Executive Summary
- Format fragmentation is the #1 barrier to supply chain visibility ROI: different partners use different EPCIS versions, formats, and identifiers
- OpenEPCIS provides a conversion toolchain (not a platform replacement) that sits as middleware between your systems and the ecosystem
- Supports all permutations: EPCIS 1.2 XML ↔ 2.0 JSON ↔ 2.0 XML, plus GS1 Digital Link URI translation
- De-risks EPCIS 2.0 migration: keep legacy systems running while the middleware handles translation. No cliff edge.
The Interoperability Problem
Every CTO managing a supply chain technology stack across multiple trading partners and technology generations faces the same challenge: your ERP generates data in one format, your logistics partner sends events in another, your retail customers expect a third. Somewhere in the chain, a system built on EPCIS 1.2 XML is still running, and it works. Ripping it out to achieve format uniformity is neither practical nor necessary.
This is not a theoretical concern. Format fragmentation directly erodes the ROI of every visibility investment. Each mismatch creates a manual transformation step, a potential error point, and a delay that undermines the promise of real-time traceability.
Format Fragmentation → Standards-Based Flow
The Toolchain Approach: Middleware, Not Replacement
OpenEPCIS addresses interoperability with a modular conversion toolchain, not a monolithic platform that requires everyone to migrate. Each component can be deployed independently or together, sitting as middleware between your existing infrastructure and the broader supply chain ecosystem.
Format Converters
All version and format permutations: XML ↔ JSON, 1.2 ↔ 2.0, with automatic CBV and EPC value adjustment.
Digital Link Translator
Legacy GS1 identifiers (GTINs, serial numbers) ↔ Digital Link URIs. No physical re-tagging required.
Digital Link Resolver
One scannable code, context-aware resolution. Consumer, logistics, and regulator each get relevant information.
2D Barcode Generator
GS1-compliant QR codes and DataMatrix barcodes. Critical for healthcare UDI and DPP product identification.
Supported Format Conversions
| From / To | EPCIS 2.0 JSON | EPCIS 2.0 XML | EPCIS 1.2 XML |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPCIS 2.0 JSON | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| EPCIS 2.0 XML | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| EPCIS 1.2 XML | ✓ | ✓ | — |
Migration Strategy: No Big Bang
The OpenEPCIS toolchain de-risks your EPCIS 2.0 migration by decoupling it from a wholesale system replacement. The converters handle the translation layer while your legacy systems continue operating.
Deploy as Middleware
Add OpenEPCIS converters alongside existing SAP, Oracle, WMS with zero disruption to current operations
Translate in Flight
Incoming EPCIS 1.2 XML auto-converts to 2.0 JSON. Outbound data served in whatever format the recipient needs.
Converters Step Aside
As systems upgrade over time, the converters gracefully exit the path. No cliff edge, no deadline pressure.
OpenEPCIS sits between your existing infrastructure and the broader supply chain ecosystem, eliminating format barriers without replacing working systems.
The Open Source Advantage for CTOs
No Vendor Lock-in
Evaluate, pilot, and integrate without procurement cycles
Inspect the Logic
Critical when regulatory compliance depends on conversion accuracy
Standards-Aligned
Built by contributors to GS1 EPCIS 2.0, maintaining the GS1 Sandbox
Brevitaz Systems has contributed directly to GS1 standards bodies and maintains the GS1 Sandbox, the public testing environment for EPCIS 2.0 implementations. This is not a team building tools adjacent to the standard. They are building tools from within the standard-setting process.
For CTOs evaluating their interoperability strategy, the calculus is straightforward: the OpenEPCIS toolchain protects existing infrastructure investments, provides a standards-compliant migration path, and ensures your visibility data flows across every partner, format, and EPCIS version in your supply chain, today and as the ecosystem evolves.
They develop and manage our mission-critical and complex production systems well. You can throw a new technology at them and they quickly make production-grade use of it. They deal with our high-priority customers with huge business value.
Bridge Your Format Gap Today
Explore the toolchain, review the conversion logic on GitHub, or connect with the Brevitaz team.
Try the Tools GitHub