RFID tags tested in tracking medicines in supply chain
28 November 2006 Dublin, Ohio, USA. Cardinal Health, Inc., has
completed a real-world pilot test of RFID tags for automatic tracking of
medicines in the packaging and distribution chain. The technology has the
potential to improve the safety and efficiency of pharmaceutical supply
chains. The pilot program tested whether ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio
frequency identification (RFID) tags could be applied, encoded and read at
normal production speeds during packaging and distribution of
pharmaceuticals. Verifying the authenticity of medications along each step
of the distribution process adds an additional layer of security to lessen
the chance of counterfeit pharmaceuticals entering the supply chain. It is
also hoped that RFID data could make the supply process more efficient.
"Cardinal Health's test of RFID under real-world conditions has demonstrated
that the technology has real promise to provide an added layer of safety,"
said Renard Jackson, vice president and general manager of global packaging
services for Cardinal Health. "While our pilot demonstrated that using UHF
RFID technology at the unit, case & pallet level is feasible for track and
trace purposes, a great deal of additional work needs to be undertaken by
stakeholders across the industry to address significant challenges including
global standards, privacy concerns and the safe handling of biologics. Until
those challenges are addressed, direct distribution of medicine continues to
be the best near-term approach to maintain the highest levels of security
and efficiency in the pharmaceutical supply chain." RFID labelling and
online encoding
Data collected from the pilot suggest that it is feasible for RFID tags to
be inlaid into existing FDA-approved pharmaceutical label stock, and the
tags can be applied and encoded on packaging lines at normal operational
speeds. Online encoding yields were 95% to 97% and fine tuning of the
process is expected to produce yields that approach 100 percent. The RFID
tag application and encoding requires minimal adjustments to current
labelling and packaging lines. RFID read rates Unit-level read
rate data varied widely depending on the locations and type of reading
stations throughout the supply chain. Highly reliable unit-level read rates
in excess of 96% were found when reading individual cases one at a time and
when reading units mixed with other products in tote containers prepared for
delivery to a pharmacy. However, as expected, unit-level read rates were not
found to be reliable when attempting to read units within a full pallet of
product. While not 100% in all situations, case-level data were found to
be more reliable during full pallet reads. The combination of business
process changes, and further hardware tuning is expected to improve the
reliability of case tag reads to 100%. However, further tests are needed to
prove this hypothesis. In preparation for delivery to the pharmacy,
individual bottles are "picked" and placed in tote containers with other
products that did not have RFID tags. The unit-level read rates from the
tote containers being read during the quality control phase were acceptable
for track and trace. Additional unit-level read rates while the product was
in the tote containers were not found to be reliable during subsequent
reading stations at the shipping dock of the distribution centre and the
receiving doors at the pharmacy. Pilot program read rate data
Cardinal Health's RFID pilot program tested many different possible reading
stations throughout the supply chain. While the company expected that some
reading stations would not achieve acceptable read rates, the lack of hard
data in the marketplace led program planners to measure all possible
scenarios. RFID Pilot Program Conclusions Overall data collected by
Cardinal Health supports the theory that RFID technology using UHF as a
single frequency at the unit, case and pallet levels is feasible for track
and trace. However, several challenges remain before it can be adopted
industry-wide. Some of those challenges include:
- Technology and process improvements to achieve:
- Case-level reads in excess of 99% at all case reading stations;
- Unit-level read rates in excess of 99% when reading from tote
containers at the distribution centre and pharmacy locations;
- Allowing unit-level "inference" to become acceptable practice in the
normal distribution process at stages where unit-level read rates are
unreliable, but case level reads approach 100%;
- Barcode technology to be used as complementary and redundant
technology to RFID;
- Management of the cost impact to implement and sustain the
technology; and
- Improved collaboration across the industry to identify opportunities
to significantly improve efficiency.
Pilot program background
In conducting the industry's first end-to-end pilot program, Cardinal
Health used new technology to place RFID tags on the labels of brand-name
solid-dose prescription drugs, then encoded the electronic product code
(EPC) standard data at the unit, case and pallet levels during the packaging
process. The products were shipped to a Cardinal Health distribution centre
in Findlay, Ohio, where the data was read and authenticated as products were
handled under typical operating conditions. Normal procedures were enhanced
with RFID hardware and software from Alien Technology Corporation and IBM
along with project management support from VeriSign.
From Findlay, the tagged product was sent to a pharmacy to further test
read rates and data flow using the same technology as the distribution
centre. The product dispensed to patients was not in the RFID packaging.
The company launched the pilot in February and completed the test this
autumn. In addition, Cardinal Health is working with Pfizer on a separate
RFID pilot to authenticate Viagra shipments at its Findlay facility.
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