|
|
Texas Instruments
Outlines Industry-Wide Plan for Securing the Pharmaceutical Supply
Chain
December 06, 2006
White paper offers flexible approach to item-level RFID deployment
and development of a secure tag data infrastructure
A growing number of counterfeit, gray market and diverted products are
entering the pharmaceutical supply chain, compromising consumer
confidence in the authenticity of their prescription drugs. Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is poised to help secure
the supply chain, but to do so, the industry needs Item-Level Tagging
(ILT) standards, regulatory guidance from the federal government and
alignment on a Tag Data Security Infrastructure (TDSI). A new white
paper from Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) (TI), "RFID Tag
Data Security Infrastructure: A Common Ground Approach for
Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Safety," defines the key deliverables and
requirements needed to achieve agreement between segments of the
supply chain concerned with privacy, as well as the ability to use
product information to improve operational efficiencies. |
| |
|
|
| |
In addition
to defining the necessary elements for deploying RFID at the
item-level, TI's paper lays the foundation for a TDSI for these
initiatives. The TDSI is a set of rules, specifications and common
protocols that enable item-level tags and readers to work within and
across the industry's information technology ecosystem. This proposed
approach has the potential to unify the industry's efforts to achieve
a safer and more secure pharmaceutical supply chain.
"The TDSI model is about delivering a secure RFID solution that raises
confidence in the authenticity of prescriptions while protecting
privacy," said Joseph Pearson, business development manager, TI-RFid(TM)
Systems, and author of the new white paper. "By augmenting
network-based applications with the capability of anytime, anywhere
authentication and product information, we're bringing together all
pharmaceutical supply chain stakeholders, while laying the groundwork
for other high-value branded goods markets."
Leading RFID infrastructure providers, Nosco Inc., Northern Apex and
Sirit Inc., also support the need for a secure tag data
infrastructure:
Nosco Inc.:
Gregg Metcalf, industry market manager at Nosco, Inc., a leading
producer of RFID-enabled pharmaceutical printed packaging, said:
"Using an EPC number as its cornerstone, the secure tag data
infrastructure proposed in TI's paper always supports network-based
applications. Further, the paper's support of the need for
decentralized data is very important to gain acceptance by the entire
supply chain."
Northern Apex:
"Beyond improvements against counterfeiting, pharmaceutical
manufacturers and retailers have different end uses in mind for tag
data," said Rick Raber, chief technologist for lead RFID integrator
Northern Apex. "The approach outlined in TI's paper supports both
those who want applications with data accessed completely from a
database, and others who may want data from the tag directly for local
applications, like a smart shelf for automatic inventory."
Sirit Inc.:
"The cryptography proposed in TI's paper would enable a single
standardized methodology for tags and readers that takes both
authentication and product encryption capability into consideration,"
said Fred Veinot, vice president of business development at Sirit
Inc., a leading provider of RFID reader technology. "This is
significant because an internationally accepted cryptographic standard
will be critical for industry agreement on an item- level tag standard
in EPCglobal working groups."
To download the white paper, "RFID Tag Data Security Infrastructure: A
Common Ground Approach for Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Safety," click
on http://www.ti.com/rfid/shtml/form-wp-TDSI_13_nov_06.shtml .
About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments is the world's largest integrated manufacturer
of radio frequency identification (RFID) transponders and reader
systems. Capitalizing on its competencies in high-volume semiconductor
manufacturing and microelectronics packaging, TI is a visionary leader
and at the forefront of establishing new markets and international
standards for RFID applications. For more information, contact TI-RFid(TM)
Systems at 1-800-962-RFID (7343) (North America) or +1 214-567-7343
(International), or visit the Web site at http://www.ti-rfid.com .
Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog
technologies to meet our customers' real world signal processing
requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company includes the
Educational & Productivity Solutions business. TI is headquartered in
Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in
more than 25 countries.
Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web at
http://www.ti.com .
Trademarks
TI-RFid is a trademark of Texas Instruments. All other trademarks and
registered trademarks are property of their respective owners. |
| |
|
