Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Costs of authentic pharmaceuticals: research on qualitative and quantitative aspects of enabling anti-counterfeiting in RFID-aided supply chains

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Personal and Ubiquitous Computing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry suffers from steadily increasing counterfeit rates. RFID technology is named as a foundation for an integer and counterfeit-resistant pharmaceutical supply chain. A transformation toward an RFID-aided supply chain involves both technical and business adaptions. We share technical insights of our proposed architecture for storing and searching pharmaceutical RFID event data. From the business perspective, we discuss the viability of RFID-based anti-counterfeiting with respect to its monetary impacts. We define qualitative requirements for software components developed for RFID and provide a quantitative analysis of operational costs for a dedicated service provider for anti-counterfeiting. Its implementation and amortization is discussed for different operating setups to enable access to RFID technology for all participants of pharmaceutical the supply chain

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. http://www.sap.com/ByDesign.

  2. http://www.salesforce.com/crm/.

  3. We assume USD 1.4184 = 1.0000 EUR.

References

  1. Amazon Web Services LLC (2010) Pricing. http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  2. Bai Y, Wang F, Liu P, Zaniolo C, Liu S (2007) RFID data processing with a data stream query language. In: Proceedings of the 23rd international conference on data engineering. pp 1184–1193

  3. Benlian A, Hess T, Buxmann P (2010) Software-as-a-service: anbieterstrategien, Kundenbedürfnisse und Wertschöpfungsstrukturen. Gabler Verlag, Wiesbaden

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bundesverband Informationswirtschaft, Telekommunikation und neue Medien (2005) White paper RFID Technologie, Systeme und Anwendungen http://www.bitkom.org/files/documents/White_Paper_RFID_deutsch_11.08.2005__final.pdf. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  5. Chawathe SS, Krishnamurthy V, Ramachandran S, Sarma S (2004) Managing RFID data. In: Proceedings of the 30th international conference on very large data bases. VLDB Endowment, Toronto, pp 1189–1195

  6. Cheung A, Kailing K, Schönauer S (2007) Theseos: a query engine for traceability across sovereign, distributed RFID databases. In: ICDE. IEEE, pp 1495–1496

  7. Choi S, Poon C (2008) An RFID-based anti-counterfeiting system. Int J Comput Sci 35(1)

  8. Dean J, Ghemawat S (2008) MapReduce: simplified data processing on large clusters. Commun ACM 51(1):107–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. EPCglobal Inc (2007) EPCIS standard 1.0.1. http://www.gs1.org/sites/default/files/docs/epcis/epcis_1_0_1-standard-20070921.pdf. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  10. EPCglobal Inc (2010) Architecture framework v. 1.4. http://www.gs1.org/gsmp/kc/epcglobal/architecture/architecture_1_4-framework-20101215.pdf. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  11. EPCglobal Inc (2010) Tag data standard 1.5. http://www.gs1.org/sites/default/files/docs/tds/tds_1_5-standard-20100818.pdf. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  12. ETSI (2010) Coordinated ESO response to phase 1 of EU mandate M436. http://www.cen.eu/cen/Sectors/Sectors/ISSS/Documents/RFID-DTR07044v006-draft-for-public-comments.pdf. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  13. European Commission (2008) Pharmaceutical sector inquiry preliminary report

  14. European Commission Taxation and Customs Union (2009) Report on EU Customs Enforcement of IP Rights. http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/resources/documents/customs/customs_controls/counterfeit_piracy/statistics/2009_statistics_for_2008_full_report_en.pdf. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  15. Fazzinga B, Flesca S, Masciari E, Furfaro F (2009) Efficient and effective RFID data warehousing. In: Proceedings of the international database engineering applications symposium. ACM, New York, pp 251–258 (2009). doi:http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1620432.1620459

  16. Fosstrak (2009) Project license. http://www.fosstrak.org/epcis/license.html. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  17. Fuchs DIF (2007) Sicherheit von internet- und intranetdiensten. GRIN Verlag

  18. Gonzalez H, Han J, Li X, Klabjan D (2006) Warehousing and analyzing massive RFID data sets. In: Proceedings of the 22nd international conference on data engineering. Washington, p 83

  19. Grund M, Schaffner J, Krüger J, Brunnert J, Zeier A (2010) The effects of virtualization on main memory systems. In: Proceedings of the 6th international workshop on data management on new hardware

  20. GS1 Germany GmbH (2010) Preise für die Nutzung des Leistungspaketes GS1 complete. http://www.gs1-germany.de/service/gs1_complete/preisliste/index_ger.htmlAl. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  21. Hewlett Packard HP Workstation xw9400. http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA0-4798EEE&doclang=EN_GB. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  22. IBM Corporation Software Pricing. https://www-112.ibm.com/software/howtobuy/buyingtools/paexpress/Express?P0=E1&part_number=D0A4DLL,D0A4QLL,D0A4WLL,D0A4YLL,D0A5LLL,D0A5NLL,&catalogLocale=de_DE&Locale=de_DE&country=DEU&brand=ws&PT=html. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  23. ICC Policy Statement (2003) The fight against piracy and counterfeiting of intellectual property. http://www.iccwbo.org/home/intellectual_property/fight_against_piracy.pdf. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  24. IDAutomation.com Inc. Zebra R110Xi RFID Printer Encoder. http://www.idautomation.com/rfid/Zebra-RFID-Printer.html. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  25. IMS Health Inc (2010) Global pharmaceutical market growth of 5–7 percent in 2011. http://www.imshealth.com/portal/site/imshealth/menuitem.a46c6d4df3db4b3d88f611019418c22a/?vgnextoid=119717f27128b210VgnVCM100000ed152ca2RCRD&. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  26. IP Crime Group (2008) IP Crime Report

  27. ISO/IEC. 27002 IT-Sicherheitsverfahren—Leitfaden für das Informationssicherheits-management

  28. ISO/IEC (2001) 9126-1: software engineering: product quality

  29. Jenkins J, Mills P, Maidment R, Profit M (2007) Pharma traceability business case report

  30. Knöpfel A, Gröne B, Tabeling P (2005) Fundamental modeling concepts. Effective communication of IT systems. Wiley, London

    Google Scholar 

  31. Kurose JF, Ross KW (2009) Computer networking: a top-down approach. 5th edn. Addison-Wesley, Reading

    Google Scholar 

  32. Lee CH, Chung CW (2008) Efficient storage scheme and query processing for supply chain management using RFID. In: Proceedings of the international conference on management of data. ACM, New York, pp 291–302

  33. macle GmbH HP. Proliant DL380 R05. http://www.macle.de/hp.html. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  34. Miller P (2009) TCP/IP—the ultimate protocol guide—data delivery and routing, vol 1. Universal-Publishers, Universal-Publishers

  35. Mitrokotsa A, Rieback MR, Tanenbaum AS (2008) Classification of RFID attacks. In: Proceedings of the 2nd international workshop on RFID technology. pp 73–86

  36. Mockapetris P, Dunlap KJ (1995) Development of the domain name system. SIGCOMM Comput Commun Rev 25(1):112–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Müller J, Faust M, Schwalb D, Schapranow MP, Zeier A, Plattner H (2009) A software as a service RFID middleware for small and medium-sized enterprises. In: Proceedings of the 5th European workshop on RFID systems and technologies. VDE

  38. Müller J, Oberst J, Wehrmeyer S, Witt J, Zeier A (2010) An aggregating discovery service for the EPCglobal network. In: Proceedings of the 43th Hawai’i conference on system sciences. Koloa

  39. Müller J, Pöpke C, Urbat M, Zeier A, Plattner H (2009) A simulation of the pharmaceutical supply chain to provide realistic test data. In: Proceedings of 1st international conference on advances in system simulation. IEEE

  40. RFIDSupplyChain.com LLC Alien 915 MHz circular antenna (ALR-9611-CR). http://www.rfidsupplychain.com/-strse-13/Alien-915-MHz-Circular/Detail.bok. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  41. RFIDSupplyChain.com LLC Alien 9800 EPC Multiprotocol RFID Fixed Reader. http://www.rfidsupplychain.com/-strse-98/Alien-9800-EPC-Multiprotocol/Detail.bok. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  42. RFIDSupplyChain.com LLC Alien ALX-407 Antenna Mounting Bracket. http://www.rfidsupplychain.com/-strse-195/Alien-ALX-dsh-407-Antenna-Mounting/Detail.bok. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  43. RFIDSupplyChain.com LLC Alien ALX-408 Antenna Extension Cable. http://www.rfidsupplychain.com/-strse-196/Alien-ALX-dsh-408-Antenna-Extension/Detail.bok. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  44. Schaffner J, Bog A, Krüger J, Zeier A (2008) A hybrid row-column OLTP database architecture for operational reporting. In: Business intelligence for the real time enterprise. Auckland

  45. Schaffner J, Jacobs D, Eckart B, Brunnert J, Zeier A (2010) Towards enterprise software as a service in the cloud. In: Proceedings of the 2nd IEEE workshop on information and software as services

  46. Schapranow MP, Müller J, Enderlein S, Helmich M, Zeier A (2009) Low-cost mutual RFID authentication model using predefined password lists. In: Proceedings of the 16th international conference on industrial engineering and engineering management

  47. Schapranow MP, Müller J, Zeier A, Plattner H (2009) Security aspects in vulnerable RFID-aided supply chains. In: Proceedings of 5th European workshop on RFID systems and technologies. VDE

  48. Schapranow MP, Müller J, Zeier A, Plattner H (2010) RFID event data processing: an architecture for storing and searching. In: Proceedings of the 4th international workshop on RFID technology—concepts, applications, challenges

  49. Schapranow MP, Nagora M, Zeier A (2010) CoMoSeR: cost model for security-enhanced RFID-aided supply chains. In: Proceedings of the 18th international conference on software telecommunications and computer networks. IEEE

  50. Schapranow MP, Zeier A, Plattner H (2010) A dynamic mutual RFID authentication model preventing unauthorized third party access. In: Proceedings of the 4th international conference on network and system security

  51. Schapranow MP, Zeier A, Plattner H (2011) A formal model for enabling RFID in pharmaceutical supply chains. In: Proceedings of the 44th Hawaii international conference on system sciences

  52. Seo DH, Baek JM, Cho DS (2009) Secure RFID authentication scheme for EPC class Gen2. In: Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on ubiquitous information management and communication, ACM, New York, pp 221–227. doi:10.1145/1516241.1516280

  53. Shukla N, Sangal T (2009) Generic drug industry in india: the counterfeit spin. J Intell Prop Right 14:236–240

    Google Scholar 

  54. Staake T, Thiesse F, Fleisch E (2005) Extending the EPC network: the potential of RFID in anti-counterfeiting. In: Proceedings of the ACM symposium on applied computing. ACM, New York, pp 1607–1612

  55. Stallings W (2007) Data and computer communications. 8th edn. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs

    Google Scholar 

  56. Stiehler A, Wichmann T (2005) RFID im Pharma- und Gesundheitssektor. Vision und Realität RFID-basierter Netzwerke für Medikamente. Berlecon report

  57. TAGnology RFID GmbH: Impinj Thin Propeller Label 3.875” x 0.5”. http://www.rfid-webshop.com/product_info.php/info/p482_Impinj-Thin-Propeller-Label-3-875-x-0-5-in—mm-.html. Checked on Apr 11, 2011

  58. The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (1995) Directive 95/46/EC of the European parliament and of the council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. Off J Eur Community

  59. Tuyls P, Batina L (2006) RFID-tags for anti-counterfeiting. In: Proceedings of the RSA conference. pp 115–131

  60. Venkatesh V, Davis FD (2000) A theoretical extension of the technology acceptance model: four longitudinal field studies. Manag Sci 46(2):186–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Wang F, Liu P (2005) Temporal manegement of RFID data. In: Proceedings of the 31st internatioal conference on very large data bases. VLDB Endowment, Norway

  62. Wang F, Liu S, Liu P, Bai Y (2006) Bridging physical and virtual worlds: complex event processing for RFID data streams. In: Advances in database technology, vol 3896/2006, Springer, Berlin, pp 588–607

  63. White GR, Gardiner G, Prabhakar G, Razak AA (2007) A comparison of barcode and RFID technologies in practice. J Inf Inf Technol Organ 2

  64. Zeier A, Hofmann P, Krüger J, Müller J, Schapranow MP (2009) Integration of RFID technology is a key enabler for demand-driven supply network. IUP J Supply Chain Manag 6(3, 4):57–74

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Enterprise Platform and Integration Concepts Chair, Hasso Plattner Institute, August-Bebel-Str. 88, 14482, Potsdam, Germany

    Matthieu-P. Schapranow, Jürgen Müller, Alexander Zeier & Hasso Plattner

Authors
  1. Matthieu-P. Schapranow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jürgen Müller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alexander Zeier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hasso Plattner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthieu-P. Schapranow.

Appendix: component costs

Appendix: component costs

Table 6 contains select RFID components for RFID enablement of a pharmaceutical company. We selected these components for pricing assumptions Footnote 3. However, components may vary individually for specific setups.

Table 6 Costs per RFID component
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schapranow, MP., Müller, J., Zeier, A. et al. Costs of authentic pharmaceuticals: research on qualitative and quantitative aspects of enabling anti-counterfeiting in RFID-aided supply chains. Pers Ubiquit Comput 16, 271–289 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-011-0390-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-011-0390-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation