Coding systems go beyond barcodes

New Zealand supply chain management will get a taste of the future with the inaugural conference on electronic product code tracking, which starts in Auckland today.

The event will also be used to launch EPC Global New Zealand, a body dedicated to ensuring that the country does not get left behind.

More than 160 delegates and 16 international presenters are expected to attend the two-day event: EPC/RFID The Way of the Future.

EPC Global manager Gary Hartley said large manufacturers and companies involved in IT, telecommunications and logistics were among those attending.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) was developed more than 60 years ago during World War II to identify aircraft.

More recently it has been used in supply-chain management to identify products and materials.

Electronic product coding (EPC) is a new development, using radio frequency identification to transmit highly detailed product data.

"Essentially what you can say is, 'Hi, I'm a can of baked beans', which is what a barcode will do in a supermarket," said Hartley.

"But with EPC you can say, 'I'm a can of baked beans and my name is Gary and the can of beans next to me, his name's Peter'."

EPC can enable the tracking of products from the time of manufacture, through warehouse storage and to the point of sale.

Hartley said the technology could bring "efficiencies which were considered unthinkable just a few years ago".

US retail giant Wal-Mart is driving the adoption of the new technology.

Wal-Mart required its 100 top suppliers to start tagging items by this month. All others must follow by 2007.

Hartley said big companies such as Wal-Mart were insisting on the tagging of pallets and cases only, but it would soon be used for individual items.

EPC Global New Zealand, part of International EPC Global, aims to push for domestic use of the technology to ensure that Kiwi suppliers are not left behind.

Hartley will make further presentations, starting next week at an Auckland breakfast meeting for managers.

He said he would describe in detail what RFID/EPC was, why it was here, the global impact that would follow in its wake, and "why New Zealand business needs to sit up and listen".