Category Archives: RFID

RFID

The Case Against RFID In Pharma

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iStock_000001225482SmallerIt is pretty clear that there is not much interest in the use of Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) in the pharmaceutical supply chain because every time I publish an essay in RxTrace about some aspect of it, there is a drop in readership.  So at the risk of taking another hit in readership, let’s take a look at the case against the use of RFID in the pharma supply chain.

Back in 2010 I published an essay that really rattled my friends in the RFID vendor community (see “RFID is DEAD…at Unit-Level in Pharma”).  Since that essay was published, the two or three drug companies that were previously shipping drugs with package-level RFID tags on them have ended that practice, replacing the RFID tags with 2D barcodes.  This includes Purdue Pharma and Pfizer, the two flag carriers for RFID in pharma back in the late 2000s Continue reading The Case Against RFID In Pharma →

Barcodes, RFID

InBrief: RFID and Barcode Interoperability

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There is a new and valuable resource available for anyone who needs to make use of both GS1 RFID and GS1 barcodes–or even just one or the other–on any product or shipping container and in any supply chain.  It is called “RFID Bar Code Interoperability, GS1 Guideline” and it is available as a free PDF download here on the GS1 website.

This is a guidance document, which means that it isn’t a standard itself but draws contents from GS1 standards documents to better explain the subject.  In this particular case it draws primarily from the GS1 General Specifications and the Tag Data Standard.  Both of those source documents are huge and so you will find this new guidance document a relative joy to read if you need this kind of information.

Even if you are already familiar with GS1’s RFID and barcode standards, intermingling them so that they are fully interoperable in a single application isn’t Continue reading InBrief: RFID and Barcode Interoperability →