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RFID News Archive
Arpril/May
Welcome to RFIDReceiver, news archive. Here you can read the news articles from previous months
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ADT Significantly Cuts Retail RFID Deployment Costs
with Sensormatic® iREAD™ Technology Breakthrough. |
EPCglobal Gen 2-Based Platform Reduces Deployment Complexity and Cost. Leading German Retailer Karstadt to Realise Benefits and Investment Returns Faster
Today ADT, Europe's leading provider of electronic fire and security solutions, radically improves the economics of in-store, item-level radio frequency identification (RFID) deployments, reducing reader requirements by up to 90 per cent and capital costs by up to 60 per cent. Using the EPCglobal Gen 2 standard in a new way, the new Sensormatic® iREAD™ platform reduces both the complexity and cost of deploying RFID technology in a major step forward that offers a fundamental improvement in return on investment for retailers.
The Sensormatic® iREAD™ platform eliminates the separate power, control and data distribution infrastructures that have until now been needed for in-store, item-level RFID. By consolidating these into one network, it offers substantial cost savings and improves the ease of installation in a shop floor environment, which will broaden the appeal of RFID to retailers considering the use of the technology to enhance their operations.
iREAD™ provides a flexible and scalable foundation for retailers to capitalise on the business benefits offered by RFID. It also reduces the relatively high number of readers, cables and antennas required by traditional RFID systems. The inherent modularity and simplicity of the platform means retailers can adapt its capabilities to almost any retail configuration – shelves, racks, tables and other display types.
In a typical medium sized retail store, an item-level RFID system would normally require around 100 readers to be installed and an initial hardware investment of around €300,000. With the iREAD™ platform, the system would only require around 10 readers to be installed – a 90 per cent reduction in reader hardware. The initial investment falls to around €100,000 – a reduction of more than 60 per cent – with further cost savings to be realised during ongoing operation. The benefits and cost savings can increase exponentially with the size and scale of the deployment.
ADT and its industry-leading Sensormatic® brand of electronic article surveillance (EAS) anti-theft systems have a long history of large-scale, item-level tagging for inventory security. Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH, one of Germany's leading retailers and a user of Sensormatic® EAS to secure its merchandise and reduce losses, has now deployed the iREAD™ platform as part of a major apparel implementation at one of its flagship stores.
Rainer Jilke, Karstadt's RFID Manager, said: "By incorporating the Sensormatic® iREAD™ platform, Karstadt can make substantial cost savings on item-level RFID deployment. In turn, those cost savings will help us realise a faster return on investment from better inventory and price management, an improved supply chain process and a reduction in shrinkage. In addition, the item-level visibility we gain will help us increase on-shelf availability, customer satisfaction and sales."
"Retailers will appreciate that we're not introducing a new protocol but using the EPCglobal Gen 2 industry standard in a new way," says John Smith, Vice President of Retail Sales for ADT Europe, Middle East and Africa. "Put simply, we have created a unique application based on the existing standard to reduce the complexity and cost associated with item-level RFID implementations. It bridges our pioneering EAS and RFID expertise, offering major improvements in retail store operations and ultimately an enhanced customer experience. We anticipate that the Sensormatic® iREAD™ platform will result in a significant increase in RFID uptake in the retail sector." |
Cluster of European RFID projects
contributes to European Research Agenda |
The 13 members of the Cluster of European RFID Projects - CERP were invited by the European Commission to provide a paper on RFID research needs for RFID which shall serve as an input to the 2nd call in the 7th Research Framework Programme. At their meeting in Berlin the CERP partners decided that a powerful vision on RFID must be based on a strong focus on applications. According to the RFID Reference Model (download: www.rfid-in-action.eu/public/rfid-reference-model) developed within the EU-funded CE RFID project the CERP experts will concentrate on four RFID application fields which endorse great benefits for society and economics: Beside the well-established application areas logistics and manufacturing, CERP will also deal with product safety, i.e. food chain or anti- counterfeited pharmaceuticals. Finally, the experts evaluated the combination of RFID with smart card and mobile devices in application areas such as access control, payment and loyalty as most promising. At their next meeting on August 30-31 in Espoo, Finland the CERP partners will discuss the research tasks that are induced by the four application fields.
The paper will be presented at the European conference "On RFID: The next step towards the Internet of Things" in November in Lisbon. The preliminary CERP working paper "RFID Research Needs" is available online: www.rfid-in-action.eu/cerp.
CE RFID
CE RFID was launched in April 2006 by leading RFID user companies and vendors. Its main intent is to strengthen the European competitiveness of RFID in the context of the aims of the Lisbon strategy. Members of CE RFID are METRO Group, Siemens, ADT Fire & Security, Deutsche Post World Net, NXP, UPM Raflatac, Feig Electronic, RF-iT, AIDA Centre, Pleon, VDI/VDE-IT and EADS. CE RFID is a Coordination Action funded by the European Commission within the 6th Framework Programme. The coordinator of CE RFID, Dr. Gerd Wolfram, MGI METRO Group Information Technology GmbH is also chairman of CERP.
www.rfid-in-action.eu
CERP
The Cluster of European RFID Projects was founded in January 2007. The CERP cluster facilitates an exchange of information and experiences between different R&D projects and accelerates enhancements of this fast developing technology and its applications.
www.rfid-in-action.eu/cerp
Conference "On RFID: The next step towards the Internet of Things" International experts will continue the ongoing European debate on RFID at the conference "On RFID: The next step towards the Internet of Things" on 15/16 November 2007 in Lisbon.
www.rfid-outlook.pt |
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RFID Tracking Adds Value to Forklifts and Reusable Containers
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For any supply chain to succeed, the right infrastructure is needed to store and move materials within the distribution network. And within any distribution system, the basics of supply chain mechanics are built upon reliable lift trucks and containers to transport a wide assortment of goods inter-plant, intra-plant and beyond. In best-in-class supply chain operations, reusable containers are considered and deployed everywhere possible. Why? Because if they can be used cost effectively; it’s good for the environment.
When reusable containers are deployed, there is always a high expectation that they’ll find their way back to the source for re-use, providing the anticipated ROI.
But controlling reusable containers can be thankless, painful and difficult, because the process is littered with problems. You don’t know where the empty containers are, when to expect them back, how they’re being used or what inhospitable storage conditions they’re being subjected to. These challenges can easily eliminate any margins or cost savings tied to reusable container deployments.
Fortunately, there is a straightforward solution: Tracking with RFID. Reusable container tracking is a logical response to your investment and the daily effort to determine where reusable containers are when you need them.
Many companies understand the value of container tracking and have been tracking them for years. The problem is that in the U.S. containers are almost tracked by barcode scans. This human-dependent process is tedious and expensive because of the labor required to scan each empty or full container.
Those who do it often subcontract the tracking to Third Party Logistics (3PL) firms, and even that is problematic. There are numerous significant risks when an organization depends on a workforce to perform an action 100% of the time (e.g., scan a barcode).
Invariably operators miss some scans, so those who depend on accurate and reliable data lose confidence in the reliability of the information. This lack of confidence reduces the value of the information, which leads to less use of the
data. This in turn is seen by the operators as further proof that they don’t really need the barcode scans, and therefore they become less attentive; making the data even more unreliable. The downward spiral is apparent. There is a better way, one with a stronger value proposition that can leverage the best visibility technology to track containers without human intervention and thereby eliminate the recurring barcode scanning costs.
The value proposition is quite simple; equip lift trucks in your supply chain with RFID readers. As RFID-tagged reusable containers transition from one area to another, the movement is automatically read (while performing regular material
movements) and recorded in a database. RFID tracking can define the facility or even more discrete locations within a building.
Additionally, operators can be directed by the system what and where to pick, pack and ship loads. This is similar to pick-to-light but with a twist: The RFID system does all the validation automatically without any human intervention.
Unlike a pick-to-light system that involves responding to a signal and manually keying (or speaking) feedback, the RFID system is self contained. The RFID system monitors itself, validates its own generated feedback and gives rapid and
clear response to operators about the validity of load points. Essentially it is a self-contained non-human intervention system.
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RFID Security Solutions Provider Acquired for $5.1m
Israel's VUANCE today announced the planned acquisition of Security Holding Corp (SHC), whose two subsidiaries SecurityInc and AAID provide RFID solutions for access control, asset tracking, and vehicle identification, among other security-related applications. The acquisition price is $5.1 million, which will be paid with shares of VUANCE, currently traded on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol VUNCF.
VUANCE is headquartered in Qadima, Israel, and has a US subsidiary in Virginia. The company provides solutions to enterprises in the public safety, commercial, and government sectors that enable viewing, tracking, locating, and credentialing both assets and employees. SHC's SecurityInc is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and offers a suite of offerings to both the residential and commercial markets that include access control, smart cards, and vehicle identification. SHC's other subsidiary AAID, based in Georgia, offers a similar portfolio of products based on active RFID.
VUANCE believes that SHC's offerings complement its existing solutions well. "SHC has significant experience with RFID-enabled applications and has developed well-proven access control systems that should be synergistic with our [systems]," indicated CEO Eyal Tuchman. The combined portfolio will allow VUANCE to offer simpler, single-facility solutions at the low end of the market, all the way up to sophisticated solutions for multi-facility installations.
The acquisition of SHC will also serve to broaden VUANCE's presence in the US, a key market for the company. "As we have stated previously, one of VUANCE's key strategic objectives is to expand its market presence, penetration, and sales opportunities in the United States," Tuchman was quoted in the announcement. "With thousands of commercial, governmental and institutional, security management, access control, and RFID installations in the US, SHC will have an immediate and meaningful impact upon our geographic footprint in North America."
The acquisition, which is subject to approval by VUANCE shareholders, is slated to close on August 17th. VUANCE expects that it will contribute between five and six million dollars to the company's revenues in the first year. VUANCE will purchase SHC from Homeland Security Capital Corporation, an investment firm whose focus is the highly fragmented US homeland security industry. It acquired SHC last October, though financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. |
Intellident set milestone in deployment of 400th live RFID installation
Intellident announce the successful sign-off of their 400th live installation of RFID, an unprecedented milestone in the industry.
We are delighted this month to announce that our 400th live RFID installation has been installed, joining a range of companies from across the food, library and automotive sectors to successfully deploy and gain benefit from the use of the technology.
The 400th installation, which unfortunately cannot be named due to client confidentiality, joins a host of companies to have deployed an Intellident RFID solution, including amongst many others: Essex County Council, Faurecia, Grampian Foods, Honda, Marks and Spencer, Premier Foods and Worldwide Fruit.
Importantly, each of the unique 400 sites that are now live have received a range of equipment from Intellident, which totals over 2,500 unique reader systems, 800 hand-held terminals, 50 million RFID tags and Intellident's unique Vision control software.
The announcement today not only represents a milestone in the industry for the number of unique installations, but also reflects the pace of adoption of this exciting technology and its standards in the UK.
David Lyon - EPCglobal Business Manager, GS1 UK added "Intellident's success with RFID implementations represents a positive shift in the industry toward the greater adoption of the technology and standards. This is great news for EPCglobal and our membership and we're very pleased to be playing a part in this achievement with Intellident."
www.intellident.co.uk |
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Toshiba partners with The Logistics Institute
Toshiba has announced that it has become a technology partner of The University of Hull Logistics Institute. A collaborative venture between Hull University's Business School and Department of Engineering, the institute, which officially opened this month, is one of the few purpose-built, dedicated centres for logistics and supply chain management education and development in the world. |
With the growing importance of logistics and supply chain management, the Logistics Institute is committed to working with industry to improve skills, knowledge and efficiency in the supply, production and transportation of products, services and information flows.
Uniquely positioned to combine academic expertise with proven commercial
knowledge the institute is able to deliver leading edge applied research and share best practice to produce measurable results. By partnering with pioneering technology companies like Toshiba, the institute is able to demonstrate an extensive pedigree in emerging technologies such as Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC), item attendant data and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).
Onsite demonstrations within the institute's Technology Showcase area will include Toshiba's innovative SX range of RFID printers, which allows users to successfully print label information straight onto RFID tags. This innovative engineering process known as SPRINT™ (Short Pitch RFID Encoding Technology) is a major technology break-through and will bring cost effective solutions for RFID projects, removing the need to insert tags into labels which adds significant costs in the conversion process.
The Technology Showcase at the Logistics Institute is a long-term exhibition space available to partner companies, and facilitates the demonstration of technology offerings within an atmosphere of innovation.
The state-of-the-art facilities and world-class team at the Logistics Institute will enable the Humber region to compete on an international level as it strives to become a global logistics hub offering sustainable distribution. |
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Alien Technology® Introduces Its New High-Performance Integrated Circuit with Extended Memory and Security for Passive RFID Tags
Alien® H3 Integrated Circuit Designed for Markets and Applications Requiring Unique Brand and Product Integrity Identification with 512 bits of User Memory and Enhanced Security Features for EPC Gen 2 Tags
April 7, 2008, Morgan Hill, Calif. – Alien Technology, an industry leader in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Ultra High Frequency (UHF) products and services, today announced its new high-performance H3 (Higgs) Integrated Circuit (IC). With 512 bits of user memory and advanced security features, the H3 complements Alien’s existing H2 product. The new IC is targeted at converters and end customers requiring exceptional performance, unique tag identification, and extended memory capabilities required to fully address RFID applications such as: airline baggage; pharmaceutical drugs; secure access; e-passports; and tracking of high-value assets and items such as electronics, or wines and spirits. |
“Based on benchmark testing, the Alien Higgs-3 IC provides a 50% sensitivity improvement over competitive products, and a 25% improvement above and beyond our industry-leading Higgs-2 IC, which currently powers Alien’s Squiggle® portfolio of EPC Gen 2 inlays and tags.” said Steve Smith, CTO and founder of Alien Technology.” With the new security and memory map features, Alien continues to lead the way for new applications and markets to adopt passive RFID by once again raising the bar on performance for passive RFID tags.”
Key features of the new Alien H3 IC include:
* Authentication: the H3 has a 64-bit Unique Tag ID (UTID), which is programmed at the factory and cannot be altered. This allows the manufacturer to ensure the authenticity of any product it sells. This is particularly important to vendors of high value branded products subject to counterfeiting and diversion, pharmaceuticals held to increasingly stringent e-pedigree requirements, and merchants dealing with return fraud.
* Memory: H3 also brings a new level of memory flexibility to RFID chips with expanded user memory, block level data access passwords, an extensible EPC number, and accelerated programming commands. The IC has 512-bits of user memory, which allows it to support legacy part numbering structures, service records, and chain of custody requirements such as e-pedigree. The user memory can also be sub-divided into blocks and assigned read and write passwords, allowing the IC to contain both public and private data. The IC also supports EPC numbers up to 496-bits in length, which allows for the use of alternate part number encoding standards as well as proprietary schemes.
* Sensitivity: In addition to being more sensitive than the H2 (the IC that powers Alien’s Squiggle tags which leads industry benchmarks), the H3 builds upon the industry leading interference rejection performance of the H2. These improvements result in higher read rates, better performance in noisy Radio Frequency environments, smaller tags, and greater read range.
* Interoperability: Designed in compliance with the latest EPC v1.2 specification, the H3 supports the mandatory and optional EPC Gen 2 commands, including the item-level commands, and works with all EPC Gen 2 compliant readers. Alien RFID integrated circuits are designed to integrate with either UHF Near Field or Far Field antennas, and accommodate global UHF tags for spectrum bands inclusive of 840MHz to 960MHz.
The Alien H3 IC is currently being sampled with partners and customers, with general availability scheduled for late July. Like the H2 IC, which has been shipping since December 2006, the H3 will be available in several packaging options, including Straps and Flip Chip.
“With the introduction of its new H3 chip, Alien once again raises the bar for performance and security features,” said Michael Liard, research director for RFID and contactless technologies and markets at ABI Research. “We view the availability of Alien H2 chip and the introduction of the H3 as positive developments for Alien and the industry.”
For more information about the Alien H2 and Alien H3 ICs, including the Squiggle portfolio of inlays, please go to www.alientechnology.com/ where you can view datasheets and photographs and request access to samples.
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RFID in Retail: The Truth Behind the Hype |
While many retailers appear to remain hesitant or skeptical about Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies, Aberdeen research indicates that many early adopters enjoyed significant initial business benefits, and are building upon those. In March 2007, Aberdeen research revealed that retailers are increasingly considering RFID adoption to improve the customer experience and inventory visibility. As a follow-up, Aberdeen surveyed over 150 companies in the retail industry throughout February and March of 2008. This report analyzes those survey results and additional interviews to explain how RFID is currently being used to deliver increased customer satisfaction and inventory accuracy, among other business improvements. Best-in-Class respondents saw customer satisfaction rise by 12% during the past two years; 78% increased inventory turns by an average of 5.4%. The study also explores which RFID technology components are dominant in the retail industry, future RFID implementation plans, general perceptions and best practices for RFID for in-store use. |
DLA to Expand RFID Labeling with $8.5M Order
The US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is in the midst of installing more than 1,800 new printer/encoders so it can expand its use of RFID to track military supply shipments. The DLA ordered 1,804 Gen2 UHF printer/encoders for delivery between January and April of this year according to Steve Lowry, executive vice president of Lowry Computer Products, which won a contract worth up to $8.5 million to supply the DLA printer/encoders and smart label media over five years.The printer/encoders will be installed at 21 Defense Distribution Centers (DDCs) around the world. DDCs serve as distribution hubs for the US military, receiving supplies, warehousing them, and filling orders received from military bases. Several dozen buildings may comprise a single DDC.
The newly ordered Printronix model SL4M printer/encoders and Lowry Smart Trac smart label media will be used to generate RFID labels for outbound shipments. They will also be used at receiving to create inventory labels for any inbound shipments that weren't labeled by the supplier according to the DoD's RFID shipment labeling standards. Steve Lowry could not estimate how many inbound shipments require RFID labels because suppliers don't provide them. |
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The DDCs already had RFID reader systems and some printer/encoders in place from a previous contract with another vendor (see RFID Deployment at DoD Completes First Phase). Lowry told RFID Update the new printer/encoders will be installed to replace bar code printers currently used to produce military shipping labels, and that the RFID smart labels will also include legacy bar code formats.
Lowry said he didn't know if the new printer/encoder implementation represented an acceleration of the Defense Department's (DoD) RFID efforts, but said there has been strong interest in the supplier compliance labeling solutions his company provides.
"I have seen a steep increase in interest for UID [a bar code compliance program] and RFID solutions for suppliers this year," he said.
The DoD's passive RFID systems are primarily used to track goods coming into and passing out of distribution centers. Goods in transit are tracked by the DoD's growing network of active RFID systems, which feature unattended readers at roadsides and other remote locations that record tagged objects that pass by (see Solar Power Helps RFID Track Anywhere Under the Sun). The five-year contract worth up to $8.5 million that Lowry won to provide printer/encoders and media is large relative to other DoD passive RFID contracts, but pales in comparison to the military's active RFID investments (see DoD Doubles Active RFID Spend to $425M).
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RFID Saves Contractor $12,000 in First Month
Vulcan Painters, a large commercial painting contractor in Bessemer, Alabama, credits its new RFID materials tracking system with saving $12,000 in its first month of use. The company applies metal-mount RFID tags to paint cans and other supplies to track what is issued to job sites and returned to storage. RFID tracking has improved inventory accuracy, reduced misplaced and unaccounted for materials, and reduced losses from expired paint.
"Vulcan didn't know what they had on hand. Inventory was expiring because Vulcan didn't know they had it. Now they know not only exactly what they have, but where it all is," Shane Armstrong, operations manager at Atlas RFID Solutions, told RFID Update. Atlas developed and integrated the materials management system, which features Gen2 RFID tags and readers plus tracking software that integrates with Vulcan's legacy systems.
Project managers check out the materials they need for a job using a handheld computer with integrated RFID reader at Vulcan's facility, which dispatches materials for projects in several states. Paint, solvents, cleaners, sand blasting materials, and other supplies are tagged, but low-cost items such as disposable gloves are not. An application Atlas developed for the handheld assigns the supplies to the project manager and specific job in the central records system. When workers enter and leave the facility they pass through an RFID portal reader, which automatically records tagged objects. The system issues an exception notice if the portal reader detects items that have not been assigned to project managers.
When workers return items to storage, they scan them with a handheld RFID reader and enter the storage bin location. The system keeps inventory up-to-date and allows Vulcan to search inventory by expiration date, brand, color, and other criteria.
"The first month alone we realized $12,000 in saved material costs," Rob Post, Vulcan's operations manager, said in Atlas' announcement. "If we had had to buy those materials, we would have paid an additional $2,000 to dispose of the containers. Cutting costs, reducing waste, and tracking our inventory are all important to Vulcan's initiative to go green."
Paint and solvents are challenging to identify with RFID because the liquid products are usually contained in metal packaging. Atlas tested multiple RFID inlay and material combinations before choosing a metal-mount tag with foam backing from Metalcraft that includes Alien Technology's Squiggle Gen2 inlay. Atlas also selected Motorola model MC9090G handheld readers, and portals developed by Venture Research that use RFID readers from Omron.
Vulcan has applied tags to 1,000 items and recently ordered 1,000 more tags. RFID is not used to track materials at job sites, only as they exit and re-enter Vulcan's facility, according to Armstrong. He said the company has considered using RFID for asset management (such as for scaffolding, ladders, and other equipment), but has no plans to apply tags to anything but materials for now.
If Vulcan Painters did want to extend RFID tracking to the work site, the new RFID reader-equipped pickup trucks and work vans that Ford announced last month could help (see Ford Builds RFID into Pickups and Vans to Track Cargo). Both systems use standard Gen2 technology, which provides interoperability and illustrates how standardized RFID ecosystems are growing
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