Providing standards, tools and services
for the automotive supply chain

Track & Trace

About

The term Track and Trace is so well-known in our industry that it might be thought that the concept is inseparable but, although they often make use of the same technology and the same standards, tracking and tracing are two distinct processes. The difference is in direction and point in time:

To track an object, you follow the path forwards from the starting point to wherever the object currently is, whereas, to trace an object, you follow the path backwards from its current point to where it began.

Both processes rely on a consistent system of identification which can guarantee the uniqueness of the identification of the object within the environment in which it circulates and in the automotive industry this usually means that the identifier of an object must be globally unique. The Odette Identification system is recognised by ISO as being able to provide globally unique identifiers for objects in the supply chain in processes such a Track and Trace (see ISO/IEC 15459).

Many objects can be tracked and traced but in the automotive supply chain, the processes are most commonly applied to the tracking of shipments of parts, the tracking and tracing of assets such as containers which circulate between customers, suppliers and other parties, the management of the distribution of finished vehicles and the control and tracing of individual parts both during and after assembly into the vehicle. This latter use is becoming increasingly important as the additional requirements for compliance in the areas of corporate social responsibility, customer protection and the environment become ever more stringent.

Several technologies can be employed to read or capture the unique identifier of an object and other associated information during different events in the automotive supply chain, including OCR, 1D and 2D Bar-codes, RFID, Bluetooth Low Energy etc.

Once captured, the information can be transmitted to IT systems using digital messages or REST-APIs.

Odette provides a standardised toolset for all partners involved in the automotive supply chain with our guideline for the use of the UN/EDIFACT IFTSTA message and our transport track and trace APIs.

News

  • news

    Traceability of EV Batteries and Components

    18 Nov 2024

    For various reasons, including concerns about safety, quality and recyclability, Governmental Authorities, Vehicle Manufacturers and Battery Suppliers all want to be able to uniquely identify the individual components which make up a complete EV battery pack. To assist in the collection of data, Odette has published a standard digital message for Battery Data Exchange.

  • news

    Meet the Odette Team at Forum Automobil Logistik

    13 Nov 2024

    The next Forum AutomobilLogistik, FAL2025, will take place on 18 & 19 February at the International Congress Centre, Dresden, the centre of the German semiconductor industry. Visit the Odette Stand to learn more about our latest Supply Chain collaboration initiatives.

  • news

    Transparency in Transport with API: Using mobile technology to bridge the visibility gap

    12 Jun 2023

    The transportation of production parts may be compromised for many reasons, especially in long distance supply chains. The customer needs to know as quickly as possible what impact a delay in the transport chain could have on the current production plan but often the link between the contents of a shipment and the means of transport carrying that shipment is missing, especially in a 4 corner model where actors are not in an established relationship or use web portals to carry out activities such as, ad-hoc ordering and confirmation of transport capacity.

Resources

Implementing RFID in the Automotive Supply Chain

This recommendation aims to help the automotive industry, project leaders and users, and external technology integrators or vendors to implement RFID processes across different partners of the supply chain, in order to obtain good interoperability and avoid multiple solutions that could become a blocking point for industry suppliers.

The document covers different logistics and supply chain use cases, some of which are described in more detail in related annexes. It focuses on issues which contribute to defining common standards for a better interoperability between the partners involved.

In terms of technology, many contactless radio frequency technologies are available and can justly be applied in specific use cases. In order to simplify the recommendations, this document focuses on Passive UHF (Ultra High Frequency) RFID technology.

Reference LR07

Version 1.0

Published Sept 2021

RFID for Tracking of Parts and Assemblies

This Odette recommendation describes the processes and methods of tracking and tracing of vehicle parts and enabling the authentication of original parts using RFID technology. It has been developed to move towards achieving widespread standardisation of RFID component usage, tag data storage and RFID technology implementation across supply chains.

Reference LR03

Version 2.1

Published Dec 2011

Returnable Transport Items Identification

Version 3 published March 2021. RFID technology has been widely adopted by the automotive industry in individual organisations due to the efficiency and security gains it delivers. However, widespread use between companies is currently much rarer due to compatibility issues. In response to this, Odette, AIAG, JAMA and JAPIA have jointly developed recommendations for RFID use in Returnable Transport Items Identification. The aim is to help moves toward the creation of general purpose global guidelines and accelerate further international adoption of RFID solutions.

Reference RC-6/LR04

Version 3.0

Published Mar 2021

RFID Item Level Standard

Version 3 published March 2021. This Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Item Level Standard describes best practices, processes, and methods for item identification, verification, traceability, product characteristics, and Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) throughout the global automotive supply chain. Extensive efforts have been made by the automotive industry to incorporate interchangeable data use between 2D optical symbols and electronic media such as RFID. This publication gives standards for the implementation and use of RFID in such applications and was jointly produced by Odette, AIAG, JAMA and JAPIA.

Reference B21/LR05

Version 3.0

Published Mar 2021

Capturing Supply Chain Events with auto-ID

To achieve process transparency, machine-readable objects and ways of tracking these objects along the process chain need to be defined and implemented. The Odette Recommendations LR01, LR02, LR03, LR04 and LR05 outlined the foundations and the next logical step is the implementation of standardised communication with all business partners across company boundaries, based on international standards he Odette Recommendation “Capturing Supply Chain Events with auto-ID” addresses this issue.

Reference LR06

Version 1.0

Published Mar 2019