He’s Back!
“RFID is transitioning away from RFID solely,” says Tim Downs. “More
companies, especially international, are focused on technology that promises productivity and
optimizes assets. Companies want the total solution, and RFID can be a part of it.”
Tim Downs, Founder of Shorecliff Communications, ran the first RFID World event in 2002 in
Dallas, Texas. Since then, the show has taken place annually in various cities across the country,
becoming one of the largest RFID events each year.
Downs sold his company to CMP Media in January of 2006, where he continued to work until
July of 2007. Now, returns to CMP to work as a consultant, advising the business that now
owns RFID World, TechInsights on its
strategies to make RFID World and future endeavors succeed.
“RFID World’s strong points are its positioning, scope, and pricing,” says
Downs. “We want it to be a place where people from any industry can go to find out how
RFID can help to find solutions to their applications. RFID World can function as a place where
a wide range of managers from corporate industries, mid to top, can immerse themselves in all
that RFID technology has to offer.”
RFID World takes place this year, September 8-10, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the MGM Grand
Casino and Resort. Visit RFID World at
www.rfid-world.com.
Tracient Handheld Readers Provide
RFID Read/Write Capability in the Field
Tracient Technologies supplies its Explore—R HF and Padl-R HF handheld RFID readers to
Airfield, a Luxemburg-based systems integrator, for its field asset tracking solution. The solution
has been successfully trialed by Faynot, a French company who produces intelligent survey-markers
for land surveyors (“intelligent” in that they contain electronically readable/writeable
information).
Historically, asset identification for items in places such as vineyards, vegetable plots, water
distribution systems, building sites, and telecom networks has been done visually and the
recording of asset information has been manual. This process has weaknesses in terms of speed
and accuracy.
Operators need to accurately identify assets so that the required business process (for example:
vine pruning/spraying or pipe maintenance/removal) can take place. This is not always easy when
the asset’s identity details have been scratched, worn off, or obscured by mud.
Another challenge is accelerating the process of recording asset identification information against
the customer’s asset register. The manual process is time-consuming and creates an
unacceptable risk of data entry error, especially through operators selecting incorrect asset records
in the database/handheld application.
Thirdly, and most importantly in this instance, operators need to be able to write information back to
the asset. For example: time of visit, operator’s ID, and nature of work carried out.
Arnaud Bellaire, Airfield’s Director of RFID says: “It is important for any business
operating assets in the field to be able to accurately identify of each piece of equipment, regardless
of its location. Identification errors can lead to unnecessary expense resulting from incorrect/missed
servicing, mistaken replacement, incorrect application of chemicals, etc. It is also desirable to have
the asset information stored on the asset so that any authorized visitor to the site can access and
create up-to-date asset information, without real-time access to their enterprise database.”
Options that Airfield considered for their solution included barcodes and handheld computers with
built-in RFID. Barcoding was dropped due to dust and dirt covering the barcodes and making the
labels unreadable. The built-in RFID handheld computer option was dropped because Airfield
wants their customers to be able to make use of their existing PDAs and mobile phones. Also they
know operators prefer not to have to carry a heavy, bulky device around with them for long periods
of time. Airfield chose RFID for their solution because it presents a highly automated and efficient
way of identifying assets in the field and recording asset information on site.
Airfield needed a user-friendly handheld reader that could read/write tags. Arnaud Bellaire says
he chose Tracient’s Padl-R HF and Explore-R HF readers for their lightweight, compact
form factor. “Bluetooth connectivity to a wide range of handheld devices was also
important,” he says, “as we want customers to be able to leverage off their existing
investments in handheld devices.”
How does the solution work? Airfield places ISO 14443A tags in “i-bornes,” which
are resin moulds dug into the ground. The tags contain a unique number linked to the
customer’s asset record in their enterprise database. The tags also have up to 4K bytes
memory space so that data can be recorded directly onto the i-borne. Upon finding the i-borne
the operator scans the tag using either an Explore-R HF or a Padl-R HF reader. The tag
information is then transferred to the operator’s smart phone via Bluetooth. The smart
phone holds the customer’s database and matches the tag ID with the asset. The
operator can then write information such as time/date of visit, operator’s ID, status of
asset, GPS location, and other business related information into the keyboard or touch screen
of their smart phone and transfer it back to the tag using the “write” function in
the RFID reader. Airfield’s software, written for the smart phone, offers a simple interface
for collecting data from the i-borne and writing data back into the tag’s memory on
the i-borne.
Airfield has found the tags in the i-bornes can be read quickly with 100% accuracy. Therefore
asset identification is 100% accurate as is the transfer of information. Most importantly, the
operator is able to update the information on the tag, thereby ensuring real-time asset
information is available to whoever is in the field. According to feedback, Faynot believes that
Tracient’s RFID readers are easy to understand and use, and the lightweight form factor
is appreciated by operators having to carry the device for long periods of time.
More details about Tracient’s readers and the solution can be found at
www.tracient.com.
Wrigley Deploys New Flavor of RFID Solution
with AeroScout and Cisco Technology
AeroScout, Inc. announces that The Wrigley
Company has implemented its real-time enterprise visibility solution at its largest production facility
in Europe, located in Poznan, Poland.
The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company is a recognized leader in confections with a wide range of product
offerings including gum, mints, hard and chewy candies, lollipops, and chocolate. The Company
has global sales of $5.4 billion and distributes its world-famous brands in more than 180 countries.
It is a recognized leader in confections and the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of chewing
gum with production facilities in 14 countries around the world. Wrigley is using AeroScout’s
technology and a Cisco Unified Wireless Network to track the location of pallets in real time, optimizing
the efficiency of the production process by reducing losses in time and material. The installation was
deployed in Poland by AeroScout in collaboration with Megabit.
“The AeroScout solution will significantly increase the productivity of our facility in Poznan
and because we were able to use our existing Cisco network, the installation was very
straightforward,” says Jacek Mackowiak, Factory Director at Wrigley in Poznan. “The
solution provides benefits, which cut production time and thus increase effectiveness. All of this
equates to improved product quality management.”
“This is a great example of AeroScout’s solutions being used to track work in process,
which we do in many different manufacturing segments,” says Andris Berzins, Managing
Director, EMEA, AeroScout. “The Wrigley installation is representative of the value our
manufacturing customers are achieving both in Europe and worldwide. Real-time visibility is evolving
beyond just location to include a variety of sensor and status data, all of which enables manufacturers
to optimize the efficiency of their operations.”
“Combining Cisco’s Unified Wireless Network and Wireless Location technology
with AeroScout’s active RFID devices and MobileView software demonstrates how applications
can converge seamlessly over the IP network to manage data as information, in real time, for the
benefit of the business,” says Carlos Rojas, Director of Manufacturing Business Solutions in
Emerging Markets for Cisco.
“Managing work-in-process inventory drives greater productivity and that makes supply
chains more predictable for customers who want to create and sustain competitive differentiation
in their respective markets,” adds Rojas. “We call this business solution the Connected
Supply Chain and customers around the world are replicating the success of Wrigley in their
own operations.”
Zebra Technologies Selected by Wilson Sporting Goods
to Implement Its RFID Compliance Labeling Project
Zebra Technologies announces that
Amer Sports selected Zebra’s EPC
Gen 2 labeling system for its RFID compliance labeling project for shipments of its Wilson Sporting
Goods brand. Zebra’s best-of-breed RFID printer/encoders help manufacturers and distributors
comply with UHF Gen 2 mandates while providing superior track and trace capabilities for total asset
visibility throughout the supply chain.
When Wilson Sporting Goods, the world's leading manufacturer of ball sports equipment, needed to
implement an RFID compliance system, Ed Matthews, Director of Information Technology for Wilson
turned to Zebra Technologies, a proven solution provider. “I had worked with Zebra before and
knew their equipment was very reliable,” says Matthews. “So, we moved right past that
concern and got down to the project details.”
The team at Wilson installed four Zebra R110Xi printer/encoders to label shipments that require RFID
compliance tagging. “The R110Xi is ideally suited for use in harsh shipping environments due
to its unprecedented level of reliability, flexibility, and ruggedness,” says Steve Park, Zebra
Vice President and General Manager for RFID. “Additionally, organizations looking for
high-volume labeling will benefit from some of its unique features such as flexible inlay placement,
automatic calibration, multiple power levels, and easier RFID programming.”
The Zebra R110Xi is XML-enabled, so it allows for seamless integration into existing enterprise
systems. At Wilson, the R110Xi printer/encoders interface directly with applications running on an
SAP Auto ID Infrastructure (AII) via an IBM AS/400 host to receive the order information necessary
to produce the shipping labels. Wilson was able to create XML smart label formats and load them
onto the R110Xi printer/encoders. The AS/400 applications push the deliveries to SAP AII and then
SAP AII pushes XML to printer/encoders, which process the information and create the smart label.
Each label includes human-readable text, a barcode, and an EPC number encoded in a Gen 2 tag. The
labels are hand-applied to the cases and pallets, which are then routed past fixed-position RFID
readers to capture the shipment information.
Another challenge for Wilson was that the company was undergoing a major change of their systems
to SAP’s enterprise resource planning system. Because the compliance system had to be
running before the SAP migration would be complete, Wilson chose to run its RFID labeling system
independent of SAP with plans to migrate to the new infrastructure upon its completion. Since the
Zebra R110Xi printer/encoders support AII and have exclusive features that allow them to connect
directly to SAP systems, Wilson will be able to integrate the printer/encoders to the SAP system
following the upgrade.
When the new SAP system is complete, Wilson plans to integrate RFID data further into its
operations so that it can encode additional information into its shipping labels, such as ship-to
address, SKU number, and item quantity. “As the system grows and we make additional
use of the RFID data that is captured, we plan to install more Zebra printer/encoders at other
facilities,” says Matthews. “We’ve had a good relationship with Zebra and
excellent support, so I am confident that the products will be seamlessly integrated into any future
RFID protocols we implement.”
UPM Raflatac Tags Used Large European UHF RFID Deployment at Vehicle Logistics Company Assistor
UPM Raflatac is supplying UHF EPC Gen 2
tags to car logistics company Assistor for use in a
new real-time vehicle logistics management solution. The RFID technology contributes to the efficient
handling of vehicles in demanding environments, namely large harbors and warehouses. The complete
solution has been developed by Digia.
The system utilizes cost-effective, passive RFID technology to identify vehicles quickly and reliably.
When unloaded from ships, vehicles are equipped with UPM Raflatac’s UHF Gen 2 DogBone
RFID tags. An exact warehouse location is assigned to each vehicle so that they are easily located with
a handheld RFID reader. A total of 250 readers are used by the system. Each RFID tag carries information
about all actions related to the vehicle during storage and production.
Assistor will deliver around 370,000 vehicles to Finland, the Baltic countries, and Russia this year.
“Maximal use of the real-time data from our processes gives us a competitive advantage.
Furthermore, managing large vehicle warehouses and correctly locating vehicles has until now
presented a major challenge,” explains Tom Suvanto, Deputy Managing Director at Assistor.
UHF RFID tagging provides a reliable way to enhance the effectiveness of vehicle logistics.
“UPM Raflatac’s UHF Gen 2 DogBone RFID tags are designed to function even in
the challenging weather conditions that vehicles might face during transportation,” says Mikko
Nikkanen, RFID Business Development Director at UPM Raflatac. “Vehicles may be covered
with snow or encounter heavy rain, for instance, both being conditions in which barcode technology no
longer works.”
“Having concluded that the RFID technology was sound, making the decision to abandon the
old barcode technology was easy,” Suvanto says.
