GS1 announces completion of Transport and Logistics Phase 2 Pilot Program

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The transportation and logistics industry is facing key challenges related to supply chain efficiency, asset visibility as well as safe and security initiatives which the EPC and RFID technology enables to solve. The Pilot Program has demonstrated unprecedented real-time cargo visibility as goods flow between trading partners and logistics providers from mainland China to mainland US.

The second phase of the Transportation and Logistics Pilot Program, supported by METI and other members of the Transportation and Logistic Industry Action Group, started in November, 2007 and was recently completed.

The TLS Phase 2 Pilot Program, initiated by GS1 EPCglobal, included two shipments of three containers. Each container consisted of 40 pallets. The project involved the shipment of parts such as tires and finished goods such as laptop computers of international corporations moving from source factories in China to distribution centers in the US, flowing through the ports of Shanghai and Los Angeles.

The objective of the TLS Phase 2 Pilot Program was to prove the capability for unprecedented visibility into the movement, location and disposition of assets, goods and services throughout the world as well as to validate the use of both passive and active UHF EPC tags for sea-shipment of cartons and containers shipped between China and the US.

'The TLS Global pilot demonstrated that GS1 EPCglobal standards can facilitate the utilization of RFID technology in a collaborative supply chain,' said Raed Al-Samahiji, founder, president & CEO of GS1 Bahrain the sole representative of EPC Global in the Kingdom of Bahrain. 'The success of the pilot, despite the challenges of multiple supply chain stakeholders with disparate business conditions and technology platforms, helped define the 'art of the possible' from a transportation and logistics business value perspective.'

This multi-industry, multi-stakeholder initiative provided extensive testing and validation of GS1 EPCglobal standards, specifically the EPCIS (EPC Information Services) standard, driving the adoption of RFID technology and evaluating the usage of active and passive conveyance asset RFID tags. 'The use of EPCIS, coupled with the adoption and utilization of GS1 EPCglobal Standards enables visibility across multiple business layers and stakeholders with and outside global supply chains. Companies can improve supply chain execution. Some retailers can increase revenue by reducing out of stock whereas other companies can cut costs through real-time asset management', said Chris Adcock, president of EPCglobal Inc.

The partners participating in the GS1 EPCglobal Pilot Program included major logistics, shipping, hardware and software providers such as Alien Technology, Allumis, Confidex, DHL, GlobeRanger, iControl Inc., Motorola, NEC, NTT, NTT Comware, NYK Logistics, Oracle, Sato, Savi a Lockheed Martin company, Schneider National, Sense Technology, Toppan Forms, Toppan Printing, UPM Raflatac. Additionally, active participants supporting the Transportation and Logistics Pilot Program were METI, NRI, MTI, and the GS1 Member Organizations from China, Hong Kong, Japan, and US.

'The Transportation and Logistics Phase 2 Pilot Program is a milestone which demonstrates the interoperability of diverse active and passive tag technologies and providers, ensuring the best business value for supply chain operations', said George Cavage, iControl Inc.

The successful completion of the Transportation and Logistics Phase 2 Pilot Program triggered the idea to launch the Transportation and Logistics Phase 3 Pilot Program involving the active participation of more organizations and corporations in the Transport and Logistics industry, more parts and finished products as well as more regions, including Asia, the Americas and Europe.