|
 |
Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Packing Sourcer
|
The US Government's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said it wants to use 'track and trace' technology to secure the integrity of the drug supply chain to combat drug counterfeiting. It suggests 'mass serialisation' to uniquely identify all drug products as the single most powerful tool available to secure the US drug supply, and believes radio frequency identification (RFID) offers the strongest potential to secure the supply chain. The FDA would consequently like to see the widespread use of RFID and its track and trace capabilities within the health care sector by 2007.
What does this Mean? And How did we get Here?
RFID identifies unique items using radio waves to communicate the identity and any additional relevant information about an item to which it is applied. Its future adoption has made it one of the hottest topics affecting supply chain professionals. Much of the current impetus for RFID can be traced back to an announcement in June last year by the US retailer Wal-Mart, that its top 100 suppliers would be required to utilise radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on their cases and pallets by January 2005. The move has concentrated minds across a range of sectors, with health care the area where there is the greatest need for RFID's ability to offer 'track and trace' capabilities.
Radio waves do not require line-of-sight and can pass through materials, such as cardboard or plastic, and a recent fall in the cost of the tags and their readers has made widespread usage of RFID a certainty in the retail supply chain. Thus, it is easy to see RFID as a panacea for supply chain efficiency and patient safety, and indeed it does offer significant future benefits. When it is fully operational, RFID will have advantages over the present bar code system, notably the ability to read all tags within the reader's range (including tags within pallets) rather than requiring line-of-sight access to bar codes, as well as the ability to read multiple tags as opposed to one at a time for bar codes. |
Read full article >>
|
|
 |
|
| Rate this article |
You must be a member of the site to make a vote. |
|
Average rating: |
0 |
| | | | | |
|
|
 |
Industry Events |
 |
EMBALLAGE 2008. World Packaging Exhibition
16-21 November 2008, Paris-Nord Villepinte - France
“Business, Innovation, Outlook” are the watchwords for the 38th World Packaging Exhibition which opens in Paris from 17 to 21 November 2008. Fifteen months before the key packaging event of the end of 2008, EMBALLAGE displays its differences to offer you a new edition that is even more representative, international and rich in new features.
More info >> |
|
 |
News and Press Releases |
 |
Ultra slim and ultra quick
More info >>
|
|
 |
