In an effort to ensure the smooth and safe flow of international trade through the global supply chain, the International Organization for Standard (ISO) published ISO/PAS 28000:2005 for security management systems. ISO/PAS 28000:2005 - Specification for security management systems for the supply chain "... is designed to enable better monitoring of freight flows, to combat smuggling and to respond to the threat of piracy and terrorist attacks as well as to create a safe and secure international supply chain regime," said Captain Charles Piersall, chair of ISO technical committee ISO/TC 8, Ships and marine technology.... more

In an era of global supply chains, successful companies must share real-time key data and information with strategic customers, suppliers and supply chain partners, according to a logistics and transportation annual report issued by Capgemini U.S. LLC and others. The study focused on "collaboration," a concept defined as having three key characteristics: Alignment of individuals and organizations. Sharing of real time data. Standardization of processes. The study concluded that very little true collaboration is occurring, as analysis shows that less than 10% of participating firms... more

EPCglobal Inc. released a report describing the EPCglobal Network Architecture Framework, a collection of interrelated standards for hardware, software, information exchange and core services to enable the automatic identification of objects as they move through the supply chain. The report was authored by the EPCglobal Architectural Review Committee. The report was developed with input from trading partners, solution providers, and representatives from GS1 Member Organizations, including: Applied Wireless ID (AWID), CVS, BEA Systems (formerly ConnecTerra), Kraft, MIT, Oat Systems, Procter & Gamble, Tesco,... more

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EPCglobal Inc. awarded seven companies the first EPCglobal certification marks. The EPCglobal hardware certification program tests radio frequency identification (RFID) silicon chips, readers, reader modules, and printer/encoders with embedded reader modules. The marks certify that the hardware products have been tested and will work according to the EPCglobal UHF Generation 2 Air Interface Protocol standard ratified in December 2004. Testing for the EPCglobal certification marks is conducted by MET Laboratories. The following companies completed the testing process and received certification marks for the following products:... more

EPCglobal Inc. ratified a new software standard for using electronic product code (EPC) technology in the supply chain. The standard, known as Application Level Events (ALE), is the first created specifically for software, according to EPCglobal. ALE establishes the approach EPC-enabled software products will take in collecting, managing and routing data EPC technology generates in the supply chain. "The community is making swift strides in the commercialization of radio frequency identification (RFID) and EPC technology," said Chris Adcock, president of EPCglobal Inc. The ratification follows successful interoperability... more

The Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 and Edifecs Inc. renewed an agreement letting X12 members access the Edifecs SpecBuilder for use in X12 standards development. Edifecs SpecBuilder 6.1 is a guideline authoring tool, letting users create, customize and publish guidelines, generate test data, and compare and migrate different versions of guidelines. According to ASC X12, it facilitates a rich quality assurance environment for data testing. As Context Inspired Component Architecture (CICA) message development proliferates in ASC X12, the group revamped and enhanced its Tools for Members program and called... more

Nearly 20 companies developing radio frequency identification (RFID) technology formed an intellectual property licensing consortium to offer a "patent management" approach for patent holders, manufacturers and end-users. Conspicuously absent from the consortium at the time of the announcement was Intermec Technologies Inc., which holds several key RFID patents. The consortium said it will be based on the standards and specifications announced by EPCglobal, which develops standards for Electronic Product Codes and RFID technology, as well as ISO (International Standards Organization) counterpart proposed... more

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The Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 announced that GEFEG mbH is contributing its EDIFIX 6.0 Editor for use in standards development using ASC X12's new framework, Context Inspired Component Architecture (CICA). The EDIFIX 6.0 CICA Editor is the first product on the market that enables users to generate CICA constructs and data models, according to ASC. GEFEG EDIFIX supports companies in modeling, creating, testing and documenting guidelines based on international Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) business standards, such as ASC X12, United Nations/Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport... more

Intermec Technologies Corp. was awarded a blanket purchasing agreement (BPA) to provide passive radio frequency identification (RFID) technical engineering services to the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Coast Guard. According to Intermec, the award is the third Automatic Identification Technology (AIT) RFID award group resulting from a government request for quotation issued in December 2004. Earlier this year, Intermec was granted BPAs to provide RFID technology tags and readers. The awards, said Intermec, are part of the government's AIT RFID initiative to provide asset visibility in its global logistics... more

The United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) set a major course for paperless trade at its annual session, adopting a new, global United Nations electronic Trade Documents (UNeDocs) standard for digital trade documents. The standard will enable both paper and electronic documents for cross-border trade. The so-called "roadmap toward paperless trade" was launched at the UN/CEFACT forum, officially titled - "Paperless Trade in International Supply Chains: Enhancing Efficiency and Security." The forum focused on the benefits and challenges of switching to paperless trade, especially... more

The enterprise-control system integration committee of the Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society (ISA) completed the third ISA-95 standard. ISA-95 Part 3 provides models and terminology for defining the activities of manufacturing operations management. According to ISA, the models and terminology: Emphasize good practices of manufacturing operations. May be used to improve existing manufacturing operations systems. May be applied regardless of the degree of automation. The two previously released ISA-95 standards are Part 1 - Models and terminology and Part 2... more

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Revenue for the global Manufacturing Execution System (MES) market reached an estimated $1.06B in 2004, a 50% increase since 2001, according to AMR Research. Compliance initiatives and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) maturity were the two major drivers that combined to create a perfect environment for MES market expansion, said AMR Research. "In 2001, the vast majority of the Fortune 1000 manufacturers AMR Research surveyed were in the throes of massive ERP rollouts," said Alison Smith, senior research analyst at AMR Research. "As these draw to a close, manufacturers are realizing that their ability to effectively measure... more

A version of this article originally appeared in the May 2005 issue of Smart Labels Analyst. In the world of radio frequency identification (RFID), Ultra High Frequency (UHF) means license-free frequencies. In the U.S., the radio frequency regulation laws permit power levels for use of RFID at UHF that give it longer range than at other frequencies. Now most of the rest of the world is following suit in at least easing their radiation laws at these frequencies, though not necessarily as much as is the case in the U.S. today. The result is that UHF gives or will give one of the longest ranges for RFID without recourse to a battery in the... more

The radio frequency identification (RFID) technology market is likely to grow rapidly following supply chain mandates issued by retail giants such as Wal-Mart, Target and Albertsons and major entities including the U.S. Department of Defense, according to Frost & Sullivan. The mandates insist on suppliers becoming RFID compliant, compelling most suppliers to integrate existing supply chain systems with new RFID systems. As a result, the market for RFID middleware is witnessing an upswing, said the consulting firm. Analysis from Frost & Sullivan reveals that revenue in the RFID middleware sector totaled $23.39 million in 2004... more

Kimberly-Clark Corp. will begin formal testing of next-generation radio frequency identification (RFID) hardware this summer. The move to Generation 2 hardware will provide a universal solution to RFID technology, replacing numerous, incompatible systems with one system used worldwide, said Kimberly-Clark. According to EPCglobal Inc., Class 1 Generation 2 UHF Air Interface Protocol Standard Version 1.0.9 defines the physical and logical requirements for a "passive-backscatter," interrogator-talks-first (ITF), RFID system operating in the 860 MHz to 960 MHz frequency range. The system comprises interrogators, also known as readers and... more

The Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society (ISA) formed a new standards development committee to address human-machine interface (HMI) issues. The committee, ISA-SP101, was established to provide HMI guidelines and standards to: Reduce operator mistakes and misinterpretations via clear and intuitive representations of conditions and operator control interfaces. Reduce learning curves for new operators and allow operators to move from one system to another (often within the same plant) with minimal retraining. Assist communications and reduce errors between geographically dispersed groups.... more

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reported that a major milestone was reached in the standardization of ISO 18629 - Process Specification Language (PSL). Eight parts of this standard are now technically stable, reaching either the committee draft, draft international standard or international standard stage. According to NIST, the PSL defines a neutral representation for manufacturing processes. Process data is used throughout the lifecycle of a product, from early indications of manufacturing process flagged during design, through process planning, validation, production scheduling and control. The notion... more

The Uniform Code Council changed its name to GS1 US, effective immediately. Founded over 30 years ago by retailers in the grocery industry, GS1 US represents more than 260,000 companies in 25 different industries in the U.S. GS1 US is a member organization of GS1, formerly known as EAN International, a global standards body that designs and implements standards for the supply chain. GS1 US pioneered the development of the Universal Product Code (U.P.C.), the foundation for the global standards system managed by GS1. EAN/UPC/UCC standards include: CEN EN 797 1995-AUG-01 Bar Coding - Symbology Specifications - EAN/UPC - Incorporates... more

The well-documented introduction of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology into the supply chain by Wal-Mart this year was followed by a relatively slow pace in the technology's adoption, according to ABI Research. The firm noted that many of the suppliers that participated in Wal-Mart's program adopted RFID only the extent they had to to meet Wal-Mart's basic requirements. Evidence suggest, said ABI, that the consumer goods vertical markets are adopting a "wait-and-see" attitude before moving forward with RFID. "Leaving aside the important issues of cost and reliability, most of the RFID products available so far require... more

The European Commission Directorate-General of Environment issued a Frequently Asked Questions document intended to help authorities in member states interpret Directive 2002/95/EC on restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS), and Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).... more

Members of the OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) consortium will collaborate on a standardized method for expressing software installation characteristics required for lifecycle management in distributed, multi-platform environments. The new OASIS Solution Deployment Descriptor (SDD) Technical Committee will develop schemas to describe the characteristics of installable units of software, relevant for core aspects of deployment, configuration and maintenance. "In order to increase automation across the lifecycle while preserving the option to deploy heterogeneous infrastructure platforms,... more

Members of the OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) consortium agreed to advance development of the WS-ReliableMessaging and WS-RM Policy specifications within the OASIS open standards process. The new OASIS Web Services Reliable Exchange (WS-RX) Technical Committee will broaden development of the specifications that comprise both protocol and policy assertions for reliable message exchange. "Reliable messaging is key to the future growth of business-to-business Web services," said Charles Abrams, research director for Gartner Inc. "The need for secure and verifiable transactions among... more

The Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 Steering Committee merged two subcommittees - materials management and procurement & distribution - to form a new subcommittee focused on supply chain standards. According to ASC X12, the new Supply Chain Subcommittee will design, develop and maintain standards for existing and new business requirements relating to the supply chain. Supply chain, according to the group, encompasses the entire business process, starting with the acquisition of raw materials through the delivery of product to end users. Included areas of the new subcommittee are: Inventory management. Materials... more

The Industry Data Exchange Association (IDEA), an industry-backed e-commerce service provider, released Industry Data Warehouse (IDW) version 2.0 (IDW2). IDEA is an e-commerce service provider jointly owned by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED). IDW2 is billed as a central data repository of manufacturer-provided and controlled product, pricing and supply chain data that facilitates business data validation and synchronization between manufacturers and trading partners, reducing order management costs and errors that occur in supply chain processes.... more

The Uniform Code Council Inc. (UCC), soon to be GS1 US, announced that UCCnet and Transora agreed in principle to unite operations, business strategies and vision to form a single organization to advance data synchronization technologies for retail and manufacturing supply chains. The new organization would bring together an experienced team of data implementation experts and an industry-leading technology platform for data synchronization services, representing more than 4,500 consumer products companies and many leading retail organizations. "By joining forces, we would make it even easier for retailers and manufacturers... more

The Open Modular Architecture Controls Users' Group (OMAC) released and distributed the PackSoft Application Library (PackAL), designed to offer users more transparency in machine programming, debugging and maintenance. Additionally, the standard will let users "... move toward standardized ways of exchanging information in between machine module controls," said Gerd Hoppe, CTO North America of Beckhoff Automation. The document, ready for implementation and testing, is distributed as a technical paper and includes: Graphical timing diagrams describing the performance of function blocks. Function block control... more

The Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society (ISA) published a new resource, Wireless Networks for Industrial Automation, 2nd Edition, by industry expert Dick Caro. As commercial and residential networks rapidly go wireless, industrial networks may soon follow. This newly revised digital book has been expanded to include the increasingly popular wireless application, radio frequency identification (RFID), while also providing a clear, unbiased view of the emerging wireless communications market, said ISA. Caro writes about wireless communications from a factory and process automation viewpoint to help readers make clear... more

A working group sponsored by the Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society (ISA) SP-88 Committee and the World Batch Forum (WBF) is undertaking a new initiative to help users apply the principles explained in the ISA-88 standards in non-batch applications. The effort is also intended to be compatible with the ISA-95 series of manufacturing integration standards. This combined approach is expected to enable end users to better apply both the ISA-88 and ISA-95 series principles to various manufacturing industries, as well as extend savings and benefits already realized by the batch industries into both discrete and... more

The Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society (ISA), World Batch Forum (WBF) and Open Modular Architecture Controls Users' Group (OMAC) formed a joint working group, Make2Pack, to harmonize batch standards principles and develop conceptual models, terminology and industrial automation examples. The effort will leverage ISA-88 batch standard principles and the PackML state model to develop ANSI/ISA-88.00.05. PackML is a subcommittee team of the OMAC Packaging work group, aka, the Packaging Machinery Language team. PackML's mission, according to OMAC, is to develop guidelines for line types, machine state models, and "tag"... more

A European Commission group released conclusions of an impact assessment on industry supply chains of the proposed REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) regulatory framework. The studiy considered the impact of REACH on supply chains using data supplied by individual firms in the chemicals, automobile, and flexible packaging and inorganic (metals, cement, paper and pulp, etc.) industries. The results of a fourth sector, electronics, will soon be finalized. The group also considered a general survey of the situation in new European Union member states, which will be complemented by a separate report on the results... more

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