Recommendations on application standards

The analysis of the different application standards leads to the following recommendations:

Recommendations on application area A. “Logistical Tracking & Tracing”

• Rule of the basic conditions for “Logistical Tracking & Tracing”

This application area usually is an international and more often a transcontinental business. The only exception is “in-house logistics” which normally is an internal and local restricted application, for instance for a company for whom a proprietary or none-standardised solution can be sufficient.

Nearly all of applications in this area are related to an international business which has a strong need for international standards ruling basic conditions of logistical tracking and tracing as well as the data and interfaces for data exchange.

• Harmonisation of the standards for closed loop logistics

In the subcategory of “closed loop logistics” like for retail of consumer goods it will be absolutely helpful if more international standards exist.

In this area a lot of national standards as well as international standards were identified. However, a harmonisation of standards could be useful in order to get more international standards like those for returnable transport items which are presently only available as national standards.

Only in special cases like for disposal logistics it will be sufficient if European or national standards are available. Nevertheless, international standards will be not hindering in any case as each European country has to deal with the same duties.

• International standards for “open logistics”, “postal applications”, “dangerous goods logistics” or “manufacturing logistics“

In the subcategories “open logistics”, “postal applications”, “dangerous goods logistics” or “manufacturing logistics“, which all belong to international business areas, it was also clearly asserted that international standards would be very useful to ease this businesses as well. However, up to now no mentionable standards can be identified except for baggage handling in aviation.

Recommendations on application area B. “Production, Monitoring and Maintenance”

Due to the fact that the areas of production, monitoring and maintenance are very wide spread and complex businesses it will be neither possible nor necessary to have standards to cover the complete application area.

• Rule of the general issues like data and interfaces for data exchange for “archive systems”, “asset management” and “facility management”:

In the subcategories “archive systems”, “asset management” and “facility management” requirements are very special and solutions are insulated so that common standards are only needed to rule general issues like data and interfaces for data exchange.

In the area “vehicles” and “airplanes” the international standardisation process is already going on and is co-ordinated by industrial organisations.

In the area “automotion and process control” it is most likely not to achieve common standards as the area is to heterogeneous i.e. most of the applications are isolated and therefore need special solutions.

• International standards for “food and consumer goods”

In the area of “food and consumer goods” no standards are identified, but it will be helpful if international standards would be available.

Recommendations on application area C. “Product Safety, Quality and Information”

• International standards for the complete application area  “Product Safety, Quality and Information” to rule the basic aspects

As this application area generally is an international issue it also would be useful to have international standards for the complete application area. This area rules basic aspects in this business like data and interfaces for data exchange.

• International standards for “anti-theft systems and electronic article surveillance” based on already existing and established national standards

In the case of anti-theft systems and electronic article surveillance which is relevant to all its subcategories as well, presently there are only some national standards available. Here it would be very useful to have international standards which could base on already established national standards.

In all related subcategories there are only national standards defined if there are any available at all. The only exception is the subcategory “fresh and perishable foods”, where an international IATA standard is available because of aviation issues.

• International standards for reduction and the prevention of plagiarism of products

For each of the subcategories of this application area a strong need for international standards was identified. In all of subcategories the reduction and prevention of plagiarism of products is a very urgent and important issue which could be supported by having international standards.

• International standards to support the establishing of “customer information systems”

Within the emerging application area of the subcategory “customer information systems” no standard are available at present. However, there is a strong need for international standards identified for establishing these applications.

Recommendations on “Different Subcategories” DB., DD., and GB.

• International standards to harmonise the technology of “access control systems”

The requirements for the subcategory DB. “access control systems” are so broad that it does not seem to be possible to cope all its aspects with generic standards. This is due to the fact that many of these applications can only be found in local regions and are closed to companies and administrations. However, it may be helpful if some generic standards would be available to harmonise the used technology in order to ease their application.

• International standards for “personal tracking” e.g. to get an EU common ID card

In the subcategory DD. “personal tracking” with a definite need for international standards there only exists one but very good example for international standardisation: the so-called ICAO “e-passport” standard. This could be a good example for how harmonised solutions can look, especially for applications within the European Union, such as how to receive an EU common ID card, an EU common social insurance card etc.

It is obvious that there is a strong need for more international standards in this special application area.

• Generic international / national standards for “rental systems”

Subcategory GB. “rental systems” on the one hand is very widespread as is the case for international car rental companies , while on the other hand it is very local and closed at the same time. Due to the fact that it may be helpful especially for libraries if generic international standards are available, although in this case national standards often are sufficient for local and closed applications as well.

Recommendations on Sensor Standards for RFID Tags

Another important issue is the availability of RFID tags combined with sensors functionality. In different businesses like retail, pharmacy, aviation, etc. there is a need for sensor functionality combined with RFID identification.

For many applications like for retail pallets with vegetables it will be sufficient to have very simple sensor functionality to measure the current temperature so that there is no need for data storage and data processing.

In special cases like valuable pharmaceutical products, such as serums or system health monitoring in aviation, it will be useful to have advanced sensor functionality with integrated data storage and maybe data processing (if feasible).

Originally, there was only the initiative of IEEE to start the development of standardized sensor interfaces for RFID tags combined with sensors. Meanwhile also ISO and EPC have started to work on this topic.

It would be helpful if RFID sensor standards are available to push the technological development of standardised infrastructures in order to get a standardised infrastructure (sensor data, data transfer, etc.) for RFID sensor products. By doing this the economic risk for developing companies with a low chance of success will be reduced.

Recommendations on Packaging Standards for RFID Tags

For many RFID applications in harsh environments like logistics or industrial manufacturing processes it is necessary to have RFID tags with special housings so that these are resistant against temperature, mechanical impact, corrosion etc.

Currently, only standard paper based RFID tags and inlays are “really” cheap and can be mass-produced. If a RFID tag for special use or for harsher environment is required, like for open space or within industrial areas the price for the tags increases drastically.

For this, the EC could support the technological development by pushing the establishment of standards for the use of RFID tags in harsh environments to a technical performance standard for harsh environments.

This will also reduce the economical risk of developing companies and will push this special kind of RFID technology to become a cheap mass product.

General Recommendations on Application Standards

• General need for international standards and their harmonisation

The analysis of different application areas and their subcategories shows that there is a strong need for international standards which most likely is driven by the more and more international commerce in combination with the more international flow of goods.

In many application areas it would seem a proper solution if new international standards will be based on existing and already established national standards like in the area of product safety and quality.

• Application standards / guidelines as well as tools and methods for RFID application

If there are adequate standards for all different application areas available companies applying RFID technology as well as end-customers will have a much bigger confidence in RFID technology.

Initiating application standards and application guidelines as well as tools and methods for RFID application will be very useful in order to support the use of RFID technology. This is caused by the fact that many small and medium enterprises will not use RFID technology as long as there is a big uncertainty as to RFID technology because:

-         They do not know which RFID technology is most suitable for their application area,

-         The risk of high and maybe wrong investments in RFID technology causes to much uncertainty,

-         The return of invest often cannot be calculated seriously.

• International cooperation of RFID standardisation

Furthermore, it is important to foster the international cooperation of RFID standardisation organisations as national legal organisations, international legal organisations, industrial organisations, etc. They should cooperate and align their activities in standardisation to prevent the establishment of competitive national and international standards. The existence of competitive standards will increase the uncertainty of users of RFID technology and will weaken the RFID standardisation and technology in general.

In summary, the development of international RFID application standards is a very important issue in order to push the RFID technology in Europe and worldwide.