EPC/RFID technology has been written about many times in the pages of Logistyka in previous issues, and many more words on this subject will likely be put to paper.
Why? Well, this new technology, whose aspects were being worked on in laboratories just a few years ago, and for which special working groups were developing subsequent specifications for the functioning of its individual elements, is being implemented more and more frequently and boldly in various sectors of the economy. RFID technology has been known for over half a century, but its use for commercial purposes is a feature of the last few years. One of the industries with a high number of EPC/RFID technology implementations is the pharmaceutical industry. Following press reports, one might get the impression that, after the FMCG industry, the most pilot implementations have been recorded in pharmacy and healthcare. Well-known implementations include those at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Novartis, which involve labeling selected products with radio chips and using EPC/RFID technology to track them in the supply chain. Most pilot implementations take place in the USA due to the obligation to monitor the origin of drugs, the so-called e-pedigree. An interesting implementation project, the description of which was recently made available in the press, can be boasted by the company Cardinal Health. This company distributes as much as 1/3 of all pharmaceutical, surgical, and laboratory products in the USA. The distribution center in Sacramento (California) began using EPC/RFID technology as early as the end of the summer of 2007. This implementation will use both passive HF (13.56 MHz) and UHF (915 MHz) tags. To carry out its operations, it is installing both HF and UHF RFID readers, and in this way, it can read serial numbers at the unit level, encoded in passive tags on individual bottles of medicine received from drug manufacturers.
The serial number will then be used to update the e-pedigree (electronic record of drug origin) of each unit, a secure file that documents every movement of the product through the supply chain. Cardinal Health will use RFID to record when it receives a drug, as well as to register the date of shipment of that drug to its customers, for example, pharmacies. In addition to collecting data on drugs it receives from manufacturers and sends to customers, Cardinal Health will also use RFID readers to capture the serial numbers of all drugs returned to its Sacramento distribution center.
This data will be used in the e-pedigree to document returns. The e-pedigree, along with the drug, will then be sent back to the manufacturer. The company spent many months testing RFID for tracking pallets, bulk packaging, and individual units to better understand the functionality of the tags in the context of the production process, as well as how to encode and read them at normal production speeds. These tests allowed Cardinal Health to conclude that EPC Gen 2 UHF tags are optimal for the range of activities related to pharmaceutical distribution. During the tests, a read reliability of 99.9% was achieved when using EPC Gen 2 tags on individual units packed in bulk packaging and slowing the conveyor to 18 m/min. The typical conveyor speed at Cardinal Health is 36 m/min, and even at this speed, the system read UHF Gen 2 tags at 90%. Pfizer and other drug manufacturers currently use HF tags. However, during RFID tests conducted at Cardinal Health with HF tags, a read reliability of only 60% to 80% (depending on the type of HF tag) was achieved on conveyors moving at 18 m/min. This read reliability dropped significantly during tests at a conveyor speed of 36 m/min. The results obtained clearly indicate that HF RFID is not currently an ideal solution for high-throughput distribution centers. Since 100% of all unit packages must be identified, Cardinal Health is creating a transport line that directs bulk packages containing unsuccessfully read tags on unit packages to an area where unit packages must be manually accounted for.
Another example concerning the implementation of new technology in the pharmaceutical industry from the last few months is the implementation across the entire supply chain, involving companies such as: manufacturer Purdue Pharma, distributor H.D. Smith, and Wal-Mart pharmacy chains. The e-pedigree, mentioned earlier, is a verification of the authenticity of pharmaceutical agents and drugs as they pass through the supply chain from manufacturer to retailer. To protect pharmaceuticals against counterfeiting, a project based on EPC/RFID technology has been implemented in the aforementioned companies.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 5/2007.