Assessment of EPCIS Standard for Interoperable Tracking in the Supply Chain

With increasing globalization and loosely-coupled business relations between different companies, the importance of information exchange standards is increasing. GS1’s Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) is currently one of the main standards proposed for inter-organizational data exchange for track and trace purposes in the supply chain. However, despite its strong industrial background and maturity, EPCIS is not yet used as a global standard for trace and track applications. This paper attempts to analyze why EPCIS has not been universally adopted as a global data-exchange standard for track and trace by analyzing three application areas where the use of EPCIS should provide substantial benefits. The results of this analysis should provide useful insights into the challenges of introducing new, global standards and guidelines for similar initiatives in the future.