. . . and when the RF tag fails to read . . .

2. . . . and when the RF tag fails to read . . . by: Craig K. Harmon, President & CEO Q.E.D. Systems

3. The RFID Mantra Bar codes are dead!! Long live RFID!!! Bar codes are dead!! Long live RFID!!! Bar codes are dead!! Long live RFID!!! Bar codes are dead!! Long live RFID!!! Bar codes are dead!! Long live RFID!!! Bar codes are dead!! Long live RFID!!! Bar codes are dead!! Long live RFID!!! Bar codes are dead!! Long live RFID!!! Bar codes are dead!! Long live RFID!!! Bar codes are dead!! Long live RFID!!! Bar codes are dead!! Long live RFID!!! Bar codes are dead!! Long live RFID!!!

4. RFID will replace bar codes on 1 January 200x!!! NOT!!!

5. Craig K. Harmon • President & CEOQ.E.D. Systems - http://www.autoid.org This presentation is posted at http://www.autoid.org/presentations/presentations.htm • Chair, ISO TC 122/104 JWG - Supply Chain Applications of RFID • Chair, RFID Experts Group (REG) • Chair, U.S. TAG to ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 31/WG 4 “RFID” • Senior Project Editor ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 31/WG 4 (RFID) • Chair, ISO TC 122/WG 4 (Shipping Labels) & ISO TC 122/WG 7 (Product Packaging) • Vice-chair, ASC MH 10 and U.S. TAG to ISO TC 122 (Packaging) • Project Editor, ISO 18185-5 (Electronic Container Seal - Physical Layer) • AIAG Bar Code, Applications, 2D, Tire, Returnables, & RFID Committees • Member, EPCglobal HAG (UHFGen2), FMCG BAG, HLS BAG, SAG, TLS, TDS, AIWG, SBAC • JTC 1 & TC 104 Liaison Officer to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU-R & ITU-T) • Past Chair, ASC INCITS T6 (RFID) - ANS INCITS 256:1999, 2001 • ASC MH 10/SC 8 Liaison Universal Postal Union (UPU) Physical Encoding Group (PEG) • Advisor and Member of USPS Strategic Technology Council • ISO TC 104 & 122 (Freight Containers / Packaging) Liaison Officer to JTC 1/SC 31 • Chairman & Project Editor, ANS MH10.8.2 (Data Application Identifiers) • Project Editor, EIA Shipping Label, Product, Product Package, & Component Marking • Original Advisor, U.S. Department of Defense in Migration to Commercial Standards • Original Project Editor, NATO STANAG 2233 (RFID for NATO Asset Tracking) • Vocabulary Rapporteur to ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 31, ISO/IEC 19762 - Harmonized vocabulary • CompTIA RFID Subject Matter Expert and RFID Certified Professional (CRCP) - RFID+ • Recipient of the 2004 Richard Dilling Award

6. . . . and when an RF tag fails? • Throw away the product to which it is attached? • Scan the bar code; which bar code? • Key enter 96 1s and 0s? • None of these are acceptable, so where is the guidance?

7. Failures • 20% to 30% of Class 1 Gen 1 tags failed • At least one vendor sold inoperative RF tags to rid themselves of yield losses at less than $0.05 per tag because DoD was not going to read them • DoD has hung onto Class 1 Gen 1 tags for too long • DoD policy drove the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection’s US Visit program, now abandoned because of C1G1 failed performance

8. RF tags may fail • Antenna separation from the chip • Poor attachment techniques • Improper handling (“slap and ship”) • Electrostatic discharge • Substandard manufacturing

9. EPCglobal’s failure to recognize the problem • EPC perspective • The problem of RF tag failure will eventually go away • If the tag fails, it is not an EPC tag • While there are EPCglobal conformance and performance requirements there are no quality standards

10. Removing RF labels from liners

11. Back up • EPC was not developed by the same people who developed U.P.C. and EAN bar code structures, nor did the developers take into consideration these structures in initial development • The GS1 (UCC/EAN) data structures are primarily numeric digits, and each of the GS1 “keys” are numeric (GTIN, SSCC, GRAI, GIAI, GLN) • The EPC developers DID NOT take advantage of the widely implemented GS1 system

12. Back up • The EPC was supposed to be a binary internet address, the “internet of things” where objects spoke to one and the other • EPC has been traditionally shown as hexadecimal • How do you key in hexadecimal characters to a numeric terminal? Maybe binary? Maybe octal? Source: MIT AutoID Centre

13. Serialization • Only the GTIN and GLN lacked serialization, the SSCC, GRAI, and GIAI were already serialized • Each of the GS1 “serialized keys” could have been represented in a linear bar code or two-dimensional symbol (sGTIN, SSCC, GRAI, GIAI, sGLN) • The failure to acknowledge this fact has led to a schism between bar code and RFID systems • You have to re-engineer your IT system to implement RFID, or more precisely EPC; RFID can mimic bar codes

14. . . . and the solution is . . . • The RFID Experts Group (REG) developed REG ToR 5-B and 5-L • ToR 5-B and 5-L became ISO/IEC TR 24729-1, RFID enabled labels • The RFID Experts Group (REG) developed REG ToR 5-Q, which will become • ISO/IEC xxxxx-1, Information technology — Radio frequency identification for item management — Conformance – Part 1: Qualification of Design and Manufacture for RFID • ISO/IEC xxxxx-2, Information technology — Radio frequency identification for item management — Conformance – Part 2: Verification of RFID tag quality • Currently incorporated into, ISO 17363 — Supply chain applications of RFID — Product tagging, Annex A: Proposed guidelines for the verification and qualification of design and manufacture for RFID chips and transponders for tires

15. The RFID Experts Group (REG) • An international effort to resolve the real world problems of radio frequency identification • Bar codes and RFID will complement one and the other for many years; bar codes are not dead, they are finding yet a new life • Please participate!!!

16. ???

17. Thank you!!!