One of my newer clients is in the business of processing pharmaceuticals at the end of their lifecycle. For various types of drugs, the disposal process must be monitored carefully when they become damaged, obsolete, expired or excess inventory.
Before engaging me, my client's view of RFID in general and ePC-based infrastructure in particular was influenced by the visionary content on Verisign's Web site. For an example, look at this page on Verisign's Web site. The page describes universal ePC infrastructure implemented by Verisign and based on the nascent EPCGlobal standards definitions.
I think it's important that everyone understand that such information is highly theoretical. Verisign is indicating that their Object Naming Service (ONS) will be the directory of record for all ePC-compatible RFID tags. They also imply that the EPC Information Service (EPC-IS) will be the protocol of choice for interfacing with all interested parties related to any tag.
For this to actually happen, the ePC standards and protocols need to be much more broad and robust. They also have to achieve universal adoption across virtually all industries. Given the number of competing and more mature standards being promoted elsewhere, this seems very unlikely to me.
For a more grounded view of RFID's emergence in pharmaceuticals, refer to the most recent FDA report. |
