most countries to control emissions and prevent
interference with other industrial, scientific or medical equipment.
In a typical system tags are attached to objects. Each tag has some internal memory which it
stores information about the object, such as its unique ID number, or details including date of
manufacture and item information. When a tag passes through a field generated by a reader, it
transmits this information back which identifies the object. Until recently the focus of RFID
technology was mainly on tags and readers, which were being used in systems where relatively
low volumes of data are involved. This is now changing as RFID in the supply chain is expected
to generate huge volumes of data, which will have to be filtered and routed to ERP or Warehouse
Management systems.
Electronic Product Code (EPC)

Electronic Product Code is the emerging RFID standard developed by the MIT AutoID center. It
is the RFID version of the barcode standard. EPC RFID also provides access to additional data
about the origin and history of the specific batches or serial numbers. The EPC tag itself identifies
the manufacturer, product, version and serial number.

Benefits of RFID Supply Chain Management is investing in RFID as it can give them advantages
in visibility of their products through the supply chain. The benefits are seen as improving on
other methods of visibility such as EDI, bar coding and Advance Ship Notifications (ASN). Other
benefits of RFID can be seen outside of normal supply chain such as a reduction in theft from the
store, transport or storage, and a deterrent to increasing product counterfeiting. Both of these
issues are costing companies billions of dollars each year.

!

Caution Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly worried about counterfeiting and
RFID tags on each product may help with this issue.

Task Visit the shipping company of your choice and find out the intermediaries and
their roles involved in the complete process.
Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
11. The ........................ tag itself identifies the manufacturer, product, version, and serial number.
12. The basic principle of .............................. is identifying an object using a radio frequency
transmission.
13. ................................... management’s primary focus is on optimizing the delivery of service
to customers, by managing complex trade-offs between customer service, transportation,
warehousing and inventory.
14. EMCs act as agents for ...................................... firms in overseas markets.
15. .......................................... typically act as a shipper’s agent during the shipping process.

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