The EOMS was realized as a product-specific adaptation of the DomiNIC® standard product of DomiNIC GmbH. DomiNIC® as a product for the administration, registration and provisioning of domains in the DNS thereby offers the advantage that the ONS is internally represented in DNS. The EOMS universally utilizes denominations of the ONS and the functionality was enhanced to facilitate the handling of objects and service allocations for the user. The regular user will never even notice the DNS foundation of the EPC network.
Another essential functionality of the EOMS is the integration of business-specific data sources with information about objects. It is via this very useful feature for operations that the system is able to take care of a consistent state of the EPC network and the database of the business. In doing so it balances the amount of objects in the enterprise software or the EPICS systems with those of the EPC network.
In the areas of logistics and supply chain management there are plans to establish the use of transponders (Radio Frequency Identification, RFID) on each product and each transportation unit in order to improve the flexibility and productivity. The RFID technology is already in worldwide use by big corporations or it is in the process of evaluation within the framework of pilot schemes. With the aid of reading devices it is possible to readout (wireless and without intervisibility) the data that is stored on the transponders from several meters away, i.e. the Electronic Product Code (EPC) as the unique identification of a certain object. The data is being forwarded to IT systems where it is filtered, processed and saved. The goal is the worldwide and realtime availability of this information and the ability to put this information to use within the scope of any given scenario that might arise in regard to logistics or supply chain management.
Anyone who is involved in the production and delivery process of a product is supposed to be able to track the life cycle worldwide and also to access any relevant information: Where are how many units of a certain good stored, what are the goods made from, which delivery channels are being used and where are they finally dispensed for recycling. In order to unlock this potential, the involved entities need to implement a standards-compliant software-based IT structure that allows for the inter-corporate exchange of information. It establishes the linkage between the transponders, the reading devices and the IT systems with the distributed databases of the involved dealers, logistics service providers, manufacturers and the latter's suppliers, all via the use of the Electronic Product Code (EPC) in the so called EPC network.
The backbone of the EPC network is formed by the Object Naming Service (ONS), the functional core of which is being supplied by the Domain Name System (DNS). The ONS serves to help track down the information that is linked to the objects that are identifiable via EPC. It is via NAPTR Resource Records that links to available services (so called EPCIS = EPC Information Services) are stored in conjunction with an object and made accessible for requests. In doing so the ONS provides for the starting point in a chain of information that concerns a single object and is stored on different servers in a distributed fashion. The logical consolidation of the distributed data, e.g. in response to a request concerning a certain object, is carried out by the Discovery Service (DS or EPCDS).