Speed keeps the world moving. It saves time, gets things done and creates time for other meaningful engagements. In the business world, the adoption of cashless commerce and electronic payment systems has drawn the distinctive line between successful and unsuccessful business through the numerous benefits they bring along. Electronic transaction has brought speed into business.
The construction of the James Gichuru Express Highway in Nairobi couldn’t come at a better time. The express way will undoubtedly boost business by cutting back the time motorists waste in traffic along Mombasa road into and out of town. The JKIA airport will be more accessible and so will be more opportunities. However, the road being a toll road means that there is a possibility that motorists may suffer time wastages and traffic jams at the toll spots, which would negate the purpose of the express way. A faster, automated payment system is thus needed.
The GS1 Electronic Product Code (EPC) coupled with use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) protocols provides a clean, hassle-free and efficient payment system through which products can be identified and tracked through the supply chain. Not only that, but it also enables for the identification of products from far distances (around 10 metres) and payment for the same. What this means for motorists is that they would not necessarily need to stop at toll spots to make payments but rather slow down, and allow an automated scan, read and bill-production as well as payment done in a matter of seconds. A further development of this system would help make levy collection instant and free from tamper or manipulation, as manual ticketing and payments may allow for loopholes through which revenue may be lost.
The Electronic Product Code (EPC) is syntax for unique identifiers assigned to physical objects, unit loads, locations, or other identifiable entity playing a role in business operations. EPCs have multiple representations, including binary forms suitable for use on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, and text forms suitable for data sharing among enterprise information systems.GS1’s EPC Tag Data Standard (TDS) specifies the data format of the EPC, and provides encodings for numbering schemes — including the GS1 keys — within an EPC.
When unique EPCs are encoded onto individual RFID tags, radio waves can be used to capture the unique identifiers at extremely high rates and at distances well in excess of 10 metres, without line-of-sight contact. These characteristics of RFID can be leveraged to boost supply chain visibility and increase inventory accuracy.
The Electronic Product Code is a system through which product information or data is stored in special radio-capable tags that allow for a reading from considerable distances without necessarily following a rule of line of sight from the reader, which can have multiple applications in business. A good illustration is for the control of inventory items say in a supermarket. In this setting, cleared items (paid) are allowed past the exit way where RFID readers are placed, and unpaid-for items are revealed, even when concealed in bags or garments away from visibility. In the express way setting this can be invaluable.
How does it work?
The RFID technology uses an Electronic Produce Code (EPC) through which every vehicle can be uniquely identified. This code is different from the vehicle’s registration number and exclusive to it on a global scale. Each EPC code, which is a 13-digit number. The code needs to be standardized in order to ensure that the data coded inside is not read differently at different levels.
Radio Frequency Identification innovation is basically an information catch innovation, similar as barcoding. Be that as it may, dissimilar to barcoding, which utilizes an example of dark bars and blank areas, wherein the data is coded, a RFID label utilizes a little electronic chip for a similar which is encircled by a radio wire. Likewise, dissimilar to the standardized tag, a RFID tag shouldn’t be near the reader or, even in the view of the equivalent. One essentially must be inside a perusing distance from the scanner.
A RFID tag doesn’t contain its own battery. It is invigorated just when the bar from the scanner strikes it. At a cost square, when a vehicle draws near a specific range, the scanner can convey the signs and read the label which implies, the ID code of the vehicle. Since the tag is pre-accused of cash, it hits the installment that is inside the tag and deducts the cost sum. The entirety of this is done in a robotized way, without the vehicle halting, or the cost administrator contacting the actual label.
Benefits
- Automated toll collection system – determines if the vehicle is registered or not
- Capable of eliminating congestion especially when there is heavy traffic
- GS1 EPCIS standard can likewise be utilized between data sets among different partners like Clearing Houses, System Integrators, Toll Concessionaires, Police, Emergency Services, and Insurance organizations to share significant data, similar to street mishaps, observing the development of customary traffic designs and taken vehicle.