News Desk

Omnitrol/Alien Collaboration

As part of the partnership and technology collaboration, Omnitrol Networks (www.omnitrol.com) will deploy Alien's RFID readers to deliver end-to-end RFID-based solutions for asset tracking, promotion monitoring, and work-in-progress visibility. Alien's RFID readers and Omnitrol Network's edge service engine will enable real-time warehouse, factory floor, and supply chain business applications without separate middleware or back-end system dependencies.

Under the terms of the agreement, Alien Technology and Omnitrol Networks will work together to market, sell, and support solutions leveraging RFID technology. The two companies will also work together to develop a training curriculum, on the use, adaptation, and deployment of Alien and Omnitrol products.

TAGSYS Develops QoS for Pharma Manufacturers

Data integrity and accuracy are the keys to success in item-level track-and-trace deployments. Pharmaceutical manufacturers have grappled with achieving six sigma performance levels consistently and predictably from their RFID infrastructure; the key to meeting regulatory, liability, or chain of custody requirements. TAGSYS (www.tagsysrfid.com) has announced its RFID Six Sigma Performance Program; a Quality-of-Service (QoS) performance guarantee of fewer than four failures in one million reads in item-level track-and-trace processes for pharmaceutical manufacturers.

The Six Sigma Performance Program is also available as a subscription service where customers can pay a flat monthly fee for an agreed level of service. The service comes with a Tech Refresh feature that allows customers to take advantage of new reader and tag technology as it becomes available without costly upgrade fees.

The Six Sigma Performance Program comes on the heels of TAGSYS' release of e-connectware: a software suite designed to manage global RFID networks. e-connectware is a comprehensive set of software management and administrative tools that enables QoS, including centralized deployment, management, and administration of RFID readers and application systems, pro-active monitoring of those systems, on-the-fly performance tuning, and fail-over.

IDENTEC Selected for Audi TT Production and Alaskan Supply Chain Management

IDENTEC SOLUTIONS (www.identecsolutions.com) has been selected as the RFID solution provider for Horizon Lines and has secured a major contract from Audi. IDENTEC will provide RFID technology for Horizon's ongoing management and tracking of assets throughout their Alaska service supply chain. Horizon Lines, a domestic ocean container and logistics company, chose IDENTEC after its products outperformed other vendors in both accuracy and reliability. A solution was needed to enhance Horizon's visibility of all assets while in transit and required a system that could withstand extreme temperatures as low as -50°F, provide reliable mission-critical and accurate long-range data, as well as high speed data capture. Industry-specific software was developed by IDENTEC to address Horizon's precise requirements.

IDENTEC SOLUTIONS Germany has been awarded a contract from Audi AG to provide its OIS-P RFID System for the production of the Audi TT. There are currently 350 Audi TT chassis carriers circulating through production and conveyor stations in Audi's new auto body factory in Ingolstadt, Germany. Based on information stored on the OIS-P tags, robots at about 80 stations throughout the production process are programmed to process the various options. Then data relating to product quality is documented, and the flow of the chassis carriers throughout the conveyor system can be controlled.

UPM Raflatac on DVDs, CDs

Touch Automation, a developer of automated dispensing solutions for movies, music, and video games, says it exclusively uses UPM Raflatac RFID tags (www.upmraflatac.com) to optimize key supply chain and consumer processes. Touch Automation's merchandising systems enable retailers to capitalize on the growing DVD self-service kiosk market, a segment that is expected to exceed $3 billion in annual sales by 2009. Multiple system configurations, which hold between 550 and 3,500 units of inventory, are engineered and built with state-of-the-art technology including advanced robotics, wireless WANs, and RFID-tagged merchandise to provide near-real-time insights into the availability and financial performance of each systems, as well as its inventory.

Touch Automation uses UPM Raflatac's Rafsec BullsEye tag – a round HF CD/DVD RFID tag with read-write capacity – to streamline critical inventory management processes. Each BullsEye tag is encoded with CD and DVD stock-keeping unit (SKU) information and other metadata. No personal consumer data is written to the tags. Tags are prepared generically so that RFID-tagged merchandise can be shipped to any system located within retailers' enterprises. Using RFID enables retailers to monitor and validate rentals, returns, and purchases, while assessing inventory to fine tune stocking processes for high revenue per system.

OTA Training to Expand into Domino's Global Centers of Excellence

Domino Integrated Solutions Group (www.domino-printing.com) and OTA Training (www.otatraining.com) have announced a global partnership to offer RFID training and certification courses in Domino ISG's four global Centers of Excellence. The first two Centers of Excellence are located in Chicago, IL, and Cambridge, England, with additional centers opening in Europe and Asia.

Extending OTA Training's program to Domino's global Centers of Excellence offers students practical experience in a real world environment. At the Centers of Excellence, students are able to experiment with RFID technology, gain a hands-on understanding of the technology and learn how to implement effective RFID solutions within existing business systems and infrastructures.

As part of the effort to continually bring real-world experience to the students, the Centers of Excellence will feature Domino ISG's CompTIA certified and OTA trained System Analysts as some of the instructors. Having previously taught modules in OTA's program, Domino ISG will continue to contribute up to date critical field knowledge that students require to be successful within the RFID industry.

West Point Selects Bibliotheca RFID

The U.S. Military Academy Library chose Bibliotheca as its RFID provider for its new library, which will be built next to the current library and will feature a six-story building with most of the circulating collection on the second floor. Located overlooking the Hudson River approximately 50 miles north of New York City, West Point is the oldest military post in the U.S.

The Library is also the oldest Federal Library. The new home of the Library is Jefferson Hall, scheduled to open in 2008. The new USMA Library and Learning Center will occupy a prominent space directly opposite the present library.

The Bibliotheca RFID system offered several features that West Point found important to their mission, e.g. excellent software, well-documented with encryption. The Collection conversion has proven quick and easy for the staff to implement. Bibliotheca's Self Check Systems work directly with Innovative Interfaces GUI. Millennium Circulation Client with fully-integrated Bibliotheca RFID operation, providing fast and seamless circulation activities. Media pack software allows for verification of contents without opening the AV packaging. Inventory Wands are fast, accurate, and wireless, operating in real time, with the ability to do inventory and search for misplaced items without touching the books. Visit www.bibliotheca-rfid.com and www.library.usma.edu.