RFID Around the World

by Eric Van Osten

North America: North American Retailers Pilot Shrink Management Technology

Major retailers, including Anchor Blue, Babies R Us, CVS, LensCrafters, Kohl's, Toys R Us, Vans, and Wilsons, are now piloting the Evolve™ shrink management technology from Checkpoint Systems, Inc. Evolve is Checkpoint's next-generation suite of electronic article surveillance (EAS) products, which provide retailers with a highly-scalable EAS system that helps reduce shrink, boost profitability, and improve the customer shopping experience. In tandem with RFID technology, Evolve can increase inventory visibility and accuracy through its in-store tracking abilities. Featuring improved RF tag detection, Smart Alarm Management (SAM) to improve system integrity, and a Software Defined Radio (SDR) that can support multiple EAS and RFID tag frequencies, Evolve significantly improves the performance of traditional EAS technologies and provides retailers with a migration path for RFID adoption.

Ontario, Canada: Canadian Public Library is Committed to BiblioChip

The Brampton Library in Ontario has selected Bibliotheca RFID Library Systems as its RFID supplier. The Brampton Library is comprised of four branches and two interim sites that house a vast collection of more than 562,000 items. BiblioChip features read/write non-proprietary Gen 2 RFID labels that can be affixed directly to all items in the library's collection. Bibliotheca has designed very powerful software that facilitates and speeds up the conversion process. The BiblioChip System is the leading RFID library system in Europe with over 280 libraries using Bibliotheca products worldwide.

Washington, D.C.: Alanco/TSI PRISM Awarded $3.3 Million Jail Contract

Alanco Technologies, Inc.'s Alanco/TSI PRISM subsidiary has been awarded a $3.3 million contract by the Washington, D.C. Department of Corrections (DOC) for installation of an inmate tracking system that combines Alanco's TSI PRISM RFID system with WiFi compatible RTLS technology from AeroScout, Inc. The system will track and monitor over 2,000 inmates at the Washington, D.C. jail complex and provide an investigative tool and safety system for the DOC staff. The project will represent the world's largest installation of active RFID technology to track and monitor people.

Spain: Spanish Fashion House Says ‘Si' to RFID

Bóboli, a premier Spanish fashion house for children, is piloting an RFID deployment program to track and manage items from manufacturing through point-of-sale. Manufacturing over 2 million items per year that are distributed in 30 owned and operated shops, with products available worldwide, Bóboli is the first Spanish brand apparel manufacturer to invest in an RFID item-level tracking system. The pilot program will involve 10% of Bóboli's production inventory with plans to expand full RFID deployment throughout all items

Finland: RFID Postal Application

Finland's postal delivery service has been implemented with RFID using Sirit's IN510 readers across the country to read RFID tags embedded in envelopes that are tracked throughout the entire delivery process to monitor and quantify the speed and accuracy of real-time postal deliveries. Selected envelopes contain an RFID tag with a unique number. As they travel through the delivery and sorting process, the data relating to their movement is collected and transmitted to a back-end system. The system then provides analyses on mail routing, length of time to deliver an item, and other benchmarks relating to level of service.

Hamburg, Germany: RFID Takes to the Skies

ODIN made RFID easy, accurate, and reliable for the Airbus A380 project at the final assembly plant.

Italy: Oil Tracking for Eni

ODIN technologies successfully performed a technical analysis of RFID options and made recommendations on the optimal RFID tagging strategy for Eni's automotive and industrial lubricant products.

Japan: McDonald's RFID-Enabled Pay-By-Phone Coupons

Some McDonald's restaurants in Japan are beginning to use the Kasazu coupon – a payment application that is downloaded to a cellphone, which is placed on top of an RFID reader for instant payments and coupon redemption. McDonald's plans to expand this coupon system throughout Japan.

Shanghai, China:Underground Marking System for Shanghai World Exposition Site

The 2010 World Exposition's two-square-mile site will include a network of underground gas pipes tracked predominantly by 3M's Dynatel Electronic Marking System (EMS), using 3M's EMS "marker balls" that use RFID to transmit the identity and precise location of buried components. The information is vital in avoiding excavation accidents and ensuring the efficient placement, relocation, and management of those assets.

Beijing, China: RFID Used in 2008 Olympic Tickets

An estimated 16 million tickets will be embedded with RFID for the Beijing Olympic Games. This makes the tickets very difficult to counterfeit and speeds up ticket checking. Michael Liard of ABI Research says: "We could see more than 12 million e-tickets for the Beijing Games. The World EXPO could create demand for nearly 70 million e-tickets."

South Korea: Intelleflex's Line of Extended Capability RFID Products

Due to the growing interest and investment in RFID in South Korea, Intelleflex's Intelligent RFID Platform will enable advanced RFID solutions in areas such as high value asset tracking, yard management, parts maintenance, and reusable transport item tracking. Intelleflex is working with a partner, Rockwell Automation Korea, to sell products in the market.

Saudi Arabia: ODIN technologies Tagging Strategy for Saudi Aramco

ODIN technologies developed a test protocol that identifies the best tagging strategy and provides the maximum possible read rate for each asset for oil corporation Saudi Aramco.

Australia: Redefining Inventory Tracking at the Coal Mine

A fully deployed RFID solution utilizing Omni-ID's Flex™ tag caters to all of BMA's Norwich Park Mine's requirements for a real-time inventory tracking and management environment. The system has proven its worth by enabling miners to get to their jobs faster, improving database accuracy, and pinpointing lost or stolen equipment. BMA has deployed RFID at three additional mine sites in Central Queensland for inventory and tool management.

India: Savi and AVAANA™ Deliver RFID Supply Chain Solutions to Indian Market

Savi Technology and India-based AVAANA™ have entered into a strategic partnership for active RFID-based supply chain solutions, products, and services to prospective government and commercial customers in India. The regional partnership was developed to leverage the technology expertise and geographic knowledge base of the two companies.

Kuwait: Let RFID Watch the Kids

Baroue (MS Retail's flagship store in Kuwait) enables parents to shop while monitoring their children at play in the Avenues Mall playground area. The children, who are supervised by Baroue staff, are provided with a wristband incorporating a location tag, and their parents receive a ticket with a unique identifier matching the child's tag. Built upon Ubisense's precision RTLS system and TagStone's software, parents can check on their children at info kiosks using their tickets, with optional camera views.

Johannesburg, South Africa:

Laptop Tag Trolley Scan (Pty) Ltd. has developed a new rubber- based passive transponder designed to be glued to laptop and notebook computers. They work in all orientations and are detected by a reader at distances up to 13 meters, even inside a carrying case.

South Africa: Framework Standards for RFID Deployment in Transportation

Standards South Africa has formally published standards for RFID deployment in transportation, providing a framework for electronic registration and identification of vehicles using passive RFID and describing the criteria applicable to RFID air interfaces that form part of Intelligent Transport Systems. Passive UHF is useful to law enforcement agencies that authenticate vehicle license discs and license plates, and also for monitoring individual vehicles as part of traffic management systems for improving road network utilization and free-flow electronic toll collection.

Brazil: Big Business in Brazil

According to Ernesto A. castagnet, Professor/Consultant of RFID in South America, Brazil has the most promising South American RFID market. "Some frequency issues are still there, but the size of the market justifies the investment," he says. "All kinds of applications are going on there from animal tagging to supply chain to production, as well as many small projects. There are many niches to enter."

Uruguay: Tracks Beef with RFID

The i-campo kit establishes traceability of cattle at each stage of processing from packaging to delivery. It is composed of composed of Psion Teklogix' WORKABOUT PRO, an RFID reader AIR 200 from German company Agrident, and software i-campo developed by Cybercampo, certified by Uruguay's Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries. The main purpose is to improve food safety measures required for international exporting.

Colombia: Elections with RFID

Regional elections were held on October 28, 2007, with 27 million Colombians voting to elect 86,000 candidates. Avery Dennison RFID and Tyco/Sensormatic teamed up to create an RFID solution to smoothly deliver ballots from 9,950 voting sites. The packing, shipment, and receipt of the ballot boxes were controlled by using 800,000 RFID tags with AD-222 inlays.

Guatemala: Acta Tracking

Ballot Tracking Systems integrator DACSA worked with Avery Dennison RFID to tag each ballot in the general elections held in Guatemala in the fall of 2007. The AD-222 inlay was placed on the back of each "acta" (or ballot) so its location could be tracked to ensure that returned ballots were original and had not been subject to fraud. Votes were quickly tabulated and, for the first time in the history of Guatemalan elections, the winners were known before people went to bed the night of the election.