IIJ Group to Participate in Government RFID Pilot Project
Internet Initiative Japan Inc has announced that it will participate in testing Radio Frequency ID tags on international shipping containers in the physical distribution industry as part of the FY2004 RFID Pilot Project that is being run by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI).
This pilot project involves multiple industries and is the world's first full-scale test of RFID in international shipping, which covers a total of 20 factories or ports in 4 sites each in Japan and overseas, mainly run by the Japan Federation of Freight Industries until March 2005.
In this test, the IIJ Group will provide network infrastructure and the EPC System(*1), which is based on the EPC network framework promoted by EPCglobal. The EPC System enables the recording, referencing, and updating of RFID tag information -- such as tag code, freight attributes and tracking data over the Internet, and also provides more generalized and flexible use than closed use in a certain company or industry. The pilot test will use the EPC System to demonstrate how RFID can increase distribution efficiency by improving the overall process along trade lanes, including at the point of origin in the factory, in land and sea transportation, and at the final destination. For example, by attaching tag information to containers, pallets, cases or individual products and managing the information via the EPC System, the entire path and history of the freight in the physical distribution process is made visible, enabling the tracking of goods that have left the port and determining when shipments are received at the warehouse.
(*1) A system that enables the general recording, referencing, and updating over the Internet of information tied to RFID tags, such as tag code, association, and history. It uses technology that complies with the latest standards advocated by EPCglobal, and provides a basic tag information management system that is highly versatile and expandable.
Source: press release
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