IBM RFID Information Center

IBM RFID Information Center (RFIDIC) is based on EPCglobal's Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) standard specification. RFID Information Center enables tracking of uniquley identifiable (serialized) product throughout the supply chain. Despite the name, the RFID Information Center is sensor agnostic, meaning it recognizes product serialized with either RFID, barcode and/or 2D barcode. This IBM WebSphere middleware offering is a software product that falls within IBM's broader IBM Information Management Software line.

History

* RFIDIC V1.0 December 2006

* Shipment Verification Feature December 2006

* RFIDIC V1.1 August 2007

* ePedigree Feature August 2007

* EPCglobal [http://www.epcglobalinc.org/certification/sw_cert/ Certified] October 2007 – [http://www.epcglobalinc.org/certification/sw_cert/EPCglobal_Certified_EPCIS_Software_Products_10.24.07.pdf EPCIS Standard]

* EPCglobal [http://www.epcglobalinc.org/certification/sw_cert/ Certified] January 2008 – [http://www.epcglobalinc.org/certification/sw_cert/EPCglobal_Certified_DP_Software_Products_01_18_08_2.pdf Drug Pedigree Standard]

Shipment Verification Feature

RFIDIC Shipment Verification feature provides an automated means to track shipments and confirm receipts. Automating these processes can reduce both product losses and the labor that is required to resolve discrepancies when errors in the shipment or receipt processes occur.

The following steps demonstrate the Shipment Verification model: [ [http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/rfidhelp/v1r1/index.jsp RFID Information Center Documentation] ]
# The retail distribution center ships totes to the retail pharmacy. Object events with a business step of "shipping" are sent to the RFID Information Center for the retail distribution center.
# The retail distribution center responds to the subscription query from the retail pharmacy by sending a list of the totes that were shipped. These Advanced Shipping Notices (ASNs) provide advanced visibility of shipments in the form of Dashboards (management information systems). The receiver's "Expected Receipts" dashboard highlights all in-transit totes so that labor can be scheduled for expected receipts. The shipper's "Shipment Verification" dashboard highlights all shipped totes that are eventually received to provide visibility of the downstream inventory. Electronic Product Codes (EPCs) in the delayed status (those that were not received in the expected time frame) can be investigated and the problems resolved.
# The retail pharmacy receives the totes. Object events with a business step of "receiving" are sent to the RFID Information Center for the retail pharmacy.
# The retail pharmacy responds to the subscription query from the retail distribution center by sending a list of the totes that were received.

ePedigree Feature

RFIDIC ePedigree feature is an optional add-on componant that that enables manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers to generate an electronic pedigree, or life history, of a pharmaceutical product as it moves through the supply chain. Securing the supply chain has become an important consideration in improving patient safety in light of a mounting counterfeit drug problem. [ [http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/22011.wss IBM Press Release 09 Aug 2007] ]

Alerts

Complex alerting capabilities are the key to a proactive event management system. The ability to quickly alert the right people of the occurrence of significant events enables rapid targeted responses to those events. The extensible RFIDIC framework allows the setup of complex alerts for response notification with multiple customizable delivery methods, including the following:
* E-mail
* Escalation
* File
* Java Message Service (JMS) destination
* Schedule
* Pager
* Phone call
* Text message (short message service)In addition, accessing and analyzing trading partner data using enhanced Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools (BIRT Project) can be automated (i.e. subscriptions), leading to fuller supply chain visibility and lending to faster, better decision making. [ [http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/rfidhelp/v1r1/index.jsp RFID Information Center Documentation] ]

Leadership

Janet Perna was General Manager of IBM Software Group's Information Management division until her retirement from IBM in July, 2005. She was replaced by Ambuj Goyal. [ [http://www.research.ibm.com/people/a/ambuj/ Ambuj Goyal] ]

Related Products

[http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v2r1/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.IBMDI.doc_6.1/welcome.htm IBM Tivoli Director Integrator]
[http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wmqv6/v6r0/index.jsp IBM WebSphere MQ]
[http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wasinfo/v6r0/index.jsp IBM WebSphere Application Server]
[http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/pvcsensa/v1r1m0/index.jsp IBM WebSphere Premises Server]
[http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/idshelp/v10/index.jsp IBM Informix Dynamic Server]

References

[http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/23372.wss IBM Press Release 22 Jan 2008]
[http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/22403.wss IBM Press Release 02 Oct 2007]

External links

* [http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data/masterdata/rfid/ IBM WebSphere RFID Information Center]

* [http://www.watchit.com/IPV/html/IPV_ie_wmt7_js_ini.cfm?setIPV_preTest_completed=no&setIPV_PostTest_completed=no&CourseAck=IRPD&Bandwidth=WM300&show_survey=0&knskinid=4&comingFrom=viewprograms#null&S_CMP=rnav Pharma Track and Trace Demo]

* [http://www.ddj.com/web-development/196700187 Chris Clauss on Dr. Dobb's]