Managing operations takes place at different levels in the supply chain. The accuracy of each level is dependent on the level below it, meaning the data used to plan and manage the company is dependent on the lowest level of all, and that data is totally dependent upon what is when and where in the basic processes. Business decisions are made within the four walls of the company however, there is a lot going on in the real world. Visibility in the physical world allows the management to improve their business processes. RFID technology allows identification of items in the supply chain, capturing of events and ultimately sharing this important information across all levels of the supply chain. Smartrack™ is a Repository of item-level event data. It is able to share item-level event data between business partners in a standardized way. Thus, Smartack™ provides visibility at item-level that allows traceability, and provides the visualization of EPCIS repository data. It also allows businesses to use the data to detect inefficiencies in supply chains.

By using open standards for tags, readers, and middleware, based on EPCGlobal standard, enable businesses to use the same tags applied in one country to pass through many different organizations, and countries to their final destination while ensuring that the identity of the object is understood and authenticated at all times. Thus, in line with this, Smartag designed the Smartrack™ EPCIS to be based on the EPCGlobal standard for Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS). Smartrack™ EPCIS supports a detailed representation of the location and state of material as it moves between organizational, and legal boundaries and provides for the data sharing within a technology supplier independent way between entities or partners. It should be noted that the Smartrack™ EPCIS standard is data carrier neutral and can be used to exchange data found from RFID tags, barcodes and other data carriers.

Smartrack™ EPCIS (Electronic Product Code Information Services) answers What, Where, When and Why by capturing defined events. Each of the core event data has fields that represent these 4 key dimensions of any EPCIS event. These 4 dimensions are:

1. WHAT? What’s the product? (Product)

   • The object(s) or other entities that are the subject of the event; can be a list of EPC tag which unique identity of the product, or a business transaction like Purchase Order, Invoice and so on.

2. WHERE? Where did it take place? (Location)

   • Indicate the location where an event took place.

3. WHEN? When did it take place? (Time)

   • States when the date and time an event took place.

4. WHY? Why did it happen? (Business step and status)

   • Indicates what business operation activities (Receiving, Picking, Loading, and Shipping) status of the product was taking place at the time of the event.

Smartrack™ EPCIS is offered as a shared or privately hosted service. Some organizations may opt to purchase or subscribe to either one of the services.

Privately hosted service is more flexible than shared hosting as more controls can be achieved. Some customer may feel safer and more secure with this option because the database will not be shared with others. Besides that, the customer has full control of the server, including the choice of operating system or hardware.

By subscribing to the shared hosted service, all data resides in one server. This is a more economical option because it lowers the cost of purchasing the server in terms of operating system and hardware. The cost of server support and maintenance can be eliminated. Those who do not rely on heavy data usage should opt for this option.