RFID Data Sharing in Supply Chains : What is the Value of the EPC Network?

This contribution concerns itself with the value of the EPC Network, a global data sharing infrastructure based on vendor-independent technical standards. Our research is motivated by the question; to what extent can companies draw benefits, beyond simple efficiency gains, from the use of such systems on top of an existing RFID hardware infrastructure? For this purpose, we first provide an overview of the technical architecture of the EPC Network. We then develop a list of 18 RFID use case scenarios on the foundations of an extensive review of RFID studies published in recent years. We particularly focus on those cases that require RFID data exchange among supply chain partners, as well as their respective benefits. In order to illustrate its practical use, we complement this analysis with real-world examples of five current implementation projects.