Unilever is running a trial of Electronic Product Code Information Service to collect and access information from within its logistics environment and from trading partners in the supply chain. It hopes to create additional business value in the areas of promotion management, supply chain visibility and metrics and RFID readability.
The EPC Information Service is a specification for a standard interface for accessing EPC-related information. RedPrairie is providing information on RFID tags in the EPCIS specification to Unilever. During picking, the RedPrairie warehouse management system, DLx Warehouse, will commission the RFID tags that are required for each item on the order. DLx Warehouse will generate the EPC numbers for each case and pallet in the correct format and will relate them to a bar-coded license plate number, if necessary. These RFID-enabled labels will be applied to the appropriate cartons on the pallet. Similarly, an RFID-enabled pallet label will be generated.
