RFID chips: Future technology on everyone’s lips

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is considered a technology of the future, but RFID chips have long established themselves in our everyday lives. RFID systems combine the physical world of a product with the virtual world of digital data. Projects based on RFID far transcend simply replacing the bar code, and in fact represent a new all-encompassing structural concept. The RFID market is faced with the conflicting demands for cheap solutions on the one hand and guaranteed high-level security, which is predicated on additional investment, on the other. The retail trade is playing a decisive part in the broad-based roll-out of RFID projects. Beyond deployment in the retail market, though, RFID will soon be considered an indispensable part of the entire value chain in all sectors of the economy.information- and communication technology; ICT; e-business; e-commerce; B2C-e-commerce; internet; retail; supply chain management; tag

RFID chips: Future technology on everyone’s lips

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is considered a technology of the future, but RFID chips have long established themselves in our everyday lives. RFID systems combine the physical world of a product with the virtual world of digital data. Projects based on RFID far transcend simply replacing the bar code, and in fact represent a new all-encompassing structural concept. The RFID market is faced with the conflicting demands for cheap solutions on the one hand and guaranteed high-level security, which is predicated on additional investment, on the other. The retail trade is playing a decisive part in the broad-based roll-out of RFID projects. Beyond deployment in the retail market, though, RFID will soon be considered an indispensable part of the entire value chain in all sectors of the economy

Managing Product Life Cycle Data Using Automatic Identification

Kuluttajat ja lainsäätäjät vaativat yhä tarkempaa tietoa tuotteiden alkuperästä ja ympäristökuormituksesta. Yhä monimutkaisemmiksi käyvät tuotteiden tuotantoketjut ovat haasteellisia tämän tiedon keräämisen kannalta. Tuotantoketjussa voi olla satoja eri alihankkijoita sekä lukuisia jatkojalostajia. Tähän asti yleisin tapa laskea tuotteen elinkaaren ympäristövaikutukset on ollut mitata resurssien ja energian käyttö prosesseissa sekä prosessien päästöt ilmaan, maahan ja veteen esimerkiksi vuoden jaksolla ja käyttää saatua lukua keskiarvona kaikille tuotetuille tuotteille. Tämä väitös esittää mallin, joka mahdollistaa yksittäisen tuotteen elinkaaren seuraamisen ja sen elinkaari-informaation keräämisen sekä tämän informaation jakamisen. Esitettyä mallia voidaan käyttää pohjana kehitettäessä luotettava järjestelmä tuotteiden ympäristövaikutusten mittaamiseen ja tämän tiedon jakamiseen kuluttajille. Näin kuluttajat voivat tehdä ostopäätöksensä oikean ja tarkan tiedon perusteella. Työssä on tarkasteltu metsäteollisuutta esimerkkitapauksena, jossa tuotteiden ja komponenttien tunnistaminen perustuu RFID-tekniikkaan. Automaattinen tunnistaminen mahdollistaa jopa yksittäisen tuotteen seuraamisen koko tuotantoketjun läpi ja tarkan elinkaari-informaation keräämisen. Tätä informaatiota käyttämällä yksittäiselle tuotteelle voidaan laskea tarkka ympäristövaikutus.Managing the life cycle of products is becoming more and more important. Organizations are facing increasing pressure from consumers and legislators to accurately measure and manage the environmental impact of products. However, the complexities of today s supply chains pose a challenge for gathering accurate data throughout the life cycle of the product. The life cycle of a product can be defined as a network of entities responsible for the procurement, manufacturing and distribution of the product. In order to enable tracing through the dynamic supply chain, the products must be identified. The development of automatic identification enables us to identify each object in the supply chain and trace it through the complex and dynamic supply chain where each organization manages a part of the chain. Thanks to traceability, we can connect the information about the products' movements with the information about processes. In other words, we can allocate the properties of the processes to the actual product instances involved in each process. To be able to store the life cycle information of products, we must have a model that enables the allocation of life cycle information to the traced product throughout the supply chain. This dissertation defines such a model (traceability graph) that can be used to allocate life cycle information from processes to individual products. Further, the model enables multidimensional analyzes of data associated with the life cycle information of products and their components. The dissertation also specifies a solution for collecting, storing and sharing life cycle information about the product throughout its life cycle, enabling consumers to make educated choices based on accurate information regarding products they are purchasing. The method enables supply chain stakeholders to exchange life cycle information by utilizing the EPCGlobal Network architecture. The case example used in this dissertation is environmental impact information. In recent times, consumers and legislators have become increasingly interested in the environmental impacts of products throughout their life cycle. The biggest challenge with measuring the environmental impact is the fact that supply chains are complex and dynamic. A manufacturer can use various subcontractors and supply various end manufacturers or retailers in different countries. So far, the most common method of calculating the environmental impact of a product has been to measure the resources used, emissions and production for a certain period of time and then calculate the average environmental impact of the product. This work provides methods to monitor environmental performance even at a product level