Event data

Transparent Supply enables your organization to trace the physical movement and status of products on your supply chains, and to make this event data available to your selected Business Partners .  To help achieve this goal, Transparent Supply implements GS1 Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) event standards.

EPCIS events

Using GS1 EPCIS standards, supply chain events that describe product (item) and facility (location) activities can be uploaded to Transparent Supply. This event data can then be traced on Transparent Supply to show end-to-end supply chain flows for specific product instances. Six EPCIS events are defined in Transparent Supply, specifically, Commission, Decommission, Aggregation, Disaggregation, Transformation, and Observation events. Uploading these event types enables authorized users to trace and view supply chain data for the referenced products.

Commission event

A Commission event describes a new product instance that is being created, such as when harvested lettuce arrives at a processing plant. Commission events can describe products that are tracked in individual packages, or in lots or batches. Uploading a commission event to Transparent Supply creates the product instance on the network, which does not necessarily match the actual time when the product was harvested, produced, manufactured, or otherwise created. 

For example, a batch of lettuce is harvested from a farm that is not yet registered with Transparent Supply. The batch of lettuce would not be commissioned until it arrives at a processing or other facility that is registered with Transparent Supply. Each instance of an end-to-end supply chain starts with a commission event that instantiates, or creates, a new product instance on Transparent Supply.

Decommission event

A Decommission event describes a product instance that is being removed from the supply chain, which is the inverse of a commission event.

For example, a product is lost due to spoilage or contamination. Like all events, decommission event data must be uploaded to Transparent Supply before it is available to organizations through a product trace.

Aggregation event

An Aggregation event describes a product that is being combined into a larger container (pallet or SSCC) for shipment. Shipment can occur between facilities within your organization or to another organization. The aggregation event includes details on the shipping of the container (Despatch Advice or Advance Shipping Notice) such as source, destination, and Purchase Order (PO) reference.

For example, a lettuce lot is packed onto a pallet with other lettuce lots for shipping.

Disaggregation event

A Disaggregation event describes the separation of items that were previously combined in an aggregation event. The product instances that are combined in the aggregation event are separated out into their original forms. 

For example, a received pallet is unpacked (disaggregated) as multiple lettuce lots.

Observation event

An Observation event describes any recording of a product instance on the supply chain that does not change the status of the product (or match any of the other supported events). 

For example, a batch of lettuce is observed and scanned during an inspection of the product. If the inspection does not create or destroy, ship or receive, pack or unpack, or transform the lettuce, then it is an observation event.

Transformation event

A Transformation event describes the irreversible changing or combining of a product or products to create a new product.

For example, multiple leafy greens are transformed into a packaged mixed salad for retailers.

About EPCIS events

EPCIS events can be described as defining the what, where, when, and why of supply chain events:

What - The product instances - lots, batches, pallets, or packages involved in an event

Where - The facility or location (including sublocations) where the event occurred

When - The time and date of the event

Why - Business transactions, such as Purchase Orders (POs), Despatch Advice/Advanced Shipping Notices (ASN), and Receive Advice data.

Uploading EPCIS events

Transparent Supply supports uploading EPCIS events in the GS1 standardized XML format. Annotated EPCIS XML files are provided, which contain all available elements and comments for each event type. You can use these XML files as templates to upload your EPCIS event data to Transparent Supply the Connector API. Events spreadsheet templates are also provided for completing and uploading by using the UI.