RFID Special Interview EPC-RFID is a part of GS1 India under the Ministry of Commerce, Govt of India. Our Technology Columnist Mr.Puneet Mehrotra spoke to Mr.Ravi Mathur, the CEO of EPC-Global India.

Puneet Mehrotra : What is RFID and how does it work?

Ravi Mathur: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an automatic identification method, relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders. An RFID tag is a small object that can be attached to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person. RFID tags contain silicon chips and antennas to enable them to receive and respond to radio-frequency queries from an RFID transceiver. Passive tags require no internal power source, whereas active tags require a power source.

How has this technology evolved since its origin?

The technology appeared during the Second World War, when the radar was invented. During World War II the British, understandably, desired to be able to distinguish between their own returning aircraft and those of the enemy since the coast of occupied France was less than 25 miles away. A system was developed, called Identify: Friend or Foe system (IFF), which distinguished a "friendly" aircraft from a "foe". Here, a transponder was placed on Allied aircraft, which gave the appropriate response to an interrogating signal.

Present day commercial and private aviation traffic control is still based on IFF or Identify: Friend or Foe system. It was the first obvious use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).

EPC based Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is the result of path-breaking research and innovation undertaken by the Auto-ID Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston, which was funded and sponsored by 100 of the world’s biggest organizations including such prestigious names as Wal*Mart, Metro AG, Carrefour, Ahold, Gillette, P&G, Johnson & Johnson, US Department of Defence, US Food & Drug Administration, Coca-Cola, Philips, IBM, Accenture etc. and five of the world's leading research universities; the MIT in US, the University of Cambridge in the UK, the University of Adelaide in Australia, Keio University in Japan, and the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Together they are creating the standards and assembling the building blocks needed to create an ‘Internet of things’.

Since then RFID technology has evolved immensely and now finds usage in multiple industry verticals. The coming-in of Gen 2 standard RFID, promises to overcome many limitations of older Class 0 and Class 1 technologies, and with the impetus of compliance to mandates from global corporations, many companies are making quick decisions on Gen 2 deployment. Adoption of Gen 2 provides a standards-based framework for enhanced features and significant process improvements, including robust operation in high-density reader environments, compliance with global spectrum regulations, superior tag throughput and improved accuracy.

Will barcodes become obsolete with mass adoption of RFID technology?

Barcodes and RFID will exist parallel to each other and work together to optimize supply chains. Barcoding cannot help solve the problem of counterfeiting. If one has to use non- line of sight technology, one cannot use barcodes. Also RFID comes at a cost when compared to barcodes. So do these two technologies.

What is the need of standardized RFID or EPC RFID?

Though RFID has been around for a long time, it was working within closed walls of various government and corporate organizations for decades. Today it has become a means for commercial businesses with widespread and convoluted supply chains to talk to each other. What has taken RFID out of the four walls of proprietary environment is the development of standards like Electronic Product Code (EPC), enabling businesses to leverage on this global open language, to communicate business-critical data internally within far-flung divisions as well as to external trading partners encompassing all corners of the world.

The issue of counterfeiting- how does this technology help prevents this major problem that is being faced by various industry verticals?

There is information attached to the EPC number on the tag that can only be accessed through the EPC Network. Hence, a counterfeit product manufacturer can copy the tag and the number but will never have access to the information on the network. If a product enters the supply chain at a place where it is not supposed to be (according to the information available on the network), it will be immediately detected. Earlier holograms, security, etc were used to solve the problem of counterfeiting but none of these measures used are foolproof. By itself RFID is no guarantee to detect counterfeit products but it is the network around it that helps in making this technology foolproof.

What is the role Of EPC Global India in this space?

EPCglobal India is a division of GS1 India under Ministry of Commerce, Govt of India and was launched in India in November 2004 to lead the development of industry-driven standards in India for the Electronic Product Code™ (EPC) to support the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in today's fast-moving, information rich trading networks. It is a member-driven organization comprised of leading firms and industries focused on creating global standards for the EPC global Network.™ Its parent organization GS1India is an international initiative at bringing International best practices in Supply Chain Management standardization into India, including RFID.

EPCglobal India engages subscribers across all industries, allowing them to get involved in the standards development dprocess and aiding in their implementation and adoption of the EPCglobal Network. EPCglobal India also provides India-based subscribers with technical and educational support, and services.

EPCglobal India is also driving the adoption of its EPC network, which will link RFID and Internet technologies that in turn will enable companies to have true visibility of their supply chains in real time, in any industry, anywhere in the world. Some of the advantages of leveraging this network include:

• Lower inventory levels- without impacting product availability

• Minimized shrinkage and shortages

• Accelerated order processing

• Increased responsiveness to consumer demand by enabling real-time information about goods.

• Increased efficiency in handling physical goods

• Anti counterfeiting measure

What are the major hurdles that prevent adoption of this technology on a large scale and is anything being done to overcome the same?

RFID is unlike any technology that we as an industry have seen in the past. It’s slightly complicated and at the moment slightly costly, yet we believe it is inevitable that RFID will be a transformation agent throughout our supply chains for packaging, manufacturing, logistics, and retailing.

Cost is a critical factor that has restricted the use of RFID tags extensively but Auto ID labs are working towards making the tags cheaper. The Auto-ID Labs are nonprofit research labs that do primary research into the development of EPC and related technologies which are funded and sponsored by 100 of the world’s biggest organizations including such prestigious names as Wal*Mart, Metro AG, Carrefour, Ahold, Gillette, P&G, Johnson & Johnson, US Department of Defence, US Food & Drug Administration, Coca-Cola, Philips, IBM, Accenture etc.

A significant development in this area has been the formulation of the Class 1 Gen 2 standards. The new Gen 2 standards, addressing RFID hardware, are designed for worldwide deployment, and take into account emerging UHF regulations in different regions. They establish a single UHF specification, where previously there were several, including EPC Class 1, EPC Class 0 and two from ISO. The most significant impact of the new Gen 2 standards will be on the cost of RFID hardware, bringing prices crashing down, making RFID deployment considerably cheaper.

GS1 is trying to get various industries that are still working on proprietary systems to collaborate and formulate global standards so that they can use the technology to communicate to their trading partners across the world.

Puneet Mehrotra is a columnist for HindustanTimes.com and a web strategist at www.cyberzest.com You can email him on puneet@cyberzest.com