What Is an Electronic Item Code (EPC)?

Every EPC normally includes each a Universal Item Code (UPC) or Stock Maintaining Unit (SKU) and a serial amount. The UPC or SKU identifies the producer and Item form. The serial quantity identifies that one particular one of a kind physical object in the Provide Chain. The EPC can determine pallets, situations or person units.

EPC was created by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technological innovation as a tool to assistance organisations determine and track person products all through the Provide Chain in actual time. EPCglobal Inc., a "not-for-profit" organization produced up of retail, manufacturing and Technological innovation leaders, governs the requirements for EPC implementation. Numerous significant retailers are at present piloting use of EPC Technological innovation with apparel, customer electronics and other items.

EPC is observed as the following step in the evolution of Barcode Technological innovation. In which barcodes require an optical scanner to study the printed symbol that represents the producer and Item variety, the RFID tag containing the EPC employs a silicon chip and an antenna to transmit this specifics by radio waves when prompted by the reader. This eliminates the call for to physically touch or scan person objects, saving labor expense. It also, in theory, removes inaccuracies induced by human error.

How can Electronic Item Codes enable Retailers?

As talked about above, EPC Technologies improves functionality for organizations by eliminating unnecessary labor expenses and enhancing Provide chain visibility and accuracy. This permits retailers to track and reorder inventory a lot more accurately, lowering revenue lost to "out of stocks". It is no secret that improved revenue and lowered expenses equals profit for retailers.

How can Electronic Item Codes support Buyers?

People will possibly advantage from the use of EPC Engineering in a quantity of means. Not only will EPC greatly reduce the frustrations of "out of stocks", it will improve companies potential to recall and remove defective or unsafe items from the keep shelves, stockrooms and distribution.

What are the considerations with EPC Technological innovation?

Most of the worries with EPC revolve about privacy. People worry that the RFID Engineering involved in the EPC will be employed to track, determine or otherwise invade their privacy. EPC tags are not usually readable past a distance of ten feet and do not contain, gather or send any info associated to Customers, only objects. The data contained on an EPC tag is only a reference code to Item information and facts stored on a secured database. Not having access to the database, the code is useless.

The author, Christopher Smithart, consists of spent a 25 year occupation in retail, winning awards for his inventory management functionality and leadership. See his other content articles at http://www.retailinventorymanagement.org