Background

The supply chain ecosystem often comprises multiple organizations that collaborate to deliver products and services to end consumers. Throughout a product’s lifecycle—from manufacturing to final delivery—it is essential to maintain accurate, real-time visibility of product information. This transparency not only ensures efficient operations but also builds trust among stakeholders.

Challenges with Systems

Historically, many organizations have tracked their products using unique, proprietary data models and schemas. This approach has led to several challenges:

• Fragmented Data: Inconsistent data formats across organizations hinder end-to-end traceability.
• Communication Barriers: The lack of a common language for data exchange makes collaboration difficult.
• Limited Visibility: Without standardized tracking, real-time monitoring and data sharing become inefficient, affecting decision-making and customer satisfaction.

The Need for a Global Standard

To overcome these challenges, there was a need for a standard that could:

• Consistent Data Exchange: Create a consistent framework for capturing and sharing product information.
• Enhance Interoperability: Enable different systems and organizations to communicate seamlessly.
• Improve Traceability: Provide a comprehensive view of a product’s journey from origin to consumer.
• Support Scalability: Adapt to the varying needs of businesses across different sizes and industries.

Introduction of EPCIS

In response to these challenges, GS1 introduced the Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) standard. EPCIS was designed with the following key objectives:

• Interoperability: By establishing a common framework, EPCIS allows diverse systems to exchange data efficiently, breaking down communication barriers between organizations.
• Transparency: With EPCIS, businesses can track and trace the movement and transformation of products throughout the supply chain, ensuring full visibility.
• Adaptability: EPCIS is flexible enough to meet different business and regulatory requirements, making it suitable for companies of all sizes and across various industries.
• Trust and Compliance: Enhanced traceability and real-time visibility help build trust among consumers, partners, and regulators, while also supporting compliance with industry standards.

GS1 (Global Standard One)

GS1 is a non-profit organisation that develops and maintains standards for the identification, capture and sharing of information. It is based in Brussels, Belgium, and operates through around 116 member organisations across the globe. GS1 in its current form was created in 2005 by the merger of EAN International and the Uniform Code Council, the two predecessor organisations whose joint UPC/EAN barcode standard had been in use since 1974. GS1 standards are used by businesses across retail, healthcare, logistics, food service and other industries. Among them is EPCIS (Electronic Product Code Information Services), the visibility-data standard that lets trading partners — customers, suppliers, distributors, logistics service providers, retailers — share product-event information in a common language. The aim is to improve physical and digital supply-chain performance, safety, security and accessibility.