The paper said the Expo's daily food demands would change based on the number of visitors, their nationalities and the weather. Officials estimate that around 400,000 visitors will attend the Expo every day. "Using RFID tags will enable us to learn real-time food sales information, including the total sales and varieties," the paper stated. The authors said that on the one hand, the information could enable the Expo organizer to accurately stock retail outlets; on the other hand, the information could enable accurate food demand predictions, shorten supply cycles and cut down on food storage expenses. "The food supply chain using RFID technology that can respond quickly to customers' demands will bring services closer to visitors' actual demands and increase their overall trust and enjoyment while at the Expo," the paper said.

The food supply chain is a complicated and multi-layered dynamic system, the authors wrote. Therefore, information integration holds the key to the efficient operation of the whole supply chain. In the traditional food supply chain, human errors made while collecting and checking product information can often lead to inaccuracies and lower work efficiency, making it impossible for information to be integrated along the whole food supply chain. The introduction of RFID technology has replaced traditional manual labor with automatic operations, substantially raising the efficiency and accuracy of information collection, reducing information loss during product transport, enhancing decision-making while planning the food supply chain and providing the possibility of information integration.

The authors wrote that a supply system specially designed for the World Expo 2010 Shanghai would use RFID tags to record food product information, including production, storage, transportation and sales data. Sales information on RFID tags can help managers to quickly adjust their delivery and storage volume and switch products between different retail outlets. Moreover, food safety can be guaranteed since the origin of every food item can be traced.

"This system consists of three components—product flow, information flow and information control," the authors wrote, noting that "product flow" refers to the unidirectional flow of food products from producers to consumers. "Information flow" refers to the bi-directional data transmission accompanying "product flow," which enables producers to obtain accurate demand information and consumers to obtain food transportation information. "Information control" serves as the central nervous system of the food supply system and is in charge of receiving, analyzing and applying data collected by a RFID reader.

During food production and processing, an RFID tag will be affixed to every batch of raw materials during the transit from its source to a processing plant. Before the material is put onto the production line, every RFID tag will be scanned and basic information like the place of origin and planting and harvesting times will be read and stored in a database. The database can be used for future tracking if necessary. After going through production, a tag will once again be attached to the final product, which incorporates all the information from the raw materials as well as that from processing. The products will be packaged and put on trays with RFID tags before being delivered or stored in a warehouse.

When being stored, products will have their RFID tags on trays scanned by an information system, which can obtain the storage history, destination and expiration date of every item or the entire package. The information system can automatically check-in products and register information into the warehouse database. Moreover, the information system can accurately monitor the stockpile volume. When the volume drops close to or lower than the safety line, the system will automatically send out a reminder and an ordering plan matching the current shortages. The stockpile's manager will confirm the new order before it is sent out.

The paper stated that during food delivery, an information system would come up with a detailed replenishment plan for retail outlets according to their sales records. After the new replenishments arrive, their RFID tags will be scanned, which will transfer their information into the reserves database. Since tourists will change very fast, so will the structure of food purchases change. To avoid selling out a food item at one outlet, the information system can automatically send out warning messages when reserves drop below a certain level. Retail managers would be able to quickly arrange replenishment or call for transport of an item from one outlet to another.

Outlet clerks would scan information for products before putting them on shelves, the paper said. When selling food to customers, clerks would scan the RFID tags on products and on buyers' Expo tickets so that purchasing information could be recorded and the sales database could help to guarantee timely replenishment.

Smart Tickets

World Expo 2010 Shanghai tickets will come with an embedded RFID tag to help eliminate counterfeit tickets and reduce the check-in time so that visitors do not have to wait in long queues.

The circuits in this new type of ticket record purchaser information and communicate wirelessly with transceivers installed across the Expo grounds. A network of connected computers can easily locate every visitor and even his or her companions from their tagged tickets. Once entering the Expo, visitors will receive an event map on their cell phones that will include other information like nearest bus stops and restaurants. Organizers can also inform visitors when venues are overcrowded so they can avoid those areas. Meanwhile, knowing the real-time distribution of visitors will also help organizers more efficiently direct traffic.

"The Beijing Olympics used tickets with RFID technology, which was a milestone in promoting China's RFID industry. We trust that it will become a trend for exhibitions and sports events to use tickets with electric chips, including RFID tags," said Li Rongxin, General Manager of Shanghai Huahong Integrated Circuit Co. Ltd., the sole supplier of circuits for the Shanghai Expo tickets. In 1999, Huahong developed China's first non-touch integrated circuit (IC) card with its own proprietary rights. Bus passengers in Shanghai now use those cards. In 2004, the company was commissioned by the Ministry of Public Security to design circuits embedded in Chinese citizens' identity cards.

"RFID technology will soon be deployed in tickets to exhibitions, tourist spots and trains. This will give an enormous boost to the RFID industry's development in China by bringing in many opportunities," said Li.

China International Smart Cards and RFID Exhibition & Conference 2009 was held in Beijing in June. During this event, the IC Card Projects Coordination Office under the Central Government and RFID China Alliance jointly released a 2008 report on China's RFID industry development that predicted that the country's annual RFID market value in 2009 would surge by 20.6 percent to 7 billion yuan ($1 billion).