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News Archive |
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Monday, 26 April 2010
RFID Journal: American drivers love to pamper their cars, but they don't like waiting in line at the car wash. Innovative Concepts Systems, a company that develops car-care technologies, has introduced an RFID-based automatic payment system designed to help streamline drivers' visits to the car wash and improve customer satisfaction. This system can also be used as part of a customer-loyalty program.
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Friday, 27 March 2009
More RFID: Integrated Technology Group, a division of Vernon Library Supplies Inc., in partnership with SirsiDynix, has expanded its client base to include its first major Canadian library system, the Hamilton Public Library in Ontario. By the end of 2009, Hamilton Public Library is scheduled to install a mix of RFID technology applications in 19 of its 23 branches, as well as in the technical services department. The installations will include ITG's Apex XpressCheck patron self-service kiosks and Apex FlexCheck staff stations.
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Friday, 16 January 2009
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Bibliotheca Inc., a provider of open RFID solutions for libraries, has announced that it will provide the Meridian Library District in Meridian, Idaho, with a range of BiblioChip Hybrid RFID solutions that work with both the electromagnetic strips and RFID tags used by the library and the consortium of which it is a member. The Meridian library will use Bibliotheca products in its new Silver Stone branch to provide visually attractive self-service stations for use by patrons, to enhance productivity for library staff and to set the stage for the library's transition from EM to RFID.
"Even in a slowing economy, we remain committed to expanding library services to our community," said Patricia Younger, Meridian library director. "That's exactly why we are opening our new Silver Stone branch, a modern library environment with sleek, patron-friendly self-service stations that will bring more people from our community into the library."
The library purchased three Bibliotheca BiblioChip Hybrid self-check stations that make it easy for patrons to take advantage of the library's resources, while maximizing library staff members' efficiency in serving them. Compelling features of the BiblioChip Hybrid self-check stations include:
• Simultaneous support for both EM strips/barcodes and RFID tags
• Open, non-proprietary technology that interoperates with other RFID solutions
• Easy-to-use, intuitive user interface for both patrons and staff
• Functionality for check-out, check-in, fine payments, etc.
• Integration with the library's ILS software, SirsiDynix's Horizon, for optimal staff efficiency
• Sleek, European-inspired design with a 21st-century look and feel
Other BiblioChip RFID solutions include BiblioStaff Stations; BiblioGate Hybrid security gates with triple antennas for industry-leading 3D read rates of EM strips and RFID tags; 3 handheld BiblioWand Lite inventory wands for on-site inventory control and fast location of misplaced and reserved media; 15,000 book labels and 5,000 CD ring labels. Future expansion will include adding more BiblioChip book and CD ring labels as well as a 24x7 BiblioReturn kiosk and 3-bin automated sorter system.
"Bibliotheca is fortunate to work with library leaders all over the world," added Lamar Jackson, president and chief executive of Bibliotheca Inc. "Meridian library is showing other libraries in its neck of the woods how to make the most of RFID investments, and we're pleased to be their strategic partner in this exciting future."
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
DAYTON, Ohio — NCR Corporation and Toronto-based Autologic Innovations have partnered to offer the automotive dealership industry in Canada an innovative self-service solution to provide easier and faster tracking of vehicle inventory and free up more time for customer service.
The new self-service tool provides dealerships with on-demand vehicle location and status — whether for inventory management or for customer test driving — and helps them improve operational efficiency while simplifying the customer test-drive process.
Autologic Innovations is an independent software developer and integrator of turnkey, real-time vehicle inventory management solutions. The company's Track-A-Lot software application integrates RFID, Wi-Fi and other wired/wireless technology, and the Internet. The latest enhancement to its Track-A-Lot system leverages the NCR EasyPoint Advantage kiosk.
All vehicles on a dealership lot are equipped with semi-active RFID tags. Staffers then use the NCR kiosk to read, record and track the tags associated with each vehicle. This allows dealers to not only improve vehicle monitoring and inventory management, but also enhance their theft prevention processes and eliminate the need to have staff manually count vehicles located in on- and off-site lots.
When a customer wishes to take a test drive, the salesperson simply waves the vehicle key fob (which contains the vehicle information number) at an RFID reader on the NCR kiosk, and the information is recorded in the Track-A-Lot system. The employee then uses the kiosk touchscreen to input the customer's name and driver's license number to complete the transaction.
"Automating this process through self-service can help dealerships transform their business — improving staff efficiency and reducing paper as employees no longer need to make a hard copy record of each driver's license prior to the test drive," said Paul Gautier, national director of Retail Channels for NCR in Canada. "More importantly, employees spend less time searching for vehicles and more time with customers, which can ultimately help increase sales."
Friday, 03 October 2008
PC World: This week, California became the second state to pass a law making it illegal to steal data from radio frequency identification cards. The law sets a penalty that includes a maximum fine of U.S. $1,500 and up to a year in prison for someone convicted of surreptitiously reading information from an RFID card. RFID chips, used in a growing variety of applications worldwide, store small amounts of information that a nearby device can read. Among other things, the chips can be used to store customer data on a credit card or allow authorized people to open locked office doors or car doors in "keyless" entry systems.
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Monday, 08 September 2008
RFID Journal: Summertime and air travel is anything but easy. Instead, it's more likely to be marked by numerous delays and queues at airports — that is, unless you're heading to Portugal with an electronic passport in hand. The country is leveraging the use of e-passports, which have embedded RFID chips, to speed travelers through border-control lines.
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Thursday, 04 September 2008
SAN FERNANDO, Calif. — Precision Dynamics Corp., provider of automated wristband identification, and FreedomPay, provider of payment management solutions, have partnered to offer multipurpose cashless solutions to waterparks, hotels and resorts using RFID technology.
According to a news release, as part of the joint venture, FreedomPay will power patrons' stored-value accounts, which will be linked to PDC's Smart Band RFID wristband system.
"PDC is happy to be partnering with such a highly-regarded company in the payments management industry," says Doug Bourque, market manager of leisure and entertainment for PDC. "Being able to provide owners with a more secure, turnkey economical cashless solution from FreedomPay, coupled with PDC's cutting-edge Smart Band RFID system, will help owners build positive relationships with their guests that will translate into recurring business and greatly benefit their bottom line."
PDC says it is the first company to introduce its patented Smart Band RFID wristband system, which is now used at waterparks and resorts for automated admissions, guest identification, cashless point-of-sale, keyless entry and other applications.
Friday, 20 June 2008
Centre Daily Times: Crandall Public Library's expansion project will offer patrons more than additional space. The expanded library will include radio frequency identification (RFID) technology from Polaris and Integrated Technology Group, a division of Vernon Library Supplies Inc. The new RFID system, which is designed to improve customer service for patrons and increase the amount of time staff members spend assisting patrons, also will include the deployment of self-service kiosks.
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Tuesday, 27 May 2008
MoreRFID: Intellident, a U.K.-based company, has announced the launch of the new smartServe kiosk, a library self-service device. smartServe offers patrons the ability to issue, renew and return items, check account status and even pay fees.
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Friday, 11 April 2008
RFID Journal: Food retail research and consulting company Food Information Service Europe is in discussion with retailers in the Netherlands and Belgium to deploy prefabricated automated stores that sell high-end food or other items to customers. The prefab stores incorporate self-locking doors, RFID technology and cameras, so that no staff is required. The concept, known as Food Store 24, was inspired by a similar system employed at the Laxomat self-service convenience stores operated by Laxbutiken, a Swedish restaurant operator specializing in salmon.
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Thursday, 03 April 2008
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A preliminary analysis of the effect of radio frequency identification on retail-inventory accuracy demonstrated that an automated, RFID-enabled inventory system improved accuracy by about 13 percent in test stores compared to control stores. The investigation, conducted by researchers in the RFID Research Center, a research unit of the Information Technology Research Institute in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, also revealed that manual inventory adjustments by store personnel significantly declined in test stores due to the automated, RFID-based system.
"Inventory accuracy is one of the keys to an efficient and effective supply chain," said Bill Hardgrave, director of the research center and principal investigator. "Yet, inventory accuracy, which determines important processes such as ordering and replenishment, is often poor, with inaccuracy rates sometimes as high as 65 percent. Our results suggest that RFID technology makes a difference. The 13-percent improvement found in this study can significantly reduce unnecessary inventory, and the value of this reduction for a company like Wal-Mart, with all of its suppliers, can be measured in millions of dollars."
Inventory accuracy is a chronic problem in the retail industry. Retailers focus on what they call "perpetual inventory," a name to describe an estimate of inventory, based on various systems and methods of tracking items. As Hardgrave mentioned, previous research has demonstrated huge gaps between perpetual inventory — what managers think is on hand — versus the actual number of items in a store, either on shelves or in a stock room. Studies have found that retailers generally have accurate inventory information on only 35 percent of their items.
Perpetual inventory can be understated or overstated. Understated, sometimes called hidden inventory, means that perpetual inventory shows fewer items than what are actually in the store. Conversely, overstated, also known as phantom inventory, describes a store in which perpetual inventory shows more inventory than items on hand.
Incorrect manual adjustments by personnel, stolen products, damaged or spoiled products not recorded as such, returned products not properly accounted for, incorrect shipments from distribution centers and cashier error are the six major causes of inventory inaccuracy, which can lead to out-of-stock items or excess inventory. Because of inventory inaccuracy, systems may order unnecessary product or fail to order product that is needed. Hardgrave emphasized that the net result of inventory inaccuracy, as reported in other research, is an estimated 10 percent reduction in profit.
Focusing only on understated inaccuracies, the Arkansas study involved 16 Wal-Mart stores — eight test stores and a matching set of eight control stores. Test stores were selected from the existing set of approximately 1,000 RFID-enabled Wal-Mart stores. Control stores were then chosen based on a set of criteria used to determine a comparable profile, including demographics, size of stores measured by square feet, annual sales and the absence of known impacts such as annual inventories, remodeling or resets, market trials and other known disruptions. The research sample contained a mixture of Supercenter and Neighborhood Market stores.
For 23 weeks — from May through October 2007 — a national inventory auditing group hand-counted all individual items in the air freshener category in all 16 stores. A single category was chosen to provide the opportunity to tag all cases in that category. The daily inventory of a particular store started at approximately the same time each day, and the auditors followed the same counting pattern — starting at bottom left and working to the right and then up. Stores were counted between the hours of 4 and 8 p.m.
Test stores were equipped with RFID readers/antennas at various backroom locations — receiving doors, sales floor doors and box crusher. Control stores had no RFID technology. Test stores were provided with a perpetual-inventory adjustment system, dubbed "auto PI," that automatically adjusted understated inventory. Other than the auto-PI system in the test stores, which worked automatically without human intervention, no additional manipulations were introduced, meaning both sets of stores operated business as usual, and store personnel were instructed to carry out their jobs in the same way they would in normal situations.
RFID, via the auto-PI system, served as a supplement to the existing process of adjusting inventory so that results of the study would demonstrate how effective RFID is beyond existing processes. Control store personnel did not modify or stop their manual adjustments. Finally, to establish a baseline for perpetual-inventory accuracy, inventory was counted for 10 weeks before auto-PI system was turned on.
Data revealed that the percentage of understated items off by more than two units fell by 13 percent in the test stores compared to control stores. Furthermore, the RFID-enabled auto-PI system doubled the number of inventory adjustments, suggesting that only half of all manual adjustments are caught in a given retail store. Hardgrave emphasized that increasing the number of manual adjustments to equal those captured automatically by the system would accordingly increase labor dedicated to this task and thus distract workers from stocking shelves or assisting customers.
"Instead, as demonstrated in our study," he said, "perpetual-inventory accuracy was improved with no additional labor."
Tuesday, 01 April 2008
EXTON, Pa. — Scala, a provider of end-to-end solutions for the digital signage market, has announced DDS Poland, a Scala Certified Partner, has won the prestigious POPAI Bronze Statue Award for its implementation of their Beeblue Bluetooth-activated kiosk for Samsung.
DDS Poland’s award entry was a self-service kiosk for Samsung. The kiosk employs the BeeBlue Integrated Bluetooth Marketing Solution for Bluetooth proximity, creating a 100 meter hot spot for Class 2.0 Bluetooth devices. Driven by Scala InfoChannel, the kiosk displays two channels of brand advertising and interactive product information. The kiosk presents two screens, a 22-inch LCD displaying brand advertising and product information, the lower screen is an interactive 17-inch or 19-inch LCD screen allowing customers to interact with the kiosk. The kiosk features directional sound systems or headphones, distance sensors and RFID sensors. The kiosk provides customers with music, videos, wallpaper images, coupons and promotions all ready for download directly from the kiosk.
Samsung’s goal was to show the features of their new mobile handsets. Interested customers are attracted to the kiosk with the promise of free content, using DDS’s Beeblue Bluetooth proximity solution, while learning more about Samsung’s products and services. Kiosks are deployed in mobile phone stores and other locations where the public would be likely to be attracted.
The first kiosks were deployed in December 2007 and Samsung has 12 kiosks in service while they prepare for their next deployment.
Monday, 17 March 2008
HICKORY, N.C. — Freedom Shopping Inc., a consumer RFID solution provider, has announced the availability of a retail offering that plugs into existing cash registers and point-of-sale terminals to enable RFID check-out, inventory tracking and security.
The core of the solution is a software wedge (Freedom-ID) that operates on the POS terminal. It communicates with a counter-top RFID reader pad and/or other readers in the check-out lane. Inventory is monitored with mobile RFID readers; security gates also are RFID-enabled. Data is passed to existing cash registers and POS infrastructure at all points in a SKU format so it can be instantly integrated. Consumer privacy is protected using a variety of technical safeguards.
“This is a real breakthrough and should enable RFID’s adoption at the point-of-sale to occur rapidly,” said Rob Simmons, CEO of Freedom Shopping. “This fundamentally changes the way stores will operate — sales increase, labor costs decrease and ‘intelligent security’ reduces shrinkage We have been operating in stores for 3 years and know firsthand there is significant ROI for retailers. However, the biggest surprise is how much shoppers love it — it is the ideal check-out experience.”
The Freedom-ID solution was featured at Microsoft’s RFID Solution Days, an invitation-only conference for key personnel deploying RFID and related technology suppliers, held February 17th and 18th in Bellevue, Wash. Freedom-ID has integrated with Microsoft’s BizTalk RFID platform for data visibility and device management.
Freedom Shopping’s item-level RFID stores and OEM products use UHF (Ultra High Frequency) EPC Gen 2 technology and tags.
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
RFID Journal: The city of Paris, France, has announced plans to implement RFID at 42 of its library branches, using a solution from 3M Library Systems. The libraries intend to use RFID to better manage circulation and inventory, as well as to improve security. Also, at those branches with larger numbers of patrons, the city plans to implement RFID-enabled self-service checkout and return facilities to free up staff. The agreement, according to 3M, calls for the company to provide at least 3 million RFID tags, as well as kiosks, interrogators, detection gates and self-checkout systems that allow customers to check out and return items, and in some cases pay fees and fines, without staff assistance.
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Thursday, 31 January 2008
PADERBORN, Germany — It’s one of the Holy Grails of retail: A shopper fills her cart with groceries, sidles up to a check-out counter, and virtually instantly, without a single item being taken out back out of the cart, the items are itemized and totaled.
RFID technology is currently the best technological bet to make that happen. But exactly when is a matter of no small contention.
Even on the floor of Wincor World, the annual trade fair sponsored by Wincor Nixdorf, there is gaping chasm between the optimism of some, who put the advent at about 10 years, and the belief of at least one Wincor executive, who in essence says not in our lifetime.
Score one for the optimists. Maybe. Wincor Nixdorf in partnership with IT component manufacturer Wanzel has developed a prototype grocery cart called the RFID-Tango.
According to spokesman Rainer Eckert, the cart and its software platform clear at least one of the major barriers.
The problem solved by the RFID-Tango is called bulk-reading. RFID chips broadcast their signal a thousand times a second. One reader attempting to comprehend can get confused trying to separate the various voices. Imagine trying to listen to a dozen voices at once. The bulk-reading solution developed by Wanzel manages to tell voices to “shut up” when it has finished reading them—up to a 100 items in one cart—and reexamines the set of signals constantly to listen for additional items or to detect whether any items have been removed from the cart.
Eckert admits the remaining challenges are not insignificant.
First, as has been discussed ad nauseum in stories about RFID adoption, the price of RFID transmitters must come down. Currently, chips are under four cents each, with a 24-bit chip. The goal is to get them under two cents, which would make the technology less costly than barcode printing, which costs about two cents per package, owing to the exacting standards of bar width and readability. In addition, current transmitters are metal-based, which limits the recyclability of the package. The goal is to make them polymer-based. Then, not only will the transmitters be recyclable, they can be imprinted onto the package as part of the offset printing process.
Second, retailers and RFID component manufacturers must agree on standards such as naming conventions and broadcast guidelines, as well as develop and roll-out a mammoth data transmission and storage infrastructure.
In about a decade, Eckert believes those problems will be solved, similar to the solutions that evolved to implement barcode scanning. But whether it 10 years or 15 or five, he’s confident it will be in this century.
Friday, 18 January 2008
RFID Journal: Portuguese book retailer Byblos has deployed an item-level RFID system in its new Lisbon store, Byblos Amoreiras, to track 250,000 books, games and videos. Byblos opened the 50,000-square-foot store with the best technology available to enhance customer experience. The store's system includes 40 RFID-enabled kiosks where customers can learn about books and print out their sales-floor location.
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Monday, 19 November 2007
StorefrontBacktalk: As EPCGlobal is still finalizing its High-Frequency Gen2 RFID tag protocol standard, a source working with the group says they are seeing speeds of 600 reads/minute, compared with 100 reads/minute for today's HF tags and about 250 reads/minute for today's Ultra High Frequency tags. "That's huge," said Drew Nathanson, an RFID analyst for the Venture Development Corp.
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Wednesday, 05 September 2007
SignonSanDiego.com: Patrons at Oceanside's Civic Center public library could be checking out their own books · using self-service machines · in February. The library has the $120,000 needed to buy five machines and 29,000 RFID tags that make the self-checkout system work, but it needs $80,000 for 215,000 more tags.
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Saturday, 25 August 2007
The Detroit (Mich.) Free Press: Within a few minutes, Howell (Mich.) High School junior Liana Grimes bought a fresh deli sandwich for lunch in a new store concept inside the school that lets students serve themselves. Grimes selected food from an open cooler along the wall of the store. Each item is tagged with radio frequency identification, and self-service check-out kiosks read the tags and accept payments, eliminating the need for cashiers.
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Thursday, 12 July 2007
RFID Journal: Gedenim, a French clothing retail chain specializing in jeans, is using RFID loyalty cards in and effort to attract young shoppers to its stores. The system went live in 10 of its 15 Paris-area stores in May 2007. Airtag, a contactless solutions supplier located in France, provided the loyalty card system. Gedenim intends to continue deploying the system in all 15 of its stores over the next 12 months.
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Thursday, 28 June 2007
UsingRFID.com: According to a survey from the Computing Technology Industry Association, technology resellers and solution providers are poised to add RFID solutions to their portfolios, but their customers have been slow to embrace the technology. The survey found that 84 percent of technology resellers, solution providers, systems integrators and consultants will or may offer RFID products and solutions in the next three years.
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Tuesday, 26 June 2007
IT Week: Almost one in five U.K. public libraries has implemented RFID technology to improve services. The technology is being used in 35 of the county's 73 sites. Proponents say RFID adoption has increased while costs have declined.
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Tuesday, 29 May 2007
RFID Update: Research firm In-Stat has released the 2007 update to its annual report about Wi-Fi-based real-time location systems. One of the key findings from the research is that Wi-Fi RTLS tag shipments hit 135,000 last year. That figure represents an explosion of demand over 2005, when tag shipments reached only 20,000.
Thursday, 24 May 2007
MARKHAM, Ontario·Artisan Complete Group was awarded best product display at the 2007 Canadian Marketing Association Convention.
Among the display were digital-screen integrated initiatives from Artisan Live, the digital signage specialist within Artisan Complete, and an RFID-enabled kiosk that allows shoppers to interact with both merchandised products and custom content on a touchscreen interface.
"For more than 30 years, Artisan has worked with brands, retailers and agencies to provide retail communications solutions that help them display and promote products to consumers. It stands to reason that we should be able to do the same for our products and services," said Kris Matheson, vice president of marketing.
Thursday, 17 May 2007
RFID Journal: City Pizza in West Palm Beach, Fla., is letting patrons take ordering into their own hands. Using an RFID-enabled card at a self-service kiosk, users pay for their pizzas with credit cards, and the technology allows the restaurant to monitor orders by requiring employees to log into the POS system using RFID-enabled wristbands. The system, installed a month ago, has reduced internal theft and allowed customers to leave whenever they choose.
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Wednesday, 16 May 2007
RFID Update: Frost & Sullivan released new research about the North American RFID market. The research is part of iFrost & Sullivan's Automatic Identification & Security Growth Partnership Service. Frost found that the passive RFID tag market in North America generated $124.6 million last year. That revenue is expected to hit $486.6 million by 2013, representing a compounded annual growth rate of about 21.5 percent.
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Thursday, 10 May 2007
Gizmag.com: Retail-tracking-solutions provider Paxar has developed a consumer-facing RFID solution called the magicmirror. When a customer or sales associate brings an RFID-tagged piece of clothing in front of a mirror, a brand message, garment description, item size and color availability are immediately displayed. A mix-and-match guide also offers suggestions for accessorizing.
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Tuesday, 01 May 2007
Computerworld.com: Organizations that use RFID devices should systematically evaluate potential security and privacy risks posed by the technology, U.S. government officials say in a new report detailing best practices for retailers, manufacturers, hospitals and federal agencies.
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Tuesday, 24 April 2007
Heartland.org: Controversy over the use of RFID continues to grow as New Hampshire has reintroduced legislation to regulate the use of RFID chips in consumer products and entirely ban their use in government documents such as driver's licenses. The New Hampshire bill, H.B. 686, would require retailers to label any products, such as food, apparel or appliances, that contain RFID chips.
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Friday, 20 April 2007
Rfidjournal.com: Touch Automation is using RFID technology in CD- and DVD-rental kiosks. The company has deployed at least 1,000 kiosks, located mainly in grocery stores.
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Friday, 20 April 2007
Vnunet.com: A next-generation parking program, located in Milton Keynes, England, will include RFID-enabled smart cards and mobile-phone-based cashless ticketing. By the end of the year, eligible residents will be issued smart cards that store driver information and details about parking.
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Thursday, 19 April 2007
Rfidjournal.com: At La Finca Reebok Sports Club in Madrid, Spain, members use RFID to gain entry to the club, gain to access facilities, and pay for goods and services. All members now carry a card, bracelet or watch with a passive RFID tag.
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Wednesday, 18 April 2007
Rfidjournal.com: Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, a group of three hospitals in eastern Pennsylvania, is gearing up to track surgical patients with an ultra-wideband RFID system. The hospital network hopes the technology improves communication among staff and patients' families and friends, ultimately providing better and more efficient care.
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Wednesday, 18 April 2007
Rfidjournal.com: Hung Cao, a graduate research assistant at the University of Texas at Arlington's department of electrical engineering, and his team of UTA colleagues have designed and built a device that monitors the carbon dioxide a child exhales. If the infant stops breathing, the device transmits an alert via RFID within seconds. For hospitals and nurses, the system could provide a way to monitor a baby's breathing around the clock, thereby helping fight sudden infant death syndrome.
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Tuesday, 17 April 2007
Sda-asia.com: As the mad scramble for the 2008 Beijing Olympics tickets begins, organizers have announced that high tech methods will be employed to tighten security and fight fraud. According to reports, each of the seven million tickets available for sale will be embedded with a RFID memory chip to help combat pirated tickets. China is expecting 800,000 visitors during the 17-day event.
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Monday, 16 April 2007
DALLAS · AXCESS International Inc., a provider of dual-active RFID and real-time location systems solutions, announced that three civilian U.S. government agencies are installing its patented ActiveTag wireless RFID system for locating, tracking and protecting laptop computer assets and critical documents. AXCESS' RFID solution is designed to prevent such thefts by working automatically to identify, locate and track assets as they move around a facility.
AXCESS' ActiveTag system provides a solution to agencies reportedly losing personally identifiable information that works in concert with standard security alarm equipment, to identify authorized personnel and provide instant message alerts when unauthorized individuals attempt to remove tagged laptops or other assets.
The technology, which manages assets with no manual human involvement, can identify a laptop by using a small battery-powered property tag attached to the computer, often with an optional anti-tamper circuit that serves as a fail safe measure.
U.S. Congress is considering five bills that require safeguards and prompt notification of potential victims of identity theft.
AXCESS' ActiveTag RFID/RTLS and sensing systems use small, re-usable battery-powered tags that when automatically activated, transmit a wireless message typically 30 to 100 feet to hidden palm-size receivers. The receivers are connected via standard network simultaneously to the enterprise system software, the existing security alarm equipment, and stand-alone middleware and enduser software provided by AXCESS under the Online Supervisor label. Tags last five years or longer.
Friday, 13 April 2007
Theonlinerocket.com: RFID cards will replace Slippery Rock University's current ID cards used by all students, faculty and staff beginning in the fall, SRU President Robert Smith announced Thursday during the State of the University Address. SRU is the first institution in North America to use these RFID cards.
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Friday, 13 April 2007
RFIDupdate.com: British newspaper The Telegraph reports that Manchester Airport, one of the United Kingdom's largest, has just wrapped a six-month passenger tracking trial. The airport used RFID tags to track 50,000 passenger volunteers as they moved throughout the facility with the goal of measuring and improving the efficiency of airport operations.
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Thursday, 12 April 2007
Secureidnews.com: The Texas-based Prova Group's business model is to use RFID technology to be a third-party authenticator of the genuineness of sports collectibles. The Prova system works by having a tamper-proof RFID tag applied directly on the surface of the collectible to be autographed by an athlete. The Prova system records the exact time of the signature to the second, when the item is placed within 12 inches of an antenna set up near the athlete's hand. The autographer's secure identification code is written to the tag, recording who signed as well as when and where the signature occurred. The data for this unique item is recorded in Prova's online registry.
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Monday, 09 April 2007
Btnmag.com: The Transportation Security Administration released a request for information as its first step in exploring an end-to-end system for tracking passengers. Among technologies TSA plans to explore are biometrics, smart cards, documentation scanners, integrated portals, kiosks, and such other tracking technologies as RFID and video surveillance.
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Monday, 09 April 2007
Computerworld.com: The California State Senate is expected to vote as early as this week on several bills that would regulate the use of RFID technology in government documents. Two of the bills would impose a three-year moratorium on the use of RFID technology in California driver's licenses and public-school ID cards, while a third would create interim privacy safeguards for existing RFID-enabled government IDs, such as those that students use in the state college system. A fourth bill would make it a crime to "skim,"� or surreptitiously read, data from an RFID document.
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Monday, 09 April 2007
Theregister.co.uk: A group of Dutch researchers at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam is building RFID Guardian, a personal RFID firewall to allow individuals to monitor and control access to RFID tags. RFID Guardian is intended to be a portable, battery-operated device that will tell users when new RFID tags appear, when they're being read, and who owns them.
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Monday, 09 April 2007
CNN.com: Runners in marathons around the country are being provided with RFID chips that attach to shoelaces. As they cross large rubber mats along the course, a radio transmitter inside the chip sends a unique ID number to an antenna, which routes the runner's progress to a central database. The information is then sent to a cell phone or e-mail address on file. Elapsed time: between two and four seconds.
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Monday, 09 April 2007
RONKONKOMA, N.Y. · Sentry Technology Corp. announced the sale of 12 QuickCheck library-patron self-service kiosks to the University of Alberta. The deal is valued at $172,000.
QuickCheck operates in a similar fashion to a bank ATM. Patrons gain access to the library's circulation software via a user card and touchscreen video monitor. A barcode or RFID chip on the book is read, the security feature deactivated, and a receipt is printed identifying the titles of the books borrowed and the return date.
Once the process is complete, the patron exits the library through the security system without any intervention from library staff. The process frees library staff from the circulation desk to perform higher-level tasks. The system includes statistical-usage reporting as well as remote diagnostics and hardware-management software.
The systems at the University of Alberta, located in Edmonton, Canada, are configured with a new feature that will identify if more than one item is being checked out by a patron. This innovation will prevent a thief from using QuickCheck to borrow an item that has been recorded by the circulation software, while hiding other items underneath the one that is properly registered.
"QuickCheck continues to be recognized as a market-leading product by libraries across North America," said Peter L. Murdoch, president and chief executive of Sentry Technology. "We have sold more than 200 units and have orders to build 50 additional systems for all types of libraries that will benefit from greater efficiency and lower labor costs resulting from the use of QuickCheck."
Thursday, 29 March 2007
RFID World opened in Dallas on Monday, with about 3,000 attendees and 200 booths. Plano, Texas-based Media Cart demonstrated its smart shopping cart in RFID-reader manufacturer ThingMagic's booth. Media Cart C EO Steve Carpenter called it a "kiosk on wheels," which will save shoppers time and money. He said the cart was created to help customers locate products in a store, learn more information about particular products and check out more easily. The carts were deployed March 27 in a northeast grocery store chain on a pilot basis.
The shopping cart is outfitted with a screen on the opposite end of the shopper with a control pad on the cart's handle. Using an RFID reader, the cart will display advertising in the bottom portion of the screen as it passes RFID tags mounted on shelves. For example, an ad for a particular brand of bottled water will appear when the shopper goes near the bottled water aisle. Shoppers can also use the barcode to scan items before placing them in the cart to keep a running total. Once the designated check-out lane is reached, the cart communicates wirelessly to the POS system for quick check out.
Other features include store map and product locator, recipes, shopping lists and cross promotions. The carts only cost retailers about $150 each since Media Cart's main source of revenue comes from advertising. Carpenter said the company has 31 brands participating in the pilot.
The writer is executive director of The Self-Service & Kiosk Association.
Friday, 23 March 2007
Computerworld.com: North Dakota is set to ban the forced implantation of RFID chips into people. Both chambers of the legislature earlier this month handily passed a bill that would make it a Class A misdemeanor to force someone to have an RFID device implanted into his/her body.
Wednesday, 21 March 2007
Managinginformation.com: The Alameda Free Library, located in Alameda, Calif., has embarked on a new era of patron service and circulation efficiency with the opening of its new main-branch library building and two branch libraries, complete with a new and comprehensive Lib~Chip RFID check-out system from Libramation.
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Monday, 19 March 2007
Htlounge.net: RFID Ltd. upgraded its BagChip system for tracking air passengers' baggage by using RFID chips to include designer luggage tags. The tags, part of the BagChipElite system, are designed to match the colors and overall look of luggage designed by manufacturers like Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton.
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Tuesday, 13 March 2007
PR.com: RFID Centre Asia is opening the first RFID kiosk in Jakarta, Indonesia. The new RFID kiosk will be a one-stop RFID store, helping companies across various industry verticals, government agencies, research organizations and universities select, test and buy a range of RFID products and services from various RFID vendors.
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Monday, 12 March 2007
TELFORD, Pa. · Accu-Sort Systems Inc. has announced the introduction of the EZReader-HF RFID tag reader. Upon startup, the EZReader-HF sets frequency and match. In addition, both the EZReader-HF and its antenna store operating parameters for the current installation. If either the reader or antenna needs to be replaced, the new component reads the setup parameters from the installed device, eliminating the need to configure operating parameters, greatly reducing replacement time and cost, said Troy Herman, Accu-Sort manager for North American distribution.
In an RFID installation, the reader sends RF commands to the tag and receives data from the tag via an antenna. EZReader-HF operates at 13.56 MHz and communicates via on-board Ethernet TCP/IP or EtherNet/IP to other devices in a customer's facility, making it a plug-and-play device. It connects directly to Accu-Sort's FAST Monitor system software, which monitors the condition of multiple automatic identification systems throughout a facility and stores operating data in a central database. FAST Monitor also provides remote diagnostics capability, allowing systems to be monitored and analyzed from anywhere in the world.
The new EZReader-HF can be used as a stand-alone device or can be controlled by a host system. The stand-alone functionality allows the user to hook a sensor directly into the reader to indicate the presence of a tag, allowing for hands-free and host-free identification, the company said.
Monday, 12 March 2007
Foodproductiondaily.com: Printronix claims its new SL4M printer supports the widest selection of ultra-high frequency (UHF) RFID tags in the industry. This allows a single platform to support the various applications and requirements for RFID labeling in the logistics supply chain.
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Monday, 12 March 2007
Embeddedtechjournal.com: ThingMagic Inc. has introduced the Mercury5e embedded RFID reader, which utilizes the Intel RFID Transceiver R1000 chip. The new chip integrates a number of components into a single integrated RFID circuit, and enables digital-signal processing and analog-data processing on the same chip.
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Thursday, 08 March 2007
Wirelessnetdesignline.com: A startup nurtured as part of Intel Capital has announced a low-cost integrated RFID reader chip for the UHF band. The sub-$40 cost, 8x8 millimeter size and 1.5 watt power consumption of the R1000 chip could enable a new class of portable readers, but it's unclear whether the long anticipated ramp of this sector will be based on UHF devices, analysts said.
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Wednesday, 07 March 2007
Washingtontechnology.com: An incident that may have exposed new security risks inherent in RFID technology has gained the attention of the Computer Emergency Response Team within the Homeland Security Department.
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Wednesday, 07 March 2007
Rfdesignline.com: AeroScout Inc., a specialist developer of Wi-Fi-based active RFID solutions, has secured $21 million in a Series C round led by Menlo Ventures. Both Menlo Ventures and Greylock Partners have joined the AeroScout investor syndicate in this round, and existing investors Star Ventures, Pitango, Cisco Systems and Intel Capital also participated.
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Wednesday, 07 March 2007
Rfdesignline.com: As the RFID technology market moves beyond early adopters, vendors and integrators are fielding customer questions about the security of RFID systems. Concerns over RFID security were stoked last year when a team of university researchers in the Netherlands published a paper describing how RFID tags could provide a conduit for miscreants to launch attacks on back-end network infrastructure.
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Friday, 02 March 2007
CNN Money: While U.S. retailers like Wal-Mart are still struggling to put RFID tags on boxes and pallets so they can track merchandise in bulk, Dutch bookseller Selexyz may be the first merchant to tag every single item on its shelves with the wireless technology.
That means no more taking inventory by hand, no more lost books, and fewer returns to publishers. Selexyz, the Netherlands's largest book chain, has been testing an RFID inventory-management system at an outlet in the town of Almere. The store's sales have been 25 percent higher than those of the average store since the system was installed in April, and all 42 Selexyz outlets should have RFID tracking in place by mid-2008.
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Thursday, 01 March 2007
InformationWeek: Lawmakers in the state of Washington are considering restrictions on RFID technology. State Rep. Jeff Morris has introduced an Electronic Bill of Rights that would outlaw the collection, storage and disclosure of radio frequency identification information without notifying consumers. The bill states that all companies using active and passive RFID devices would have to either disable the devices or gain consumer consent.
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Wednesday, 28 February 2007
Internetnews.com: ViVOTech is looking to bring RFID rapid payment to the cell phone. After years of development, it has begun to strike deals with credit card companies and retail outlets to support cardless and contactless purchases, just by waving a cell phone.
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Wednesday, 28 February 2007
Computerworld.com: Though Wal-Mart Stores Inc. expects the number of its stores using RFID to reach 1,000 in April, the retailer has come under fire from some analysts and users for failing to meet its plan for installing the technology in its distribution centers. A spokesman last week acknowledged that the company missed its goal of installing RFID technology in 12 of its 137 distribution centers by the end of 2006. The company is instead concentrating on RFID-enabling its retail stores, he said.
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Thursday, 22 February 2007
Canada.com: It may soon be possible to roll your item-laden grocery cart on a platform at the supermarket checkout and have all the items scanned and totaled instantly. To do this, each grocery item would carry an RFID tag -- no bigger than the present bar code -- containing information as to what it is and how much it costs.
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Wednesday, 21 February 2007
UTRECHT, The Netherlands -- The cash-in-transit company SecurCash has made an effort to futurize their cash logistics with the help an RFID tracking progam. The system from Transtrack International and Capturetech makes it possible to follow secure cash transports more closely.
All cash transport details are registered: personnel involved, route, transport value, etc. This creates considerable transparency within the process. All information is recorded by RFID chips and sensors, relaying the tracking information online in real time.
RFID technology makes the presence of personnel in the transfer of packages partially obsolete. In addition, pay-in safes can independently indicate using specific parameters when a cash transport is required. RFID technology enables SecurCash to use routes dynamically, which benefits security.
Monday, 19 February 2007
Theregister.co.uk: Tiny radio frequency identification chips, 64 times smaller than current devices, have been developed by Hitatchi in Japan. The chips, barely bigger than a grain, come with 128-bit memory capable of storing an identification number of up to 38 digits.
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Friday, 16 February 2007
Eweek.com: It turns out 2006 wasn't the banner year for radio-frequency identification adoption that some analysts predicted, particularly in the retail and consumer packaged-goods sectors. And it looks like 2007 won't be much different. This year is likely to be one that strives to find ways to leverage RFID data.
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Wednesday, 14 February 2007
Foodproductiondaily.com: RFID has long been touted as the future of logistics, because it allows retailers and suppliers to track goods throughout the supply chain. Regulations on traceability, and mandates from such giant retailers as Wal-Mart and Metro, are forcing processors to invest in the technology. Embedding tags into labels protects users against damage and tampering.
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Friday, 09 February 2007
M2M Magazine: Texas Instruments newest line of RFID transponders are designed to perform in, and endure, high temperatures, extreme heat and contact with chemicals. The transponders are an alternative to less-durable tags and bar codes that break or wear when subjected to extreme conditions.
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Thursday, 08 February 2007
Theindychannel.com: About 2,000 frequent travelers in central Indiana have signed up to use check-in kiosks and RFID cards to shorten their wait times at airport security points. The hardware is part of Indy's Fly Clear plan, the latest in a number of registered traveling programs that allow travelers to pay annual fees for shorter wait times in airports.
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Wednesday, 07 February 2007
WEST CHESTER, Pa. -- MEI announces that its Cashflow SC bill acceptor has been integrated into the Smart Kiosk Cashless POS System, a product of Precision Dynamics Corporation. Smart Kiosks are used at parks and resorts along with Smart Band RFID wristbands to enable guests to pay for resort items and access their rooms and other facilities without carrying around cash, credit cards, or keys.
A number of resorts on the east coast are now providing their guests with this system, which is based on RFID technology. Resort guests wear Smart Band wristbands that can be used as room keys and "electronic wallets" throughout the resort.
PDC Smart Kiosks utilize MEI bill acceptors, which enable resort guests to replenish their accounts as needed. Guests simply add funds to their wristbands by going to one of the Smart Kiosks located throughout the resort. All information on the wristband is encrypted, ensuring security.
Wednesday, 07 February 2007
Hotelmotel.com: Building and strengthening a property's technology backbone is expected to have widespread benefits in 2007. Consultants advise hoteliers keep their technology systems up-to-date to improve efficiency.
Customized service delivery will be an effective product of building the backbone of information. By strengthening these back-end systems now, consultants said hoteliers will be well positioned to offer high-tech options to visitors. However, technologies like check-in kiosks, restaurant ordering kiosks and multifunctional in-room systems are not one-size-fits-all.
Tuesday, 06 February 2007
DAYTON, Ohio · NCR Corp. announced a software solution to help organizations improve the bottom line through better tracking and management of their assets using RFID or other automatic identification and data collection (AIDC) technologies.
NCR Asset Visibility offers retail, logistics/distribution and manufacturing organizations a single program that enables them to track the location and utilization of all assets. It can be used as a standalone application or it can be integrated with other solutions including enterprise resource planning software and systems that track corporate fixed assets, as well as maintenance and tool crib, warehouse management or manufacturing and quality control systems.
The latest offering in NCR's suite of packaged AIDC solutions, NCR Asset Visibility is built with the proven NCR TransitionWorks development platform.
"NCR Asset Visibility simplifies the infrastructure needed to enter, capture and cleanse data at the point of business activity. And it updates all relevant systems in real time," said Ken Hamlin, general manager of NCR's AIDC Solutions Group. "Further, it gives organizations the flexibility to use the combination of technologies that best meets their requirements at a competitive cost, whether active or passive RFID, biometrics, bar codes, wireless LAN or cellular."
NCR Asset Visibility is the foundation for an extensive list of potential applications in many business environments. Examples include:
- Retailers can use NCR Asset Visibility to track and manage store assets such as end-cap displays, racks or bins, fixed or mobile point-of-sale hardware and shopping carts. Tracking shopping carts as they move through a store can help retailers better understand consumer behavior and potentially increase revenue per customer.
- In logistics or distribution organizations, managers are under pressure to optimize every facet of their operations. By enabling the real-time visibility of assets such as trailers, reusable containers and equipment, NCR Asset Visibility helps these organizations improve utilization and reduce operational expenses.
- In manufacturing environments, the NCR solution can be used to assure that tools are in the right location, at the right time and in the right condition. Where reusable totes or containers are used in automated production operations, NCR Asset Visibility can aid in the automatic identification and capturing of production rates.
Wednesday, 31 January 2007
Twincities.com: When a new billboard in San Francisco scrolls the message "Motor On Vera!'' it's a good bet that someone named Vera is driving her Mini Cooper at that moment.
A billboard using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology started "talking'' Monday. In a new twist on tech-savvy marketing, the board flashes a personalized message as the driver cruises by with a Mini-provided key fob that sends a signal to activate the billboard. It's all part of the flippant, quirky attitude of Mini and its loyal following.
Wednesday, 31 January 2007
ChannelNewsAsia.com: A*STAR's Institute of Microelectronics has developed a silicon microchip set to open up new markets for sensors in the RFID market. The costs of producing such RFID readers and their tags have been prohibitive, leading to slow adoption of the technology. But the institute, together with its industry partner SMART ID, are aiming to commercialize their reader prototype.
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Monday, 29 January 2007
InfoWorld.com: The Mitsukoshi store in Tokyo's Ginza district is host to the trial in which RFID tags have been attached to lipstick, eye shadow and blush. In one part of the trial a kiosk can provide customers with a simulation of what they would look like wearing the make-up. The 19 items available all have RFID tags attached and shoppers just need wave them over a sensor for the simulator to detect which product has been selected, then it's up to a computer to do the rest.
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Wednesday, 17 January 2007
Quality and convenience. Variety and selection. Increased profits with reduced expenses. The marriage of RFID technology and modern design has created a solution that will change convenience retailing as we know it. With innovative technology creating ways to enhance our lives and businesses every day, why should your business be the exception? Welcome to Freedom Shopping, the future of self-checkout.
Thursday, 21 December 2006
ZDNet: IBM is betting on new software to make sense of the reams of data collected by radio frequency identification (RFID) devices. But some legal maneuvering could dampen enthusiasm for the technology.
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Monday, 11 December 2006
SAN FERNANDO, Calif. - Precision Dynamics Corp., provider of automatic wristband identification, announced the implementation of its patented Smart Band radio frequency identification wristbands and PDC Smart Kiosk RFID Cashless Point-of-Sale System at the new Great Wolf Lodge at Paramount's Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, that is scheduled to open Dec. 14.
The 401-suite family resort and indoor waterpark implemented PDC's RFID Wristband System to provide guests with enhanced services, including hotel room keyless entry, cashless payment options, automated arcade token dispensers and more.
"The wristband system has been embraced by guests and employees at both the Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania, and Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, locations, and we expect the same here at Mason," said Jim Metzger, general manager of the Great Wolf Lodge. "The system is a great way to provide the utmost in safety and convenience for our guests."
At registration, guests are given a Smart Band, which is embedded with a 13.56MHz RFID inlay. MICROS POS workstations allow guests to make cashless payments with the RFID wristbands throughout the resort. Also, the RFID wristbands eliminate the chance of money getting wet or lost while at the waterpark.
Tuesday, 28 November 2006
The Retail Bulletin: Paxar has formed a new working initiative with thebigspace to market and roll out "magicmirror," a new interactive RFID mirror, to the U.K. retail market.
magicmirror combines a specially designed half mirror and digital technology to display information on a mirror surface. Integrating RFID technology and sensors that respond to people's presence, magicmirror allows customers to interact with personalized content.
When a customer brings an RFID-tagged piece of clothing in front of the magicmirror, it displays content which could include an in-depth description of the garment, size and color availability, mix-and-match style guides and suggested accessories. With the mirror, customers also can contact a salesperson by simply touching it in the fitting room, without the trouble of changing and leaving the fitting room.
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Tuesday, 14 November 2006
ePaynews: The Smart Card Alliance has dismissed claims by a group of U.S. researchers of a potential security loophole in RFID contactless payment cards.
Last month, the researchers reported that they carried out tests with 20 RFID-enabled credit cards to see if they could read data being transmitted over the air. They then demonstrated to a New York Times reporter that a cardholder's name and other data, which could include the card number and expiration date, were leaked in plaintext to an unauthenticated card reader.
Randy Vanderhoof, executive director at the U.S.-based Smart Card Association, says these tests were carried out in laboratory conditions and would not happen in real life.
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Monday, 30 October 2006
Forbes: A new supply-management system for Selexyz was developed and introduced in an effort to reduce labor costs, advance the art of stock control out of a database of 900,000 titles, bring visibility to the supply chain, increase purchases and make the store's customer experience more rewarding. With this goal, kiosks give the customer both book location (by section and shelves) and ordering capability - allowing a natural language search of the store's database to identify any book.
One of the rewards to Selexyz has been a 50 percent increase in sales by customers using the kiosks. Part of this increase is due to the system's ability to instantly notify customers seeking a book that it is in the store.
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Monday, 30 October 2006
The Philippine Star: State-run pension fund Government Service and Insurance System is spending more than P70 million ($1.4 million) to install wireless kiosks allowing users to apply for loans using contactless cards to identify themselves.
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Monday, 16 October 2006
ZDNet UK: A new RFID tag has been designed and its inventors claim it could improve airport security by tracking passengers as they mingle in the departure lounge. The plan is to issue every passenger with an RFID tag at check-in so human traffic can be monitored around the airport.
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Monday, 09 October 2006
Channelregister.co.uk: The market for business software that handles data generated by radio-frequency-identification chips is predicted to reach $192 million in 2010, a big increase from the $24 million the nascent market generated last year.
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Monday, 02 October 2006
LinuxInsider.com: Nothing is being done with RFID that isn't already being done with credit cards today, say defenders of the technology.
"There is nothing RFID provides that is not currently [being provided] about a consumer, about a purchase, about a location, about an event, about a credit rating, anything at all," said John Greaves, vice president of the RFID Global Group at NCR.
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Thursday, 21 September 2006
ZDNetAsia.com: Commuters in the near future can not only buy a can of drink from a vending machine at a subway station, they may also be able to borrow a book to read. Singapore-based RFID applications developer Wavex Technologies has developed book-dispensing kiosks and portable book drop-bins that are enabled with radio frequency identification technology.
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Wednesday, 20 September 2006
ORLANDO, Fla. · Precision Dynamics Corp., provider of automatic wristband identification technology, will demonstrate its Smart Band RFID Wristband System during the World Waterpark Association Symposium and Trade Show, October 20-21 in Orlando, Florida.
Smart Band wristband applications provide waterpark venues and patrons with automated, cashless, point-of-sale, keyless entry to hotel rooms and lockers, park admission, and nontransferable patron identification, as well as other customizable applications.
The Smart Band wristband system consists of PDC Smart Kiosks and Smart Readers as well as third-party software and hardware as needed. Smart Kiosk is an ATM-like booth with a touchscreen that allows patrons to load money using cash, credit or debit cards onto the RFID wristbands.
Tuesday, 29 August 2006
AARHUS, Denmark · FKI Logistex, a global provider of integrated material handling solutions, announced that it has won a contract from Hamburg Library (Hamburger Affentliche Bacherhallen (HAB)) in Germany to deliver a fully automated RFID-based item-handling and sorting system for Hamburg central and 17 city libraries. The FKI Logistex solution provides HÖB with advanced ergonomic workflow for library staff, highly accurate library holding information, faster check-in and check-out of library materials, and more convenience overall for both library patrons and staff. The contract also includes a 10-year support agreement.
HÖB has a yearly circulation of approximately two million items. The fully automated FKI Logistex system features subsystems for check-in, check-out and sorting of items including books, magazines, CDs, DVDs and videos.
"It was important for HAB to invest in a solution that is not only capable of handling and sorting a large volume, but is also based on the latest technology," said Stephan Heessels, manager for library solutions, FKI Logistex Europe. "HAB has invested in a total automated and ergonomically advanced solution which is not only an investment for the future, but will also set the standard for the automation of public libraries. The new HAB FKI Logistex system will be the role model for libraries in Germany."
Easy Item Self-Return
The new central library system begins with four Library Mate self check-in units, which allow library patrons to easily return library materials. Users place items that are to be returned on a table at the front left of the Library Mate. These items are then inserted into the Library Mate.
Inside the machine, a small belt automatically transports items past the scanner and the material protection unit, then through the machine. When the Library Mate scans the item's RFID chip, it re-activates the antitheft protection, and a red light indicates to the user that the machine is working. The light changes to green once the Library Mate is ready to receive the next item.
A total of 41 Library Mates for self-checkout also are included in the new contract. Operation of the Library Mate is directed using a touchscreen. All necessary functions for executing the self-service lending are contained within the Library Mate, including a card reader that scans the library card, an RFID aerial for reading the RFID tag ID on the library item and reactivating its material protection, as well as a receipt printer.
Library Mates feature lockable wheels so that they can be moved around easily in a library. They also offer HTML-based menus that allow library staff to custom-design menu text or background pictures.
High-Speed Automated Item Sorting
An FKI Logistex Compact Sorter is located behind the Library Mate check-in units. The Compact Sorter is a cross-belt sorter that features a capacity of 4,500 items per hour. Its powered belts run crosswise to the running direction of the sorter, enabling it to discharge library items into book carts or containers positioned at each side of the sorter.
When library users return an item into the Library Mate, the item's material ID is matched with the information in the library system and a location for the item is determined. The item is then transferred automatically to one of the sorter's belt units and then delivered to the correct discharge station, which includes 40 FKI Logistex Ergo Cart book carts and 35 other item containers.
A Total RFID-Based Solution
The new item handling and sorting system is based on RFID technology. Not only does RFID offer an intelligent antitheft function, but it also allows a user to verify that all parts of a combined library loan are present at check-in or checkout. FKI Logistex Library Mate self check-in and self-checkout units offer this as a standard solution. If an item that is part of a combined loan is missing at check-in or checkout, such as one part of a multiple CD or DVD, the Library Mate will notify the user that an item is missing.
The HAB solution not only includes RFID tags for books, CDs and DVDs, but also a system to affix the RFID tags to the items. It also features security gates that detect whether items have been checked out properly, as well as staff-operated RFID stations that enable librarians to quickly check out or check in several items simultaneously and add new RFID tags to library materials.
Thursday, 17 August 2006
 Storefront Backtalk: In a dressing room in the huge Japanese department chain Mitsukoshi, half-dressed customers scan RFID-tagged jeans and then use an IP telephone to check inventory and call for more clothes to be brought in.
Workers at the $8.5 billion retail Tokyo-based chain traditionally waited outside dressing rooms, listening for instructions to bring more clothes. In the new experimental system, the workers can stock shelves while waiting for their VoIP phone to ring and for the customer to ask for something.
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Monday, 07 August 2006
Yahoo! News: Radio frequency identification technology (RFID) used in cash cards and passports can be copied, blocked or imitated, said Melanie Rieback, a privacy researcher at Vrije University in the Netherlands. Rieback demonstrated a device she and colleagues at Vrije built to hijack the RFID signals that manufacturers have touted as unreadable by anything other than proprietary scanners.
"I spend most of my time making the RFID industry's life miserable," the doctorate student said. "I am not anti-RFID. It has the potential to make people's lives easier, but it needs to be used responsibly."
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Wednesday, 19 July 2006
Computing.co.uk: The value of sales of active radio frequency identification (RFID) systems is expected to soar in the next 10 years from $550 million (£300m) to $ 6.78 billion (£3.7bn).
The report from analyst IDTechEx says Real Time Locating Systems (RTLS) and disposable RFID sensor systems such as smart active labels will lead the growth.
Read more.
Tuesday, 20 June 2006
Infoworld.com: Companies using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on products should always tell their customers and make sure they know whether they can deactivate the tags, according to a set of best practices for RFID deployment proposed by a group of IT vendors, RFID users, and consumer advocates.
"There should be no secret RFID tags or readers," according to a draft report by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) Working Group on RFID. Members of the group include Cisco Systems, IBM, Intel, the National Consumers League, Procter & Gamble, and VeriSign.
The report adds that, by itself, consumer notification does not mitigate all privacy concerns. Companies collecting personally identifying information through RFID tags should tell customers how that data will be used. And if customers can opt out of sharing that information, or can destroy the tags, those options must be readily available, the report says.
Read more.
Tuesday, 20 June 2006
silicon.com: Visitors to the 2006 World Cup may not know it but each and every ticket holder will carry an RFID tag.
All of the 3.2 million tickets issued for this year's tournament will come equipped with an RFID chip inside, which is scanned whenever a fan arrives at the gates of any of the 12 stadiums.
According to Philips, which supplied the RFID tech, the track-and-trace chips have been included in the tickets to combat counterfeiting and ensure only those with legitimate tickets can get in to watch the matches.
Each of the tickets is now personalised with the holder's name in an effort to stop touting and prevent hooligans from getting access to World Cup matches.
Read more.
Monday, 22 May 2006
CHICAGO — According to the survey "RFID: How Far, How Fast?" sponsored by NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) and conducted by Retail Systems Alert Group, the adoption rate of RFID is moving at a modest pace. Many challenges, both technical and cultural, continue to impede the growth of RFID. However, there is reason to believe growth may be on the way.
Highlights of the survey include:
- Retailers are lagging far behind manufacturers in adopting RFID. Only 9 percent of retailers who responded to the survey have an RFID-implementation timeline, and the majority of retailers who responded positively estimated their organization's overall revenue to increase to $5 billion or more.
- 44 percent of manufacturers have developed a timeline. Although fewer retailers reported a timeline for implementation, those retailers that have a timeline reported that they are spending more than in 2005, according to survey results.
- Manufacturers are focusing their attention on one to 50 product lines, rather than across a broader range of product lines as was reported in the 2005 survey results.
- Among those companies that have a timeline for RFID adoption, most respondents (both retailers and manufacturers) report that they have pilot distribution centers up and running.
According to the survey, although there still may be several challenges that are on the horizon in the adoption of RFID, the outlook is cautiously positive. The awareness level of RFID among C-level executives, directors and managers has significantly improved. In addition, many respondents are aware of the benefits their companies can expect within the first five years of RFID implementation.
The release of the survey, 3rd Annual Benchmark Study "RFID: How Far, How Fast?" was part of the 3rd Annual Retail RFID Technology Symposium, a full day pre-show held at Retail Systems 2006 which addressed underlying RFID trends. The results were presented by Dan Bogan, vice president of NCR's Retail Solutions Division.
Touching industries around the world, NCR's global RFID solutions encompass thoughtware, hardware, consumables, services and software, including Teradata warehouse solutions, to help customers solve real business problems.
Thursday, 13 April 2006
2006-04-10 WINNERSH, UK -- Symbol Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:SBL), The Enterprise Mobility Company, and its Premier Solutions Partner, PEAK Technologies, were chosen by Virgin Atlantic Airways to supply RFID technology, as part of a pilot project, to track critical, high value aviation assets moving through its logistics supply chain at Heathrow International Airport. Virgin Atlantic is the first airline in the United Kingdom to use RFID technology to track parts onsite.
Virgin Atlantic deployed Symbol's MC9000-G RFID handheld mobile computers with RFID readers and a Symbol wireless LAN (WLAN) infrastructure, including a WS2000 wireless switch and AP300 access ports. The aim of the pilot is to track and trace high value repairable aircraft parts often at short notice.
The installation is based at Virgin Atlantic's logistics facilities at Heathrow Airport with additional facilities at Gatwick Airport. Heathrow is the central distribution hub for the Virgin Atlantic logistics network. Three AP300 access ports with external antennas support onsite data exchange at each location and the MC9000-G mobile computer enables precise real-time scanning and data entry, providing Virgin Atlantic's staff with inventory control and instant visibility into their supply chain. The MC9000-G mobile computer is a high-performance RFID mobile reader, and supports Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system, for both RFID and bar code applications. This dual-mode operation was considered an 'essential capability' by Virgin Atlantic, when selecting the technology for their investment.
The project, called TRIM (Tracked by Radio Identification Method), utilizes RFID tagging and was deployed at Virgin Atlantic with the specific aim of tracking serialized aircraft parts and tools at their main supply facilities and throughout their supply chain. Airplane parts are given a full inspection upon entry to the warehouse and logged into the inventory system computer, before being associated with an RFID tag.
Oracle is integral to the TRIM project due to its experience and proven technology, as well as its existing relationship with both Virgin Atlantic and Symbol. Oracle's Fusion Middleware and Database 10g and other RFID-enabled applications, capture and manage Virgin Atlantic's supply data via the MC9000-G RFID mobile computer. Additionally Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. provided consulting and system integration expertise, while PEAK Technologies was responsible for the implementation of the Symbol equipment, which included hardware commissioning, installation of the Symbol wireless network and MC9000-G mobile computers, and the associated installation project management for the hardware.
"In such a competitive market there is a constant need to find efficiencies, control costs and expand business. As Britain's second largest carrier, Virgin Atlantic is keen to investigate the efficiency of the RFID-enabled warehouse," said Graham Holford, Senior Systems Analyst, Virgin Atlantic. "Symbol's RFID technology was seen as a way to improve efficiency by tracking and tracing items instantly and in real-time."
"Virgin Atlantic is doing precisely what we advise our most progressive clients to do - evaluate the application of this emerging technology in their own environment, and measure the effectiveness of the RFID solution based on the return on investment (ROI) and a clear business case," said David Picton, logistics solutions director, Symbol Technologies.
Symbol's RFID technology has demonstrated high-performance capabilities such as data capture and data accuracy, while also improving the accuracy and frequency of inventory management through stores and warehouses. Symbol RFID solutions have also increased the visibility of parts and materials within maintenance environments and offered more accurate inventory control at the point of entry to the aircraft stores. Consequently, Virgin Atlantic has greater ability to comply with anticipated guidelines from EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) concerning traceability and the authenticity of aircraft components. Virgin Atlantic will also be able to integrate with the RFID specifications proposed by Boeing and Airbus for use within the aircraft supply chain.
About Symbol Technologies:
Symbol Technologies, Inc., The Enterprise Mobility Company, is a recognized worldwide leader in enterprise mobility, delivering products and solutions that capture, move and manage information in real time to and from the point of business activity. Symbol enterprise mobility solutions integrate advanced data capture products, radio frequency identification technology, mobile computing platforms, wireless infrastructure, mobility software and world-class services programs under the Symbol Enterprise Mobility Services brand. Symbol enterprise mobility products and solutions are proven to increase workforce productivity, reduce operating costs, drive operational efficiencies and realize competitive advantages for the world's leading companies. More information is available at www.symbol.com.
About Virgin Atlantic Airways:
Since it was founded in 1984, Virgin Atlantic Airways has become Britain's second largest carrier serving the world's major cities. Now based at both London's Gatwick and Heathrow airports, it operates long haul services to twenty-five destinations world-wide as far apart as Las Vegas, Shanghai, and Sydney.
Virgin Atlantic has enjoyed huge popularity, winning top business, consumer and trade awards from around the world. The airline has pioneered a range of innovations setting new standards of service, which its competitors have subsequently sought to follow. Despite Virgin Atlantic's growth the service still remains customer driven with an emphasis on value for money, quality, fun and innovation.
Virgin Atlantic currently has a fleet of 33 aircraft which includes thirteen 747-400s and seven A340-300s and thirteen A340-600s.
About Oracle:
Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, visit our Web site at www.oracle.com.
About PEAK Technologies:
PEAK Technologies, a Platinum Equity company, is an international systems integrator of automatic identification and data collection (AIDC) equipment and systems. Our systems integration specialists and factory-trained technicians are experts in wireless radio frequency network and ERP integration solutions, enterprise printing, bar code scanning, mobile computing, terminal and software technologies.
PEAK's primary applications include solutions for warehousing, manufacturing, distribution, retail, and field-based operations. PEAK's market leadership and strong financial management provide customers with stability and assurance all solutions are delivered with long-term support. Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland (USA), PEAK Technologies has more than 800 employees and operates throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe - the UK office is based in Ascot, Berkshire.
Thursday, 13 April 2006
RFID systems spending for retail in-store applications reached nearly $88 million globally in 2005, according to a recently released report by Venture Development Corporation (VDC). VDC forecasts growth of more than 35% per year in retailer spending on RFID for in-store point-of-sale (POS) applications through 2010, when the market is expected to reach nearly $400 million.
Big retailer interest in and commitments to RFID have been well documented. Their technical approaches and application priorities are widely divergent, but their goals are fairly consistent. VDC telephone surveys of retailers conducted during Q1 2006 reveal a common vision for RFID retail POS applications that includes the following:
Accurate and efficient inventory control;
Consequent cost reductions related to better inventory management;
- Optimal stock levels based on real-time customer activity/demand;
- Reduction of out-of-stocks;
- Lower warehousing costs via automated processes and improved tracking efficiencies;
Improved margins associated with the cost reductions cited above.
The key to RFID for retail in-store applications is the cost-effectiveness, reliability, and ease-of-use of item-level tagging solutions. Without item-level tagging, VDC believes that most value propositions, revenue enhancement goals, and margin improvement objectives will not be attainable. Some of the most significant challenges to item-level solution development, deployment, and operation include:
Software coding and proper systems integration: Conversion code needs to be written to convert all existing databases so that a retailer can cart EPC information. Managing the enormous volumes of data generated by RFID systems is expected to be a complex task, requiring significant retailer attention;
Unsynchronized adoption across the supply chain: Retailers are concerned that their IT suppliers and distributors may not be quick to implement RFID. Retailers and manufacturers need to collaborate on RFID efforts to receive the full benefit, including determining how best to place/position RFID transponders onto products or into packages in the most cost-effective and efficient way;
Extensive training requirements of new systems: Retail personnel must be trained on how to use the new systems and to learn new job functions. In addition, some retailers may need to renegotiate labor contracts due to collective bargaining agreements regarding work rules for employees; and
Cost of technology replacement: In addition to the costs of system components and business process changes, there is also the potential expense of replacing existing scanners in stores with new devices that are both bar code magnetic stripe and RFID enabled. With retailers supporting more and more checkout lanes across hundreds of stores, the number of devices that will potentially be replaced/upgraded is significant.
According Michael J. Liard, Director of VDC's RFID Annual Research Service, "Item-level tagging will be rolled out slowly, over time. Deployment decisions will be determined as much by the value (or liability) of items merchandised, as by the volume of units sold. Current implementation costs - particularly tag prices, are simply too high for widespread adoption."
The retail POS vertical discussed here is by VDC is part of its 2005-2006 RFID Business Planning Service.
About VDC
Venture Development Corporation (VDC) is an independent technology market research and strategy consulting firm that specializes in a number of retail automation, RFID, AIDC, embedded, component, industrial, and defense markets. VDC has been operating since 1971, when the firm was founded by graduates of the Harvard Business School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Today, we employ a talented collection of analysts and consultants who offer a rare combination of expertise in the market research process; experience in technology product and program management; and formal training in engineering and marketing. VDCs clients include thousands of the largest and fastest-growing tech suppliers in the world and the most successful investors participating in the markets we cover.
For further information about: "2005-2006 RFID Business Planning Service"
Tuesday, 11 April 2006
As one of the staple annual industry events, Smart Labels USA was attended by users and vendors from all regions. Now in its fifth year, the event attracted several hundred senior-level delegates from the supply chain, manufacturing, printing, labeling, packaging and logistics sectors. The two-day conference featured speaker sessions that included major end-user application examples, smart label manufacturing techniques, and advanced technologies. Roughly 40 RFID manufacturers and suppliers exhibited. In addition, a special pavilion, dedicated to developments in Asia (most notably China and Japan) was showcased.
While there was much to learn at the event, three major topics took center stage:
Application opportunities for high-margin, high-volume labels in 'niche' markets;
Vertical market-specific RFID requirements, implementation experiences, and next steps - covering new opportunities from users and step-by-step implementation approaches; and
New RFID technologies from fully printed RFID to active RFID with sensor technology.
In addition to these topics, Smart Labels USA focused on new and different types of chipless RFID technologies, as well as the impact and profitability of active RFID (and its convergence with WiFi, Zigbee, etc.). Sessions were dedicated to passive chip RFID solutions (including new long-range HF systems) and the manufacturing of RFID smart labels.
It was refreshing to participate in a conference program that did not solely concentrate on supply chain compliance, applications, and technology. The agenda included a broad spectrum of topics, speakers (users, vendors, analysts), technologies, industries, verticals, and regional markets. The presentations on ‘emerging' technologies such as chipless RFID and printed organics were most interesting and visionary, although their practical applications and near-term adoption scenarios appeared underdeveloped.
About VDC
Venture Development Corporation (VDC) is an independent technology market research and strategy consulting firm that specializes in a number of retail automation, RFID, AIDC, embedded, component, industrial, and defense markets. VDC has been operating since 1971, when the firm was founded by graduates of the Harvard Business School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Today, we employ a talented collection of analysts and consultants who offer a rare combination of expertise in the market research process; experience in technology product and program management; and formal training in engineering and marketing. VDC's clients include thousands of the largest and fastest-growing tech suppliers in the world and the most successful investors participating in the markets we cover.
Further information about: "RFID Business Planning Service 2005-2006: Global Asset and Transaction Management Systems Market Analysis"
Tuesday, 21 March 2006
According to Venture Development Corporation's recently released Automotive Vertical Market volume of its annual RFID Business Planning Service, the global market for radio frequency identification (RFID) systems in the automotive vertical reached an estimated $312 million in 2005. Hardware accounted for nearly 56% of the market (excluding transponder revenues for automobile immobilization and keyless entry). VDC anticipates a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20% through 2010, with revenue shipments projected to exceed $765 million within five years.
The automotive industry has primarily used RFID for vehicle immobilization. However, as economies of scale are attained and improvements in performances are achieved, deployments to support supply chain, shop floor, and asset management applications are expected to significantly increase.
Automotive companies expect to reap the following benefits from using RFID within supply chain and shop floor applications:
- Improved visibility of products, assets, and materials within the enterprise;
- Automated tracking and inventory management of goods and materials;
- Increased operational efficiency and decreased resource expenses;
- Enhanced security and shrinkage reduction;
- Improved cradle-to-grave tracking capability;
- Removal of limited human interaction generally required with bar code systems;
- Improved supply chain collaboration (i.e., reduced warranty cost, shorter response time to open issues); and
- Compliance with current and future industry and customer mandates (NHTSA, AIAG, ODETTE, JAMA/JAPIA, Wal-Mart, etc).
Users in the automotive market are highly experienced with the benefits and challenges of RFID, and are expected to rapidly integrate new solutions as they become technologically and financially feasible. Small in number and requiring a diversity of suppliers to support massive inventories of unique parts, vehicle assembly and parts/components firms wield significant clout in driving the entire supply chain to implement new technologies — much like the DoD and its supply chain.
According to Michael J. Liard, Director of VDC's RFID Practice, "Although many applications are still in early phases, the increase in new RFID applications suggests that the technology is moving beyond traditional application niches of automobile immobilization and security/access control."
The automotive vertical discussed here is part of VDC's 2005-2006 RFID Business Planning Service. To view the program proposal, click here.
About VDC
Venture Development Corporation (VDC) is an independent technology market research and strategy consulting firm that specializes in a number of retail automation, RFID, AIDC, embedded, component, industrial, and defense markets. VDC has been operating since 1971, when the firm was founded by graduates of the Harvard Business School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Today, we employ a talented collection of analysts and consultants who offer a rare combination of expertise in the market research process; experience in technology product and program management; and formal training in engineering and marketing. VDC's clients include thousands of the largest and fastest-growing tech suppliers in the world and the most successful investors participating in the markets we cover.
Further information about: "RFID Business Planning Service 2005-2006: Global Asset and Transaction Management Systems Market Analysis"
Monday, 13 March 2006
HOLTSVILLE, N.Y. and ARMONK, N.Y., March 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Symbol Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: SBL - News), The Enterprise Mobility Company(TM), and IBM today announced Symbol will embed IBM's WebSphere RFID Device Infrastructure (WRDI) on the Symbol XR Series of fixed RFID readers, creating an "intelligent" RFID reader that automates the process of routing and managing incoming data from RFID tags, even from remote locations.
The WRDI capabilities leverage application hosting on Symbol's XR Series RFID readers to deliver capabilities such as on-demand decision-making and reduced network traffic by filtering redundancies and sending only pertinent information to a company's application server. WRDI provides Symbol's XR Series RFID readers with a platform to integrate and reconcile RFID information with data used in other areas of a business. Additionally, WRDI supports the Control I/O on Symbol's XR Series RFID readers to create solutions using other devices such as motion sensors and lights, to activate business processes in their supply and logistics chains.
"The real value of RFID is in the data collected, filtered and analyzed at the point of business activity. By combining IBM's software with Symbol's XR Series RFID readers, we can deliver valuable business intelligence out to managers on the front line," said Anthony Bartolo, vice president and general manager of Symbol's RFID and Wireless Infrastructure Divisions. "With more than 20 years working together with advanced data capture technologies, embedding IBM's WRDI is a natural extension to align Symbol and IBM's Collaborative Global Market Strategy."
IBM's WRDI software was developed to meet the demand for an embedded open standards-based software platform to provide automatic RFID data collection and reporting from remote locations where on-site IT services are not available. Embedded into Symbol's XR Series readers, the platform allows the reader to route data to an IBM RFID WebSphere Premises Server.
IBM's software makes "radio tagging" a strategic business function to help RFID grow beyond simply exchanging or managing the flow of data. WRDI extracts value from the captured information and can potentially convert that information into an electronic service that can help perform strategic functions. For example, the software can move product or operational information into systems that analyze trends in the supply chain, to identify a company's efficiency or sales trends. As a result, RFID network administrators possess the ability to gain instant and enhanced visibility into RFID-tagged pallets and products. The information is then shared across an integrated retail or consumer supply chain, leading to greater control of inventory levels, reduced network traffic, and potentially, an overall reduction in systems and management costs.
"This new offering demonstrates IBM's continued commitment to partner with Symbol in developing and deploying RFID systems, and to help our customers get the advantages of RFID within new, innovative business processes," said Robert Mayberry, vice president of sensor and actuator solutions, IBM. "The creation of intelligent readers that are able to optimize the benefits of industry- leading, open-standard middleware solutions will provide companies a lens into their supply chain never seen before."
For more information on Symbol's XR Series Readers, visit: http://www.symbol.com/category.php?category=144..
Information on IBM WebSphere RFID Device Infrastructure (WRDI) can be found on IBM's Premises Server page: http://www-306.ibm.com/software/pervasive/ws_rfid_premises_server/..
Features and benefits for IBM Premises Server and WRDI: http://www-306.ibm.com/software/pervasive/ws_rfid_premises_server/about/..
About Symbol Technologies
Symbol Technologies, Inc., The Enterprise Mobility Company(TM), is a recognized worldwide leader in enterprise mobility, delivering products and solutions that capture, move and manage information in real time to and from the point of business activity. Symbol enterprise mobility solutions integrate advanced data capture products, radio frequency identification technology, mobile computing platforms, wireless infrastructure, mobility software and world-class services programs under the Symbol Enterprise Mobility Services brand. Symbol enterprise mobility products and solutions are proven to increase workforce productivity, reduce operating costs, drive operational efficiencies and realize competitive advantages for the world's leading companies. More information is available at http://www.symbol.com.
About IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key business partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable companies to take full advantage of the on-demand era. For more information about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com.
Thursday, 09 March 2006
2006-03-09 Holtsville, NY - Symbol Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:SBL), The Enterprise Mobility Company, today introduced the Symbol XR480, an industrial-class radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader that supports today's European RFID standards and builds on the next generation architecture of the XR400. Early adopters in Europe are already using the Symbol XR480 reader to leverage the increased asset visibility and operational efficiencies of RFID across their supply chains.
The XR480 reader builds on Symbol's commercially proven XR400 RFID reader platform and supports the European ETSI 302-208 standard reliable read performance for today's industrial-scale RFID implementations. The XR480 also delivers Generation 2 (Gen 2) dense-reader mode operation which enables the flexibility to support the European standard as it evolves.
The XR480 is the only commercially available EPC-compliant RFID reader approved for use in Europe to provide support for up to eight read points which helps decrease deployment complexity and increases flexibility. The Symbol XR480 is also the first commercially available EPC-compliant RFID reader in Europe based on the Windows CE operating system. By utilizing Microsoft's Windows CE operating system, the XR480 RFID reader enables seamless integration and interoperability with existing IT infrastructure while reducing the support costs associated with multi-platform environments.
"METRO Group is excited that Symbol is bringing their extensive supply chain and real-world application deployment experience to Europe, with their first commercially available European RFID reader," said Dr. Gerd Wolfram, Managing Director MGI METRO. "Metro is evaluating Symbol's RFID technology and agrees with its focus on robust RFID solutions, packaged systems and dense-reader environments. Symbol's increased European presence will only serve to drive further adoption of RFID and promote the global business efficiencies and inventory accuracy that comes with the technology."
The new XR480 platform is backward compatible with Symbol's XR400 reader and leverages existing XR400 capabilities such as application hosting. This allows end-users, partners and third party application developers to easily develop specific, customer-driven applications that can be embedded and run directly on the reader.
"The XR480 European RFID Reader builds upon Symbol's diverse customer and application experience with large-scale RFID implementations," said Anthony Bartolo, Vice President and General Manager, RFID Division. "By allowing customers to manage and move information instantly upon data capture, the XR480 truly extends business intelligence to the edge of the enterprise. The XR480 complements our existing comprehensive product platform as Symbol enables global early adopters to move from RFID pilots through to full scale deployment."
The new XR480 reader also provides Control I/O and USB interfaces to manage devices ranging from motion sensors and lights to memory sticks and display screens. With these peripherals, enterprises can use RFID to activate various business processes, including dynamic assembly lines that are reconfigured based on the specific products being received on the conveyor belt; real-time alerts that allow forklift drivers to change delivery locations for urgent items, and rules that prevent delivery of products to incorrect locations and "handle with care" rules, that signal an item's fragility at the moment it passes through the dock door reader.
About Symbol Technologies
Symbol Technologies, Inc., The Enterprise Mobility Company, is a recognized worldwide leader in enterprise mobility, delivering products and solutions that capture, move and manage information in real time to and from the point of business activity. Symbol enterprise mobility solutions integrate advanced data capture products, radio frequency identification technology, mobile computing platforms, wireless infrastructure, mobility software and world-class services programs under the Symbol Enterprise Mobility Services brand. Symbol enterprise mobility products and solutions are proven to increase workforce productivity, reduce operating costs, drive operational efficiencies and realize competitive advantages for the world's leading companies.
Thursday, 09 March 2006
Wincor Nixdorf has become a full member of the worldwide RFID/EPC global network and in future will help shape the standardization of the Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID) and the Electronic Product Code (EPC). Wincor Nixdorf, as one of the world's leading suppliers of IT solutions for banking and retail companies, will bring its know-how into the specialized group "RFID/EPC service providers".
The goal of this group is to drive forward the application and concrete conversion of international standards in dialog with users from the areas of retail, industry and logistics. Wincor Nixdorf places great importance on the implementation of RFID and EPC, particularly in the field of retail. "Just like 30 years ago with the introduction of the barcode, we'll accompany and support our customers with the integration of this new technology in all processes and also use it to optimize our own internal processes in production and logistics", said Reinhard Rabenstein, Wincor Nixdorf's chief technology officer.
Above and beyond the retail and banking sectors, Wincor Nixdorf is currently active for customers in the postal, lottery and service station industries and will also contribute its expertise from these business areas to the work of the standardization committee.
Wincor Nixdorf can already offer retail companies and industry-supplier companies the opportunity of investigating how RFID and EPC might be implemented in their processes, from the supply chain to the store, along with the option of integrating these solutions where their benefit can be demonstrated.
At the Metro Group stand (Hall 6, Stand E 50) Wincor Nixdorf is demonstrating how RFID technology can be implemented in the chill chain for the quality assurance of groceries. With the combination of RFID and sensor technology, the chill chain can be continually monitored from the manufacturer to the retail store.
Monday, 06 March 2006
According to Venture Development Corporation's recently released Health Care Services Vertical Market volume of its annual RFID Business Planning Service, the global market for radio frequency identification (RFID) systems in the health care vertical reached an estimated $45 million in 2005, with hardware accounting for approximately two-thirds of the market. VDC anticipates a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 44% over the next five years, with revenue shipments exceeding $279 million in 2010.
Although still in its nascent stages, interest in RFID within the health care market is at its highest level and continues to climb among health care organizations (HCOs) such as hospitals, care management specialists, and medical supply manufacturers and distributors. HCOs are engaged in an ongoing effort to improve patient safety and cut costs by tracking every activity, process, and asset. RFID technology offers a powerful benefit over other tracking systems:
- It can automatically trace any medical device, supply, patient or employee over a given period of time.
- It provides automation without the need for line-of-sight, eliminating human interaction/error and significantly reducing labor requirements.
HCOs recognize that RFID has the potential to provide significant advantages, but use of the technology is relatively new in the health care sector and investments in RFID remain limited. For many HCOs, justification for investment in RFID can be a difficult proposition due to several factors:
- Return on investment (ROI) models associated with RFID are currently less than market expectations;
- There is no 'preferred' solution, little industry standardization, and the technology is not widely adopted;
- Realizing the benefits of RFID requires modifying existing business processes, a task that typically requires significant changes in corporate IT strategies;
- Depending on the application and type of information being captured, RFID deployments could pose important business and legal risks in terms of privacy and data security;
- There is a lack of 'benchmark' installations and case studies that demonstrate the benefits of RFID; and
- There is uncertainty pertaining to the validation of RFID mandates from regulatory bodies such as the FDA and HDMA.
Nonetheless, increased awareness and exciting new applications have generated a significant amount of enthusiasm for RFID in the health care vertical. According Michael J. Liard, Director of VDC's RFID Practice, "Health care organizations are quietly becoming innovators and lead users of both active and passive solutions, and will likely outpace other market segments in the very near future."
About VDC
Venture Development Corporation (VDC) is an independent technology market research and strategy consulting firm that specializes in a number of retail automation, RFID, AIDC, embedded, component, industrial, and defense markets. VDC has been operating since 1971, when the firm was founded by graduates of the Harvard Business School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Today, we employ a talented collection of analysts and consultants who offer a rare combination of expertise in the market research process; experience in technology product and program management; and formal training in engineering and marketing. VDC;s clients include thousands of the largest and fastest-growing tech suppliers in the world and the most successful investors participating in the markets we cover.
The health care services vertical discussed here is by VDC is part of its 2005-2006 RFID Business Planning Service.
Monday, 16 January 2006
ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 16, 2006--Two new SelfCheck Systems from 3M make their first appearance in booth 1256 at the 2006 American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Conference on Jan. 20-23 in San Antonio, Texas.
Debuting are the SelfCheck System C-Series for material check-in and the SelfCheck System R-Series for material checkout and check-in. Both systems use the power of radio frequency identification (RFID) to help improve materials management, further simplify library self-service transactions, reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction.
Features of SelfCheck System C-Series for material check-in include:
- Realtime check-in enabled by accurate read of RFID tags that instantly records returned items and lets customers immediately checkout new items.
- Simple-to-use 3M Digital Library Assistant connection to help speed sorting and return of in-demand items to the shelves.
- UL-listed equipment that complies with state and local regulations.
- Web-based monitoring and diagnostic capabilities that let administrators remotely troubleshoot systems to quickly resolve situations such as a printer out of paper or an offline circulation system.
Features of the SelfCheck System R-Series for checkout and check-in include:
- Accurate read of RFID tags placed on items to provide fast and efficient self-checkout of all library materials.
- Simple instructions and an easy-use touch screen that delivers a high success rate to first-time self-checkout users.
- UL-listed equipment that complies with state and local regulations.
- Web-based monitoring and diagnostic capabilities that allow administrators to troubleshoot systems from any location.
- Selectable check-in method that empowers the customer to process materials for check-in.
"In addition, all SelfCheck Systems now notify library staff by e-mail when printer paper is low, and offer customers the choice of either a paper or e-mail receipt at checkout," said Rory Yanchek, business manager, 3M Library Systems. "We're proud to add to our already robust line of customizable library solutions. Our new systems and features make it easier for libraries to choose systems to meet their distinctive needs and easily migrate from one system to another as their needs change."
A global leader in library innovation for more than 30 years, 3M provides security, productivity and information management solutions that harness technology to free librarians to spend more time doing what they love - helping people. 3M also partners with libraries to support their technological advancement and ensure their success through numerous industry sponsorships and programs. For more information about the 3M Library Systems solutions, visit http://www.3M.com/us/library or call 1-800-253-6845.
About 3M - A Global, Diversified Technology Company
Every day, 3M people find new ways to make amazing things happen. Wherever they are, whatever they do, the company's customers know they can rely on 3M to help make their lives better. 3M's brands include Scotch, Post-it, Scotchgard, Thinsulate, Scotch-Brite, Filtrete, Command and Vikuiti. Serving customers in more than 200 countries around the world, the company's 69,000 people use their expertise, technologies and global strength to lead in major markets including consumer and office; display and graphics; electronics and telecommunications; safety, security and protection services; health care; industrial and transportation. For more information, including the latest product and technology news, visit www.3M.com.
3M, SelfCheck, Tattle-Tape, Scotch, Post-it, Scotchgard, Thinsulate, Scotch-Brite, Filtrete, Command and Vikuiti are trademarks of 3M.
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