Linked data driven EPCIS Event based Traceability across Supply chain business processes

SmartAgrimatics, 18th June 2014, Paris

Linked data Driven, Event BasedTraceability in Supply Chains

Monika SolankiAston Business School

Aston University, Birmingham, UK

[email protected] Linked data Driven, EPCIS Event Based Traceability in Supply Chains


Motivation

The Electronic Product Code(EPC) provides products withunique, serialised identities.The Electronic Product Code Information Service (EPCIS)*provides a set of specifications for the syntactic captureand informal semantic interpretation of EPC based productinformation.



Motivation

Large volumes of traceability data are recorded at each partner’s end.



ObservationsSupply chain tracking and tracing information sharing limitations

While the datasets are inherently related, the underlyingschemas and data storage mechanisms employed renderthe datasets disconnected.The EPCIS XML schemas define only the structure of theevent data to be recorded.The semantics of event data and data curation processesare informally defined in the specification.Lack of a systematic and standardised way to exchangetraceability information.



Declarative representative of EPCIS events

EEM: EPCIS Event Model

Enables the sharing and semantic interpretation of EPCISevent data.Exploits SW/LD technologies, while drawing requirementsfrom business processes involved in the tracking andtracing of goods.Explicitly defines relationships with CBV entities.Encodes informal EPCIS integrity constraints asdeclarative rules.



Declarative representative of EPCIS events

EEM: EPCIS Event Model

EEM based linked datasets can be exploited in order toimprove visibility, accuracy and automation along thesupply chain.EEM can be used to derive implicit knowledge that canexpose inefficiencies such as shipment delay, inventoryshrinkage and out-of-stock situation.EEM forms the basis for traceability in supply chains -Event based Linked Pedigrees.EEM to be further exploited for Complex Event Processingand Stream Reasoning over continuous streams ofsemantically interlinked EPCIS event datasets.



EPCIS(1.1) Events: An informal Intuition

One generic and four specific physical event types

EPCISEvent: the generic EPCIS event.ObjectEvent: an event that occurred as a result of someaction on one or more entities denoted by EPCs.“This list of objects was observed entering DC #9 at10:01AM, during Receiving”.AggregationEvent: an event that happened to one or moreEPC-denoted entities that are physically aggregated.“This list of objects was just Palletized with this Pallet ID atPalletizer #27 at 12:32PM”.



EPCIS(1.1) Events: An informal Intuition

One generic and four specific physical event types.

TransactionEvent: an event in which one or more entitiesdenoted by EPCs become associated or disassociatedwith one or more identified business transactions.“Order #123 was fulfilled with objects x, y and z”.TransformationEvent: an event in which one or morephysical or digital objects identified by instance-level (EPC)or class-level (EPC Class) identifiers are fully or partiallyconsumed as inputs and one or more objects identified byinstance-level (EPC) or class-level (EPC Class) identifiersare produced as outputs.“50 kgs of tomato and 7 kgs of sugar were used to produce20 litres of tomato ketchup”.

QuantityEvent has been [email protected] Linked data Driven, EPCIS Event Based Traceability in Supply Chains


Data model components

EPCsTimeRead PointsBusiness LocationBusiness stepsDispositionTransaction typesActionQuantities and measurementsSources and DestinationsILMD (Instance Lot Master Data)



Semantic Web/Linked Data for EPCIS eventbased traceability

RDF data model - a “triples” based model.HTTP URIs - a universal identifier for resources on theWeb.RDFS and OWL - domain knowledge representationstandards.SPARQL - a query language for datasets encoded usingthe RDF data model.SWRL - declarative rule representation format.Linked Data - a set of principles for publishing interlinkedRDF datasets.



Linked DataA set of principles for publishing data on the Web therebycreating a Web of data

Use URIs as names for thingsUse HTTP URIsProvide useful information in RDFInclude RDF links to other URIs

Linked Open DataPublish data under an open license



The evergrowing LOD cloud



EEM: The EPCIS Event Model

A domain specific, ontological information/data model.Restricts the entities, relationship and attributes to a largesubset of the EPCIS specification.Defines conceptual primitives with the appropriate level ofsemantic abstraction required to model the various kinds ofEPCIS events that can be raised and the four informationdimensions they encapsulate.Focuses on a tight conformance with the EPCIS standardand Simplicity.



Modelling the generic EPCISEvent

An EPCIS event has three temporal properties associatedwith it.An EPCIS event occurs at a unique location and is part ofa singular business process.



Modelling the generic EPCISEvent

Class: EPCISEventSubClassOf:

eventTimeZoneOffset exactly 1 xsd:dateTime,eventRecordedAt exactly 1 xsd:dateTime,eventOccurredAt exactly 1 xsd:dateTime

ObjectProperty: hasReadPointLocationCharacteristics:

FunctionalDomain:

EPCISEventRange:

ReadPointLocation



Modelling ObjectEvent

An ObjectEvent is an EPCISEvent.An ObjectEvent is required to have associated EPCs,and an action type.



Modelling ObjectEvent

Class: ObjectEventSubClassOf:

(actionType some Action)and (associatedWithEPCList some SetofEPCs),

EPCISEvent



Modelling TransformationEvent

A TransformationEvent is an EPCISEvent.A TransformationEvent may be associated with otherTransformationEvent



Modelling TransformationEvent

Class: TransformationEventSubClassOf:

(((associatedWithInputEPCList some SetofEPCs)and (hasInputQuantityList some InputQuantityList))and ((associatedWithOutputEPCList some SetofEPCs)and (hasOutputQuantityList some OutputQuantityList)))or ((((associatedWithInputEPCList some SetofEPCs)and (hasInputQuantityList some InputQuantityList))or ((associatedWithOutputEPCList some SetofEPCs)and (hasOutputQuantityList some OutputQuantityList)))and (associatedWithTransformationEvent some TransformationEvent)),EPCISEvent

Takes into account the informal semantics ofTransformationEvent



EEM Entities: Classes

ObjectEvent, AggregationEvent,TransformationEvent and TransactionEvent arespecialised classes of EPCISEvent.

http://purl.org/FIspace/eem#


http://purl.org/FIspace/eem#


EEM Entities: Classes

The class EPC provides a placeholder for EPCs.The list of EPCs is represented by SetOfEPCs,specialising from Set*.

*http://purl.org/co/


http://purl.org/co/


EEM Entities: ClassesAction denotes the activity undertaken on objects.Individuals: ADD, OBSERVE and DELETE.BusinessLocation and ReadPointLocation classescapture physical location details and specialise from theLocation class defined in the vcard* vocabulary.SetOfEvents representing a collection of EPCISEventinstances (useful in creating Linked pedigrees).

*http://www.w3.org/2006/vcard/ns#


http://www.w3.org/2006/vcard/ns#


EEM Entities: Event Properties

GenericeventID

SpecificAggregationEvent: hasAggregationIDQuantityEvent: hasEPCClass

TemporaleventOccurredAt: subproperty of hasEventDate fromthe DOLCE+DnS Ultralite (DUL*) ontology.eventRecordedAteventTimeZoneOffset

LocationhasBusinessLocationhasReadPointLocation

*http://ontologydesignpatterns.org/ont/dul/DUL.owl


http://ontologydesignpatterns.org/ont/dul/DUL.owl


Core Business Vocabulary

A companion standard to the EPCIS standard is the CoreBusiness Vocabulary(CBV)* standard.The CBV standard supplements the EPCIS framework bydefining vocabularies and specific data values, e.g.,

Disposition: returned, in_progress, active.BusinessStep: receiving, stocking, shipping.

CBVVocab* provides an ontological information modelcorresponding to the terminology and data values definedin the CBV standard.

*http://purl.org/FIspace/cbv#*http://www.gs1.org/gsmp/kc/epcglobal/cbv


http://purl.org/FIspace/cbv#

http://www.gs1.org/gsmp/kc/epcglobal/cbv


EEM Entities: Business Context



Implementing EEM: LinkedEPCIS library

EEM is a complex data model.Non trivial to generate class assertions and complexqueries without knowing the structure of the model andnomenclature of the entities.LinkedEPCIS* - an open source Java API to,

Encourage the uptake of EEM among EPCIS conformingorganisations and industriesEase the creation of EEM instancesFacilitate querying over the instantiated datasets

* http://code.google.com/p/linked-epcis/


http://code.google.com/p/linked-epcis/


Implementing EEM: LinkedEPCIS library

Capture EPCIS events as linked data.Provides classes, interfaces and RESTful Web services forcapturing, storing and querying EPCIS events.Built over the Sesame* framework.Every event generated using LinkedEPCIS, issystematically assigned a HTTP URI.Query classes encoding templated SPARQL queries forthe most commonly made queries on EPCIS events.Results are made available in RDF/XML, JSON and Turtleserialisations through the Web services.

* http://openrdf.org


http://openrdf.org


Interlinking EPCIS Event data



Applying EEM to the Agri-food domain

The tomato supply chain involves thousands of farmers,hundreds of traders and few retail groups.



Agri-food scenario

The tomatoes are packaged and shipped to downstreamtraders.The packaging of tomatoes is done in crates, each of whichis tagged with an RFID chip that carries an EPC(SGTIN).Sensors installed at the packaging unit register the EPCsof the crates as they are being packed.Every read is recorded and registered as an EPCIS eventtype based on the business process, the location and thesupply chain operation.



Agri-food scenario: Subset of EPCIS events

Supply chain operation EPCIS event type Business Step Disposition Action type

1. Commissioning crates for tomatoes Object event commissioning active ADD2. Storing crates Quantity event storing in_progress -3. Aggregating crates in pallets Aggregation event packing in_progress ADD4. Loading and shipping pallets Transaction event shipping in_transit ADD



Agri-food scenario: Linked data

Code +library demo



Linked Pedigrees: Background

Most widely prevalent in the pharmaceutical industry.Pedigree(e-pedigree) is an audit trail that records the pathand ownership of a drug as it moves through the supplychain.Each stakeholder involved in the manufacture ordistribution of the drug adds information to the pedigree.The Pedigree standard* provides an XML schema for thedescription of the life history of a product.“Event based Pedigree”: utilises EPCglobal’s EPCISspecification for capturing events in the supply chain andgenerating pedigrees based on a relevant subset of thecaptured events.

* http://www.gs1.org/gsmp/kc/epcglobal/pedigree


http://www.gs1.org/gsmp/kc/epcglobal/pedigree


Knowledge Encapsulation in LinkedPedigrees

Direct linkages in the linked pedigree generated by each supplychain trading partner

URIs forproduct master data: product identifiers, sensor basedproduct related information, e.g., storage conditions.transaction data: invoices, order numbers, quantity.consignment information: logistics, receiver, shipper,locationData interpretation rules if any.

URIs for the pedigree datasets from the stakeholders in theimmediate upstream or downstream of the supply chain.



OntoPedigree: A CO design pattern



Generating Linked Pedigrees event URIs

Events incorporated in pedigree creation

commissioning: uniquely identifying productsshipping: associating products with ordersreceiving: associating received products with orders

Pedigree Component Linking relationship Resource identifierProduct information hasProductInfo Product data URIs

Serialised product data URIsConsignment information hasConsignmentInfo Commissioning events -

Object event/Aggregation event URIsTransaction information hasTransactionInfo Shipping events -

Transaction event URIs



ConclusionsThe representation of EPCIS events on the Web of data isan important step towards achieving the objectives of,

sharing traceability informationdetecting inconsistencies

EEM provides the ontological primitives required torepresent EPCIS events using Semantic Web standardson the Web of data.The capture, storage and querying of EPCIS events linkeddatasets is realised using the LinkedEPCIS library, whichcan be integrated with existing RFID and EPCISimplementations.EEM and the LinkedEPCIS library has been exemplified bymodelling and curating events from the agri-food supplychain.


Linked data driven EPCIS Event based Traceability across Supply chain business processes

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