RFID standard to boost supply chain security - ISO
ISO 17367:2009 will help manufacturers and distributors to track products and manage traceability thanks to standardised RF tags, said the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) on Friday. The body said the guideline would boost the security of products across the globe that use RFIDs.
The ISO said the standard was applicable to a range of industries and has been formulated to ensure it complied with other standards from the organisation.
The global standards experts said traceability had become a vital aspect of the supply chain and that “the development of radio frequency identification (RFID), including peripheral devices and their applications, is indispensable for increasing the safety and reliability of products for consumers”.
It defined traceability as the tracking and tracing of product and information related to it at each stage of a chain of production, processing, distribution, and selling.
Higher level of security
ISO 17367:2009, Supply chain applications of RFID – Product tagging, defined the basic features of RFID for use in the supply chain when applied to product tagging.
In particular it made recommendations for encoded identification of the product; additional information about the product for inclusion on the RFID tag; semantics and data syntax; the data protocol to be used to interface with business applications and the RFID system, as well as the air interface standards between the RFID interrogator and RFID tag.
Craig K. Harmon, Chair of TC 122/WG 10 said: "ISO 17367:2009 will provide higher level security of products worldwide using RFID technology. It will enable easy and efficient exchange of commodities in international trade and logistics."
The new standard can be applied across a raft of industry sectors and has been drawn up to ensure compatibility at the “physical, command and data levels” with four other International Standards under the general title Supply chain applications of RFID, said the ISO.
The body said the International Standards within this group could be applied in tandem and would not interfere with each other. These are ISO 17366:2009, Supply chain applications of RFID – Product packaging; ISO 17363:2007, Supply chain applications of RFID – Freight containers; ISO 17364:2009, Supply chain applications of RFID – Returnable transport items (RTIs); ISO 17365:2009, Supply chain applications of RFID – Transport units.
The ISO 17367, Supply chain applications of RFID – Product tagging, is available from the ISO central body or national member institutes priced 142 Swiss francs (€97).
