EPCglobal taps VeriSign to operate RFID product code directory

Computerworld - EPCglobal, the standards-setting body for the radio frequency identification (RFID) tag industry has selected VeriSign Inc. to maintain the key electronic product codes (EPC) that could eventually identify billions of unique products, ranging from tubes of toothpaste on grocery store shelves to aircraft parts in U.S. Department of Defense depots.
But, VeriSign, EPCglobal officials and analysts said Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has no current plans to use the EPCglobal Network and Object Naming Service (ONS), which VeriSign will operate for EPCglobal. EPCglobal is a joint venture between Uniform Code Council Inc. in Lawrenceville, N.J., and EAN International in Brussels.
Wal-Mart's position is important because the retailer has told its top 100 suppliers that it wants them to use RFID tags on cases and pallets by January 2005.
John Brendsel, director of EPC network services at Mountain View, Calif.-based VeriSign, said Wal-Mart's suppliers don't have to use ONS at this time to meet that company's RFID mandate.
While VeriSign expects manufacturers and retailers to use Web-based services to access the ONS database, Jeff Woods, an analyst at Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Conn., said in a Jan. 8 research report that Wal-Mart wants its suppliers to communicate RFID data over its RetailLink extranet and electronic data interchange systems. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman didn't return a request for comment.
Brian Matthews, vice president for directory services at VeriSign, said the EPCglobal Network and the naming service will work much like the Domain Name System VeriSign now operates. When a case or pallet -- and eventually an individual product item -- passes an RFID scanner, the scanner will look up the EPC code contained in the tag on the "root" ONS run by VeriSign, Matthews said.
That root directory contains metadata on the product code information. The directory then points to more detailed information on local ONS servers maintained by manufacturers, Matthews said.
This structure -- much like the Internet -- will be able to accommodate growth, as more retailers incorporate RFID tags into their supply chain, Matthews said. Although he couldn't predict the eventual scale of the ONS, Jack Grasso, a spokesman for EPCglobal, said that 5 billion bar-coded items are now scanned every day. RFID tags are eventually expected to replace bar codes on products.
Even though Wal-Mart has not required its suppliers to use the ONS or the EPCglobal network, Grasso said Wal-Mart and its supplier have the option of doing so as EPCglobal members. In fact, said Brendsel, Wal-Mart suppliers could use the ONS data to better manage their RFID sales and inventory data, deriving real value from its investment in the technology.
Pete Abell, an analyst at The EPC Group Ltd. in Boston, said he expects Wal-Mart will eventually tap into the ONS data and sees any differences between Wal-Mart's RFID plans and EPCglobal as largely semantic. He noted that Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart and its suppliers will need EPCglobal to register and obtain a product code number, which is just what the ONS is designed to do.
VeriSign will host ONS at the 13 data centers it operates globally for DNS, Matthews said, and EPCglobal will pay VeriSign for the service. Neither company would discuss prices.
EPCglobal will pay for the operation of ONS from the fees it charges its members.

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