It's RFID but Not as We Know It
By Dr. Peter Harrop
With RFID, the devil is in the detail. Several analysts correctly foresaw the tripling of the RFID business by value in recent
years. However, those that saw it driven by the power of Wal-Mart and other major retailers had to revise their position, and
extrapolation planning that used past trends certainly gave a very false prediction of what would happen. The truth is that
RFID is largely driven by government through laws for some sectors such as livestock and passports and through massive
purchases in others such as defense and libraries.
In the face of huge projects coming and going and frequent change of mind by legislators such as the Food and Drug
Administration blowing hot then cold on RFID on drugs for anti-counterfeiting, the best approach for an analyst is to constantly
update forecasts in the light of intensive investigations across the world. That is the method used by IDTechEx and it is true
that some clients see the frequent reassessment as a sign of incompetence.
However, Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman of IDTechEx uses the rejoinder of the famous economist John Maynard Keynes who, when
similarly criticised, said: "If the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?" For example, in April 2008, it was very
significant that IBM landed the first large order for RFID in aircraft manufacture. It has been a long wait for that one and, on the
day, it was in Europe not America.
For example, the UK national card scheme promises to be the world's largest RFID project at $10 billion, but it is a political
football and it may never begin. The only way to respond to that is to rewrite forecasts to reflect what emerges.
History is easier to get right. Certainly all would agree that last year the Chinese market was the largest by value for RFID as the huge
national ID card and city card schemes peaked and a huge amount of RFID was installed for secure access. However, with most of
these deliveries in decline in 2008, China will drop from being the largest RFID market at 40% of the whole to sharing number one
position with the U.S. at 26% share each ($1.4 billion). Japan will follow with 11% ($0.6 billion), Korea and the UK next, both having
7.6% ($0.4 billion). The reasons are very different in each case so a close look is vital. The U.S. spends huge sums on RFID for military
uses, healthcare, and non-stop road tolling, for example, with just two of the orders being serviced in 2008 amounting to nearly $1
billion (ACS and Savi). Those submarkets are tiny elsewhere; but in 2008, China is starting huge schemes tagging library books, air
baggage, and railway tickets while Japan is the world leader in using RFID-enabled mobile phones (over 90% of the global usage)
and stored value cards. Consequently, although, globally, contactless smart cards and associated infrastructure will be the highest
value sector until 2010, that will not be the case in all countries and even the types of card use will vary hugely.
In 2008, 57.3% of the total market value for RFID will be spent on cards and associated infrastructure, with $2.26 billion of the total
$5.29 billion being spent on all other forms of RFID — from RFID labels to active tags. By volume, the tag part of the RFID market
is dominated by labels or label like tags (such as tickets) which is 62.4% of the tag type shipped in 2008 rising to 99.1% in 2018.
So where are the acorns being sown — the trials and planned projects? Only IDTechEx can give comprehensive figures for
this as it has the unique RFID Knowledgebase of 3,260 projects in 105 countries updated daily on
www.idtechex.com/knowledgebase. This shows that the
largest number of projects is always in the U.S. but the UK was second in projects recorded during 2006 dropping to third in projects
recorded in 2007 due to China taking the number two position. In other words, countries such as Japan and Korea have a number of
huge projects but relatively few trials and other projects overall; but China has now shed that characteristic and is now advancing on
a very broad front and all that must be monitored to reveal the true situation. The breadth of work in China is part of the reason why
IDTechEx sees East Asia so important as a consumer of RFID in the years to come as shown below by one measure — billions
of tags.
Of course, many involved in the RFID business steer clear of the mature card business and concentrate on the other formats and here
the situation is rather different as shown below for the $23 billion value of the non-card business in 2018.
The widely acclaimed and painstakingly detailed IDTechEx report "RFID Forecasts, Players, Opportunities 2008-2018"
gives all the information. For more, see
www.idtechex.com/forecasts or contact the author Dr. Peter
Harrop at p.harrop@idtechex.com or call +44 1256 862163.
Sybase iAnywhere Updates RFID and Sensor Computing Middleware
Sybase iAnywhere announces enhancements to RFID
Anywhere™, the company’s software infrastructure that provides a complete environment for developing, deploying,
and managing robust, highly-distributed RFID solutions.
With RFID Anywhere 3.5, Sybase iAnywhere further extends the Sybase Unwired Enterprise vision with flexible middleware
that integrates RFID and sensor technologies with business logic to enable the development, deployment, configuration, and
management of distributed intelligent sensor networks. The broad device support, developer productivity tools, flexible
architecture, and rich feature set of RFID Anywhere make it an ideal infrastructure upon which to build intelligent RFID and
sensor solutions.
“As a solution provider of RFID systems, the ability to rapidly implement diverse workflows and deliver innovative
applications is of critical importance,” says Mohinder Sikka, CEO, Sensitel. “RFID Anywhere simplifies prototyping
and development tasks while maintaining hardware flexibility. By building on RFID Anywhere, Sensitel is able to focus on solving
business problems at hand, meeting customer’s expectations and delivering the project on time, without getting bogged
down in technical complexities inherent in working with RFID and sensors.”
“RFID middleware plays an increasingly important role in providing the flexible foundation on which to create RFID
and sensor solutions,” says Robert Veitch, Senior Director Business Development, Sybase iAnywhere. “By providing
flexible device support and a rapid development environment on a solid architectural foundation, RFID Anywhere 3.5 improves
the chances of delivering successful RFID projects.“
RFID Anywhere 3.5 offers key enhancements in a number of areas:
Increased developer productivity through support for the latest tools, along with updates to the included templates
that guide development
- Custom business logic development through templates and coding using C# in Visual Studio 2005 & 2008
- Support for libraries, communication, and architecture of .NET 2.0 for custom business logic development
- Updated templates for event-driven business logic development, plus new templates for building pluggable, custom tag
encoding/decoding libraries
Enhanced mobility features with more robust support for occasionally connected devices
- Increased ability for developers to control the type and amount of data sent between mobile devices and servers, minimizing
the amount of data traffic while leveraging the unique on-device development capabilities of RFID Anywhere
Greater flexibility with newly expanded device support
- Passive RFID: Alien 9900, Intermec IF61, Omron v750, Sirit Infinity 510, Feig LRU1000, IPICO, Impinj Speedway
- Handheld RFID: Psion Teklogic Workabout Pro, Intermec 751, Sirit Infinity 210
- Forklift RFID: Intermec IV7
- Active RFID: ePlate, WaveTrend
- RTLS: RFind, Sky-Trax
Availability
RFID Anywhere 3.5 will be available in Q2 2008. An overview webcast will be held on Wednesday May 14th. To register,
visit: www.sybase.com/RFID35webcast. Additionally,
to join the very popular RFID Anywhere developer community and to download a free development copy of RFID Anywhere,
visit www.sybase.com/RFID.
American Apparel Deploys RFID Solution From
Motorola, Vue Technology, and Avery Dennison
Motorola, Inc. announces that
American Apparel, Inc., a company known for its vertically
integrated business model and "Made in Downtown LA" clothing, is furthering its cutting-edge brand reputation by
becoming one of the first retailers to roll out RFID at the item-level. American Apparel plans to implement its RFID inventory
system across each of its 17 stores in the New York metropolitan area over the next three months, with plans to eventually deploy
the solution to an additional 120 North American locations.
The integrated solution being delivered by Vue Technology is
comprised of TrueVUE hardware and software products, fixed and mobile RFID readers and antennas from Motorola's Enterprise
Mobility business, and tags and printers from Avery Dennison. The
solution enables American Apparel to track individual items as they are tagged at the company's manufacturing facility in Los Angeles,
received in its retail stores, stored in the stock rooms at the stores, and then placed onto the sales floor and ultimately sold at the
point-of-sale (POS).
The initial deployment of American Apparel's roll-out took place at the company's Columbia University location in New York City. To
date, over 40,000 individual pieces of merchandise have been tagged so that store personnel can use fixed and mobile RFID readers
to track inventory on a real-time basis, contributing to a well-stocked store, and improving customer service through timely responses
to customer questions regarding in-store merchandise.
By using an item-level RFID system, American Apparel is able to fulfill
its vision of consistently offering merchandise in every size and color on store floors at all times, creating a more rewarding customer
experience and simplifying the inventory process for in-store staff. Store associates can now take inventory much more quickly and with
greater accuracy. Replenishment activities have been dramatically improved resulting in on-floor availability at over 99%. Weekly
inventory processes can now be accomplished with just two people in two hours instead of requiring four people for eight hours as
previously needed. As a result, store associates have more time to service customers and improve store merchandising in order to
make sought out items easier to find.
"American Apparel takes pride in being a vertically-integrated manufacturer, distributor, and retailer of fashionable,
high-quality basics, and we embrace any technology that allows us to further realize this vision to better serve our
customers," says Zander Livingston, RFID Technology Director for American Apparel. "We look forward to deploying
the technology on a larger scale so that our entire organization can leverage the value of RFID to improve overall inventory
management processes and enhance our customers' shopping experience."
By deploying the technology in additional stores, American Apparel expects to increase sales and customer service by having
real-time visibility into product at nearby stores, enhancing the intra-store transfer process to balance stock. Furthermore, the
retailer will be able to respond more efficiently to market behavior by using RFID to record and report on purchases, not only
within one location, but across a region of stores.
American Apparel selected the technologies for the solution based on innovation, market leadership, and proven success to
work seamlessly together to achieve item-level visibility. Motorola MC9090-G RFID handheld readers are used for "cycle
counting" and Motorola XR440 fixed readers with AN480 antennas track stock moving from the backroom to the sales floor.
Vue's TrueVUE Site Manager, Enterprise Manager, Essentials, Essentials Mobile, Commissioning, and Exchange were all selected
to provide the enterprise-wide device and network management, desktop and mobile workflows, EPC commissioning, and
developer interfaces to RFID. Various VUEPoints, item-level antennas from Vue, were also used at receiving stations and for
Point-of-Sale. Finally, Avery Dennison AD-222 tags were chosen for their consistency and accuracy in tracking merchandise.
"We've noticed an increasing trend among retailers that are implementing RFID at the item-level, and American Apparel is a
prime example of a retailer on the forefront of this trend," says Dr. Bill Hardgrave, Professor of Information Systems and the
Executive Director of the Information Technology Research Institute at the University of Arkansas. "With RFID technology,
American Apparel will be able to improve the efficiency and accuracy of their supply chain, ultimately resulting in the right products
in the right place at the right time and an enhancement of the overall customer experience."
Sirit Readers and Reva TAP Appliances Deployed at METRO Group's Expanded RFID Roll-Out
Additional 200 Real hypermarket stores to be equipped with RFID infrastructure
Sirit Inc. and
Reva Systems announces that METRO Group is deploying Sirit's
INfinity 510 UHF RFID reader ("IN510") and Reva's TAP 331 appliance as part of the recently announced expanded
rollout at METRO Group's Real brand hypermarket stores. The 200 Real locations will be equipped with Checkpoint portals powered
by Sirit readers at the loading doors to track incoming goods. Reva's RFID network infrastructure will be installed at each location to
provide device management and data processing.
Sirit's IN510 readers will be used to track pallets and cases as they arrive at the stores to improve supply chain efficiency. Reva's
TAP 331 appliances will be used to manage the distributed network of RFID installations, to produce accurate data from each site,
and to provide rapid operator feedback during logistics operations. This 200-location rollout builds on last October's successful
implementation during which Sirit readers were deployed at 100 Real hypermarkets and Reva's TAP 331 appliances were installed
at all RFID-enabled facilities.
"We believe in providing exceptional customer service, and that starts with having the right items in the right places at the right
times," says Dr. Gerd Wolfram, Managing Director of MGI METRO Group Information Technology GmbH. "RFID is a powerful
tool for improved inventory management which will have a positive impact on customer experiences at our Real stores. Reva and Sirit
deliver the RFID infrastructure we can rely on today and in the future to build even more value for our customers and operations."
"METRO Group's decision to expand their RFID program to another 200 stores is a clear validation that today's technology
meets enterprise requirements and that the operational benefits are real," comments Frank Mild, Vice President of EMEA for
Reva Systems. "Reva's RFID network infrastructure provides the manageability, data accuracy, and ease of deployment that
Metro needs to move forward with RFID at this number of sites. The combination of Sirit's high performance readers and Reva's
scalable RFID platform creates value at these locations immediately which is extremely important to the Real management team."
METRO Group has been a pioneer in the use of RFID in the retail industry since 2004 when the company announced it would begin
using RFID throughout its supply chain to improve inventory visibility and to enhance the customer's shopping experience. Both
Sirit and Reva Systems have been involved in METRO Group's RFID activities from the outset having been involved in the Future
Store Initiative, several pilots and now the Real expanded roll-out.
"METRO Group is certainly an influential factor in the overall adoption of RFID technology and we are pleased to be a part of
their on-going expansion," states Tony Sabetti, Vice President, RF Solutions for Sirit. "The IN510 continues to exceed its
'best-in-class' reputation in terms of reliability and performance for all of our customers. We have shown that reader performance
does impact the speed and accuracy of data acquisition and ultimately the overall success of any RFID implementation. Both Sirit
and Reva are excited that our customers place great confidence in our products to deliver outstanding performance that leads to
improvement in their business processes and a positive return on investment."
"The use of RFID in retail supply chains continues to expand globally," says Michael Liard, Research Director for RFID
& Contactless at ABI Research. "METRO Group is leading European retail supply chain adoption efforts having
demonstrated a strong commitment to RFID technology. In addition, METRO Group's Real hypermarket program extension
highlights the need for reliable, scalable end-to-end partner-based solutions in complex supply chain environments."
