ThingMagic Partners with Ford Motor Company and DEWALT to Provide First RFID Enabled Trucks
ThingMagic, Inc. announces a partnership with DEWALT and Ford Motor Company to equip 2009 Ford F-150, F-Series Super Duty pickups and E-Series vans with an embedded RFID asset tracking system enabled by ThingMagic’s Mercury5e readers.
Ford Work Solutions Tool Link by DEWALT uses a specifically designed RFID reader system powered by ThingMagic’s Mercury 5e embedded module and a pair of antennas in corrosion- and impact-resistant housings mounted in the pickup box to enable Ford and DEWALT customers to track RFID-tagged assets — such as tools, construction equipment, and materials — in the truck and ensure that vehicle contents are easily accounted for and quickly located at all times.
Ford is the first automotive manufacturer to offer passive embedded RFID technology in its vehicles, allowing customers to capitalize on its capabilities (including asset tracking and inventory control) to ensure crews arrive and leave the job site with the right tools and materials for their jobs. As part of the Ford Work Solutions, a collection of affordable technologies that will assist Ford customers in better running their business, Tool Link by DEWALT is the result of a partnership between leaders in the embedded RFID technology space, the professional power tool industry, and the automotive business.
Building on DEWALT’s knowledge of the professional power tool market, ThingMagic’s Advanced Development Group has also designed rugged, reliable labels that allow the truck operators to tag, scan, and track expensive tools, equipment, and other assets using the ThingMagic-designed system. Additionally, Ford Works Solutions Tool Link by DEWALT is designed to support loss prevention of equipment and supplies through real-time inventory updates. Ford is debuting the ThingMagic RFID-enabled vehicle line during the industry’s annual Chicago Auto Show.
“Construction companies and professionals turn to Ford Trucks for rugged, reliable, and technically-advanced vehicles,” says William Frykman, Ford Work Solutions Product and Business Development Manager of Ford Motor Company. “Working with ThingMagic, the industry expert in embedded RFID technology and DEWALT, the industry leader in professional power tools, we’ve developed an RFID system ‘Built Ford Tough’ that increases our customers’ productivity and saves them money.”
“DEWALT is dedicated to developing new products that provide professional contractors with innovative solutions to help meet their needs,” says Chris Allen, Vice President of DEWALT’s Security Business Group. “ToolLink will help contractors easily track what tools are in their vehicles and ultimately help increase jobsite productivity.”
ThingMagic’s Advanced Development Group, DEWALT, and Ford have worked closely over the past year to design and implement a rugged, reliable, and accurate RFID solution for Ford and DEWALT customers” says Ravi Pappu, Co-founder and Head of ThingMagic’s Advanced Development Group. “Ford Work Solutions Tool Link by DEWALT is ideal for wirelessly tracking tools and equipment to and from the job site.”
ThingMagic Mercury5e embedded reader module can read hundreds of RFID tags per second, regardless of the environmental conditions, and achieve more 100% read rates through its use of the embedded version of the Mercury OS. ThingMagic Mercury5e embedded reader modules are also designed to survive physically challenging deployment environments.
For more information about Ford trucks and vans equipped with Ford Work Solutions and Tool Link by DeWALT visit www.fordworksolutions.com.
U.S. Department of Defense Extends Savi’s
RFID II Contract a Year and Increases
Spending Ceiling by $60 Million
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has extended the time and increased the value of its RFID II contract with Savi, a Lockheed Martin company. The contract has been extended to Jan. 31, 2009, and its ceiling increased by about $60 million to $483 million for the company’s active RFID products and services. The contract amendments were made by the U.S. Army’s Information Technology, e-commerce, and Commercial Contracting Center (ITEC4), and the executive agent for the DoD is the office of the Product Manager, Joint-Automatic Identification Technology.
“We are proud to continue providing innovative RFID solutions that support the war fighter through this contract for another year,” says Vic Verma, Chief Executive Officer of Savi Group.
“This is the second contract extension and third ceiling increase that Savi has received on this contract, which was initially awarded in January 2003,” says David Stephens, Chief Executive Officer of Savi Technology, a Savi line of business focused on enterprise-level RFID-based solutions and services for defense and government customers.
Savi, a developer and provider of RFID-based supply chain solutions and services for defense, government, and commercial customers, has provided RFID solutions to the DoD for more than a decade. The company helped build the DoD’s RF In-Transit Visibility (ITV) network, which spans more than 45 countries and tracks military supplies through 4,000 sites.
In addition to the DoD, the company provides RFID solutions for NATO and defense forces in the United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, and Spain, among others. Savi is building interoperable RFID-based networks for allies that enable them to improve the management of consignments for multinational, joint-force operations.
RSI ID Technologies Expands Available RFID
Baggage Application-Specific Antenna Designs
RSI ID Technologies announces a new RFID antenna, the RSI Blade, designed specifically for use in baggage tracking applications. It leverages the NXP UCODE Gen 2 G2XL and G2XM ICs and offers exceptional orientation insensitivity and wideband operation, making it ideal for baggage tracking applications. The addition of the Blade design gives RSI ID partners another option for baggage applications while offering greater read distances than existing designs.
“As several industry analysts have noted, both the deployment and consideration for use of RFID in baggage tracking applications continues to evolve,” says Wolf Bielas, President and CEO of RSI ID Technologies. “RSI ID has had an increasing number of requests for inlays designed specifically for the baggage tracking market. These requests, as well as the obvious growth potential, created a straightforward decision for RSI to allocate R&D, design, and testing resources to bring this design to market.”
RSI ID’s antenna design capabilities, converting processes, and manufacturing expertise, along with its best-of-breed testing equipment, enables RSI ID to design and produce high-volume, reliable tags without compromising quality, while still delivering inlays and tags at industry-leading prices.
Atlantic Zeiser Debuts PERSOLINE Full Color Personalization Platform for Premium Cards
Atlantic Zeiser, who specializes in industrial high-security coding and personalization technologies, introduces PERSOLINE, its new solution for full color personalization of premium cards. PERSOLINE offers a flexible solution that can be configured in many different ways to suit a variety of markets and applications.
PERSOLINE offers a full color card personalization solution that can efficiently handle large volumes at lower costs, compared to current thermal transfer or dye sublimation technologies, while achieving significantly higher productivity. The rapid processing speed — up to 6,000 personalized cards per hour in four-color or 8,000 cards per hour in spot color personalization — delivers a strong performance/price ratio. The PERSOLINE also excels as a single card artwork printing solution for cost-effectively producing small batches.
Oliver Mehler, Managing Director at Atlantic Zeiser, comments: “PERSOLINE is a flexible solution for providing full color card personalization for applications such as government ID cards, access cards, driving licenses, or healthcare cards. It has the dual capability to handle full color and artwork printing, either with or without personalization. PERSOLINE offers an exceptionally cost-effective way to fulfill full color artwork print-on-demand for small and medium batch sizes, starting with blank cards.”
According to Mr. Mehler, PERSOLINE will be upgradeable to a fully modular Smart Card Personalization System for virtually any chip card application such as ID cards, SIM cards, and financial cards — both contact and contactless. Other modules in the product pipeline include grayscale laser personalization.
Easily upgradeable, the PERSOLINE can be expanded as needed to meet new production requirements and ensure a long-term return on investment. “Our customers can benefit from the expandability of PERSOLINE, the freedom to configure the solution as needed, as well as the user-friendly operation,” states Dr. Hans Wyssmann, Marketing VP at Atlantic Zeiser. “Nevertheless, what our customers will certainly like the most is the new system’s high productivity combined with its strikingly low operating costs.”
PERSOLINE delivers savings in consumables, manpower, and time. Customers can profit from radically reduced costs for consumables, typically 80-90% less compared to dye sublimation. The revolutionary new design facilitates system operation from both sides of the machine, making it possible for one operator to handle two machines, thus lowering personnel costs. The user-friendly .NET-based layout software ensures intuitive operation. Additional cost advantages can be achieved, along with higher throughput, thanks to CoolShield™, Atlantic Zeiser’s patent pending security lamination process based on inkjet using UV activated glue. PERSOLINE's innovative design supports processing of high gloss cards by preventing scratching of the sensitive card surfaces.
Wavetrend Introduces GlobalEyes, a Revolutionary
Fully Integrated Global Tracking Solution
Wavetrend Technologies Ltd. is expanding its portfolio of innovative products with the release of GlobalEyes, a revolutionary global tracking solution, incorporating multiple communications and tracking technologies with a software management suite. GlobalEyes is set to revolutionize the way in which assets, people, and vehicles are monitored and tracked across the globe. Wavetrend is currently working on several pilot projects within the container logistics and vehicle tracking sectors.
GlobalEyes delivers real-time visibility and intelligence on the location, condition, status, and other important information on high-value assets, making it ideal for monitoring of: shipping containers; military, construction, and mining personnel in high-risk environments; and tracking of transportation modes such as vehicles, cargo ships, and rail cars. GlobalEyes delivers unprecedented, end-to-end supply chain visibility and addresses the challenge of providing high security and reliability in complex global applications. It is the most reliable and cost-effective solution for mission-critical applications such as end-to-end supply chain visibility, logistics, and international security initiatives.
GlobalEyes uses multiple modes of two-way communication — including active RFID, GPRS, SATCOM GPS, GSM, and ZigBee wireless mesh networks — combined with a web-based information management bureau that offers remote and real-time visibility in critical applications. GlobalEyes offers a completely mobile reader infrastructure and therefore does not require the use of a fixed reader.
By utilizing continuous data transmissions generated by multiple sources, GlobalEyes overcomes the limitations inherent in traditional supply chain infrastructures that rely solely on fixed readers to gather data. The complementary technologies incorporated into GlobalEyes provide the greatest visibility of assets in transit, fostering real-time decision-making when it matters most.
GlobalEyes is the result of a partnership between Wavetrend and System Planning Corporation. The GlobalEyes solution combines Wavetrend’s portfolio of active RFID products with the flexible, worldwide capabilities of System Planning Corporation’s asset tracking and condition monitoring system.
“Unlike any other solution, GlobalEyes addresses a multitude of application challenges that our customers in industries such as container logistics, robust vehicle tracking, and asset management are facing today,” says Miyan. “Rather than relying on one source technology, it provides an overlapping solution that assures visibility that our customers demand while at the same time providing an appropriate complementary range of technologies to deliver visibility in the harshest and most difficult of environments.”
For additional information on GlobalEyes, visit Wavetrend at www.wavetrend.net/globaleyes.
