Lowry Computer Products Awarded Defense Logistic Agency Purchase Agreement for RFID Printers

gif Lowry Computer Products announces it has been awarded a five-year, $8.5 million contract by the Defense Logistic Agency’s (DLA) Defense Distribution Center (DDC). Under the terms of this agreement, Lowry Computer Products will provide the DDC with Printronix SmartLine EPCglobal Gen 2 passive RFID-compliant thermal-transfer tag and label printers for all CONUS (Continental United States) and OCONUS (Outside the Continental United States) sites.

“This contract represents the largest single UHF RFID order announced in the industry,” says Steve Lowry, Executive Vice President, Lowry Computer Products. “It illustrates the progress the Department of Defense has made in the adoption and implementation of RFID technologies. Lowry Computer Products is honored to be able to provide the DDC with a first-class solution that has met 100% of the performance requirements set by the DLA.”

The solution includes Printronix SL4M RFID printers from its SmartLine RFID family. The SL4M RFID printer is the price-performance leader for 4-inch industrial and commercial applications and represents a safe and cost-effective UHF RFID smart label printer encoder.

“Lowry Computer Products and Printronix have a long-standing joint history of providing customers with the best access to innovative printing technologies and timely reaction to their needs,” says James B. McWilson, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Printronix.

In July of 2004, the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics signed a memorandum that outlined a policy regarding the use of RFID within the Department of Defense (DoD). The DoD enacted this policy was to allow the DoD to take advantage of the life-cycle asset management efficiencies that RFID provides its end-users. Currently, the DDC is pursuing full deployment for internal and external use of passive RFID functionality at all CONUS and OCONUS sites. To gain maximum return on investment, passive RFID labels will be phased in to replace previous internal tracking and identification schemes. Lowry is looking forward to providing the DLA with the necessary systems to facilitate this transition.

Cost Plus World Market Selects Yard Hound™ from PINC Solutions to Improve Supply Chain Operation Efficiency

jpg PINC Solutions announces that Cost Plus World Market has selected and implemented PINC Solutions’ Yard Hound™ to track and manage their fleet trailers at World Market’s main Northern California Distribution Center. Cost Plus World Market is a leading specialty retailer of casual home living and entertaining products. The company operates over 298 stores in 34 states and reported 2007 revenue over $1 billion.

“We are always looking for cost-effective ways to improve our supply chain,” says Ray Whitley, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain, at Cost Plus World Market. "PINC’s solution automates many of the yard management processes that were done manually. By using their system, we are able to keep track of our assets in the yard at all times, and share the information through a web-based interface. With a minimal amount of capital investment and virtually no disruption to our Distribution Center operation, we have improved our yard operation efficiency and cut costs.”

“PINC is pleased to enable World Market to accurately monitor and track their assets in real-time utilizing Yard Hound™, the latest embodiment of our patented RTLS-tracking technology,” says Aleks Göllü, CEO of PINC Solutions. “We empower our customers to streamline distribution yard operation with real-time visibility into all of their yard activities. Yard Hound™ can easily be incorporated into customer’s logistics management system as an overlay to existing processes, or be integrated with other Yard and Warehouse Management Systems that may be in use already. The asset location and status information is kept updated constantly with minimal human intervention, and the users have access to electronic record and can receive automated alerts and reports about their assets remotely anywhere, anytime.”

Built on an innovative combination of advanced sensor and passive RFID technologies as the RTLS platform, PINC's products represent a paradigm shift in mobile asset management through real-time asset visibility. Cost Plus World Market and other clients of PINC realize many benefits from Yard Hound, including:

Increased yard operation efficiency
Improved yard truck and driver productivity and retention
Reduced manual yard checks
Minimized congestion at choke points such as gate and dock doors and increased throughput
Improved equipment utilization
Reduced late, demurrage and detention fees
Enhanced customer and vendor services

Additional features of Yard Hound™ (such as real-time task assignment and acknowledgement for yard-truck drivers, and user-defined access to real-time visibility data for their 3PL providers and carriers) allow the customers to achieve further saving beyond the immediate return seen from their daily operation. The resulting improvements in economics typically generate a positive ROI for clients in less than a year.

Intelleflex Adds Extended Temperature Tag to its RFID Product Offerings

jpg Intelleflex Corporation announces the availability of its SXT-7110 extended temperature tag, an advanced RFID tag designed to withstand harsh temperatures and other demanding environments. The tag’s high temperature resin casing and high temperature battery ensure optimal performance in temperature ranges from -40 degrees Celsius to +125 degrees Celsius (-40 to +257 Fahrenheit). Other design elements ensure reliable operation in challenging RF environments such as around metals, liquids, and outdoors. The introduction of this extended temperature tag follows Intelleflex’s recently announced badge tag and metal mount tag, further expanding Intelleflex’s portfolio of Extended Capability RFID products.

Applications for the SXT-7110 include mounting on vehicles and equipment that are subject to repeated steam pressure washing, usage in industrial environments where exposure to high heat is common, and applications where the asset is exposed to severe cold outdoor temperatures.

“With winter temperatures in Canada dropping well below -20 degrees Celsius, using RFID to automatically track snow removal equipment would be a challenge,” says Pierre Vidaillac, President at Minds, Inc. “However, with the availability of the Intelleflex SXT-7110 extended temperature tag, we now have a solution to bring our transport traceability solutions to that market."

“This newest member of our tag product family was designed specifically to allow the application of our Extended Capability RFID Platform into harsh industrial and outdoor environments,” comments Sam Liu, Intelleflex’s Director of Marketing. “It will allow us to better serve customers in asset tracking, yard management, parts maintenance, manufacturing, and other demanding applications.”

The SXT-7110 is a durable tag that offers exceptional performance in severe hot and cold conditions. A modified form of the previously announced SMT-7100 tag, the SXT-7110 shares the ability to perform well in challenging RF environments, and to be read across a wide range of angles, due to the patent pending inverted F-plane antennae design.

Advanced RFID Memory Windshield Inlay Launched by KSW Microtec

jpg German company KSW Microtec AG, supplier of RFID components for special and standard applications such as public transport, asset management, and high security applications, launches the KSW windshield inlay offering customers more accurate, efficient, and secure vehicle access into various locations and premises.

With a read range of approximately 18 feet and a larger memory chip, the inlay can benefit both commercial fleet operators of cars or trucks as well as private vehicle owners requiring secure access and safer parking. Since it has higher individual data storage capacities on the chip, the inlay is ideal for managing access to corporate parking lots, high security commercial and industrial areas, or gated residential communities. It can also be used to control entry and exit gates to automotive services such as toll stations, car rental parks or car washes.

Thomas Hitzer, CEO of KSW Microtec says: “Due to the customized antenna design and an efficient assembly technology, the RFID inlay from KSW does not require a foam standoff like other windshield tag designs and this is a unique feature of our product.”

KSW developed the inlay following demand from customers requiring more chip memory space for individual data, using the Gen 2 chip with its increased 512-bit user memory. Gen 2 chip technology allows for multiple tag reads, faster read rates, and greater range for tracking entrances, exits, and traffic patterns within closed environments. Consequently, the windshield inlay was designed especially for this chip. In addition, as the KSW label uses passive RFID technology, it offers a more economic option than active windshield tags currently available on the market.

SmartMark RFID-Enabled Floor Tags Mark Critical Locations by William Frick & Company

jpg William Frick & Company expands its line of durable RFID tags to include rugged floor tags. Designed to withstand the demands of high-speed warehouses, logistic centers, and high-traffic retail environments, they identify critical areas, track pallets and displays, and help keep tabs on inventory and assets. The company's SmartMark™ RFID tags and labels use passive UHF Gen 2 inlays and are easy to integrate into existing systems.

"We've seen significant growth in our logistic center, warehouse, and retail business over the past few years," explains Jeff Brandt, Executive Vice President for William Frick and Co. "Our SmartMark durable RFID products make it easy for managers and staff to find what they're looking for and speed up workflow. Plus, we know how to build solutions that last — even on the dock or in harsh environments."

The expanded product line gives managers additional options. Frick's line of RFID enabled products includes compliance labels, ceiling, wall- or pole-mounted placards, signs, rack-mounted labels, and removable tote tags. The SmartMark™ series of durable RFID tags and labels can incorporate barcode and human readable characters to help managers merge technologies and meet compliance mandates. By carefully selecting inlays and materials, custom tailored read ranges can be designed to suit the application.

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