CIO Wisdom II: More Best Practices

State-of-the-Art Product-Tracking Technologies

To have individual products identifiable, an identity is needed for each product. In practice, as an individual product is labeled by an identification code, it can be identified and tracked by a computer application or sometimes by a human being through some paperwork. The identification code usually is assigned using a proprietary identification scheme; as a result, the code is a proprietary number. The number is therefore of no meaning if not properly transformed in a different information system, such as an integrated and heterogeneous SCM system.

There are various standard identification schemes for types of products, such as the Universal Product Code (UPC) or so-called bar code, vehicle identification ...