Verein Deutscher Ingenieure

Requirements to be met by transponder systems for use in the supply chain - General
 N VDI 4472 BLATT 1

Annotation

Introduction and problem definition

How and why can the use of transponder technology help to improve processes?

A well-structured and technically safe information flow of valid data has come to form an essential element for designing and extending materials-flow systems. This information flow from the physical level of materials-flow technology is linked via various interfaces such as identification systems or analytical systems. In areas where work processes are automated, data acquisition is, then, the crucial link between the control or management level and the actual production process. In addition to the materials-flow systems, it is the fields of service, procurement and distribution logistics that are concerned more and more often by the ever-growing importance of the need for information.

It will be particularly important in future to establish a communication system that includes all links in the textile chain, from the raw-materials supplier via the clothing manufacturer and logistics service provider up to the retailer. New and supplementary information media in sales are also needed in view of an intensified customer service at the point of sale (POS). Defining the "optimisation of the logistic process chain" as objective, all companies involved are therefore required to consider the use of new, available information and identification techniques on the basis of electronic media. The so-called RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) – often also called transponder technology – is a suitable means to this end. There is, already today, a slow but increasing tendency to use this technology, in addition to the established bar code technology, as an information and identification technology accompanying the goods in logistics chains.