For many years barcodes have been used to identify item numbers (SKUs). Wherever products are sold a UPC style barcode indicates the manufacturer and what the product is. Recent developments in RFID technology and the efforts of organizations such as EPCglobal, Inc have prompted the development of a new way to identify objects in the supply chain.

The EPC (Electronic Product Code) provides a means to identify a product not only by manufacturer and SKU but by unique instance (such as serial number). With this advent every individual instance of a product may be uniquely identified. This identification may be applied specific objects, including pallets, cartons, containers, unit packs and items.

Affixing a tag to each object and implementing RFID reader choke points throughout manufacturing areas and work stations increases visibility of “work in progress” on specific products/assemblies and their movements. These movements may be tracked within a facility, organization or the global supply chain. And this visibility can be traced to each individual object on a serialized basis.