U.S. Military's 60,000 Suppliers Can Use Newly Approved Standards for RFID Tags

U.S. Defense Department suppliers may now use Electronic Product Code (EPC) tags to comply with the department's request to integrate RFID into supply shipments by 2007. This new capability comes after the EPCglobal Inc. Board of Governors recently ratified a revision of the tag data standard.

The revision incorporates the Defense Department's Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code and the Department of Defense Activity Address Code (DODAAC), enabling the department's 60,000 suppliers who use CAGE or DODAAC to use those codes to comply with the agency's request to apply RFID tags on all department deliveries by January 2007.

"This is a milestone for EPCglobal and for the Defense Department's mission to ensure critical supplies are where they need them at the right time, every time," said Mike Meranda, president of EPCglobal US. The Defense Department has embraced EPC technology to ensure the development of worldwide, interoperable standards that address the global supply chain.

"The approval of the DoD Tag Data Construct as an EPC standard is a critical step for the Department of Defense as we implement RFID in our supply chain," said Alan Estevez, assistant deputy under secretary of defense for supply chain integration.

Representatives of the Defense Department have worked directly with EPCglobal's Fast Moving Consumer Goods Business Action Group since August on the revision, holding weekly teleconferences and in-person meetings every quarter as they hammered out the details. "This is one way EPC technology can help not only the commercial supply chains that fill our stores, but supply chains that are vital to our nation," said Meranda.

Source: EPCglobal Inc.