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Regulatory Compliance

Companies that transport or process hazardous materials, food, pharmaceuticals and other regulated materials could record the time they received and transferred the material on an RFID tag that travels with the material. Updating the tag with real-time handling data creates a chain-of-custody record that could be used to satisfy FDA, DOT, OSHA and other regulatory reporting requirements. RFID tags are also an effective way to satisfy the tire traceability requirements of the TREAD Act.

Returns & Recall Management

Companies could supplement the basic shipment identification information by writing the specific customer and time of shipment to the tag immediately prior to distribution. Producing and recording this information would provide several benefits. In the event of a recall, companies could trace specific shipments to specific customers, which would enable a highly targeted notification and return operation and avoid a costly general recall. For general returns, companies could verify that the customer returning merchandise is actually the customer who received it, which would deter diversion, counterfeiting and other forms of return fraud.

Service and Warranty Authorizations

Authenticating the product and customer with proprietary information could also be used to authorize warranty and service work. Upon completion of repairs or service, a record of the activity performed could be encoded on the tag to provide a complete maintenance history that travels with the item. If future repairs or service are required, a technician could access the item's complete maintenance and configuration information without accessing a database simply by reading the tag. This application ensures workers have necessary information if no database access is available, and eliminates the need and expense of making phone calls or wireless data inquiries to access records.

Concluded.

* Contributed by: -
Narendar Lokwani,
Alumni of IIM Bangalore,
Currently working as Business Development Manager at Aztecsoft, Bangalore.