Zebra stripes and embedded numbers

The zebra-like barcode is a visual representation of a type of product. It tells you, for example, “I’m a tube of toothpaste” – just as the black and white stripes tell a two-year-old that the animal depicted in a book is a "zebra" and not a "pony".

Back in the information age, a new identification technology called RFID needed its own “zebra stripes” – ones that could do far more than the barcode had done since it took off in the 1980s. In the late 1990s, RFID was already widely used on toll roads and in access systems and the first companies were beginning to experiment with the technology for tracking their production processes and finished goods. It was clear that RFID was going places and that the unique identification of items was here to stay.

A new-generation barcode

That’s why in the early part of this century a group of researchers working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed the Electronic Product Code (EPC) for RFID, a contactless technology for identifying objects. The EPC is a unique identification code generally considered to be the next generation of the standard barcode.

Companies around the world are beginning to rely on the EPC for the unique identification of their products. This helps them bring all the advantages of RFID, such as the capability of distinguishing counterfeit from authentic medicinal products, to consumers.

Advantages for consumers

Like the barcode, the EPC is a series of numbers, but its capabilities are much greater. The EPC can be associated with specific product information, such as date of manufacture, origin and destination or shipment information. Like the barcode, the EPC on a tube of toothpaste or a designer bag tells us, among other things, “I’m a certain brand of toothpaste, and my flavour is mint, or I’m a leather handbag and my colour is brown.” But it can also tell us what ingredients and components make up the product. This helps manufacturers assure the quality and authenticity of the end product.

Other benefits: the EPC gives shops the capability of certifying the freshness of your food. It can also be used to track waste material, helping to increase recycling and eliminate wastage. For instance, if products harmful to the environment, such as paint or batteries, are tagged with RFID and placed in the regular waste, then waste disposal companies can easily sort them out and deal with them properly.

Since the EPC allows for identification of individual items, information about these items can be shared securely and rapidly on companies’ existing networks. By sharing the information, companies provide greater product availability, fewer out-of-stock items, effective product authentication and they can prevent the counterfeiting and theft of medicinal products. In addition, the recall of goods is speedier and less time-consuming.

In short, consumers – like companies – stand to benefit from the EPC in many different ways.