RFID Lowdown

Wal-Mart Website Wonky But RFID Program Moving Ahead

Wal-Mart, the company that some might say has been singlehandedly driving enterprise supply chain RFID applications, recently suffered a 10-hour outage on their eCommerce website, for which Information Week Editor Rob Preston laid into them. The problem is that it happened on so called Black Friday, the day after American Thanksgiving, which is said to be the best retail shopping day of the year (which puts some retailers "in the black" with profit, hence the name). The company actually spent 13 months to redesign their website, which relaunched in October and crashed in late November - due to getting seven times the web traffic the previous Black Friday.

Website problems aside, Wal-Mart is at least keeping itself on track with its RFID mandate, possibly ready to add another 700 retailers compliant, which would push the total number to over 1200 with radio frequency technology either already implemented or about to be. Following on the heels of Wal-Mart's push, grocery retailer Kroger might be ready to have its big suppliers use RFID tags. Another grocery retailer, Ahold USA, is already using RFID and will expand that use in 2007.

Nissan and WhereNet automating the auto maker’s supply chain by deploying RFID system

Auto maker Nissan North America Inc. is in the process of deploying RIFD technology to help automate its inbound supply chain and outbound delivery chain. For this it has tied up with California based WhereNet Corp. The active RIFD system is being deployed at its 4 million-square-foot assembly plant in Canton, Miss. The project is expected to be complete by the end of the first quarter of 2007.

A single wireless architecture is being planned to run multiple WhereNet applications. The applications being put into place are - WhereSoft Yard Management System and Vehicle Tracking and Management System (VTMS). This deployment is expected to help Nissan to improve its productivity as well as vehicle quality. For instance, the check-in and checkout procedures of hundreds of truckloads and thousands of components arriving at the assembly facility every day itself will save Nissan several hours per day in processing deliveries apart from providing higher velocity and throughput in the yard. Computer World reports:

Latham said Nissan will use the vehicle tracking system to manage post assembly verification and test processes. The system includes a business rules engine that manages the processing of every vehicle in accordance with its assigned status so that critical orders are processed before lower-priority units, he said.”

Canadian Grocers Get RFID Help

Canadian grocers wanting to implement RFID have a helping hand in the CCGD (Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors) and the CRC (Canadian RFID Center). The CRC opened last year with Cdn$1.7M in funds from the CCGD and other other associations, as well as several vendors including IBM Canada, Intermec, and Symbol Technologies (now part of Motorola). Companies can send employees to visit the CRC and learn abouth RFID technology, actually see cold chain management for produce in action [via RFID Journal]

This is obviously a great idea, to help spur on the use of RFID. I'm really hoping that the center is open to other industries, as surely there are a lot of other companies that could benefit, even just from cold chain management.

AmerisourceBergen Using IBM RFID Pharma System

IBM's Websphere middleware system is the base for Track and Trace for Pharma, a drug supply chain management package being used by AmerisourceBergen, amongst others. The pharmaceutical wholesaler scans RFID as cases of select drugs enter and exit the warehouse, in order to build a history of tagged the tagged drugs. Said Shay Reid, VP Integrated Solutions,

We're hoping to establish an electronic chain of custody for each individual unit of drug that is tagged.

The system, which is also using VeriSign software for transaction authentication, will be linked to similar systems used by five unnamed drug manufacturers. IBM sytem is also designed to help fight counterfeiting of drugs.

[sources: Computer World]

RFID Applications: Produce Management

[This post is part of a short series aimed at giving a quick overview of existing and future applications of RFID - radio frequency identification - technology.] With the recent packaged spinach scare in North America, producers were no doubt hurting from the recall - to the tune of several hundred million dollars. But can this sort of thing be prevented in the future? It's not just a question of profits but of health. Since e-coli can (and did) kill some people, there are many reasons another outbreak has to be prevented.

In the aforementioned outbreak, only one grower's product was tainted, but to determine this required an industry-wide recall. One solution would be to RFID tag and track produce through the entire industry and supply chain - something that simply cannot be done manually on the necessary scale. Such solution would quickly pinpoint product from each grower, as well as allow grocers to determine which packages are older, and be able to easily remove them from display if they are suspect.

RFID can also be used for cold chain management of food stuffs,  to ensure safer food.

[additional sources: RFID Journal]

RFID Lowdown - Fri Nov 10, 2006

Alien Needs Cash
Venture Beat reports that Alien Technology, the RFID maker who recently delayed their IPO, is looking for US$50M in venture capital. The company lost about that much last year and has used up over $240M of financing.

Fast-Track RFID Training
RFID4U is offering a CompTIA-certified RFID Fast-Track Training program during AIM Global's AIM 2007 Showcase. In addition to the prep training course, attendees will receive practice tests on a CD-ROM. The one day course takes place on Feb 27, 2007, with the RFID+ Certification Exam on Feb 28. Participants can defer the exam for up to a year. [AIM via RFID News] CompTIA introduced their certification program earlier this year.

Auto RFID-Labelling On Lantech Pallet Wrapping Systems
Lantech LLC is offering a new packaging and palleting system that allows companies to apply RFID labelling at the same time as applying shrink-wrapping. This is now a standard option in all of Lantech's semiautomatic pallet stretch wrapper systems. [via Business First Louiville]

Razor Scooter Picks Odin Technologies For RIFD Compliance

RFID tags are popping up in the oddest places these days. Well, maybe not so odd. Razor USA, maker of the popular, awarding-winning Razor kick scooter for kids and young adults, is a supplier to Wal-Mart. So under the latter's RFID mandate, they have to implement radio frequency technology or be shut out from being part of Wal-Mart's supply chain. As part of their compliance, Razor USA will be using an RFID system from Odin Technologies, who earlier this year released a benchmark for Gen 2 tags. Wal-Mart, who are using EPC Gen2 RF systems, made it mandatory for all of their suppliers to implement a compliant RFID system in order to continue participating as suppliers. They are helping to integrate 300 suppliers per phase, with the next batch to complete compliance by Jan 2007.

[additional sources: PR Web]

Sub-One Cent Item-Level RFID Tags? Is It Possible?

InkSure Technologies has recently signed agreements with printing companies regarding its "chipless" printed RFID tags. Such tags would be used in item-level tagging, a sort of holy grail for manufacturers and retailers and others because of the wealth of data that can be collected. Item-level tags do exist already; however, their use is not as widespread as case- and pallet-level RF tags because of the cost. In the case of manufacturers, if an item-level tag eats up the profit margin on an item, there's no justifiable ROI (return on investment) for using the tags.

But InkSure's CEO, Elie Housman, says:

Our goal is to commercialize 'chipless' printed RFID codes that permit 'non-line-of-sight' collection of product authenticating information and are suitable for a variety of applications, at a cost of less than one cent per item.

Sub-one cent item-level tags would change everything. If this happens, and the demand could skyrocket. On the other hand, if the demand skyrockets and the supply does not increase, the price might rise. It'll be interesting to see what transpires, as cheap item-level tags are what many potential end users of RFID have been waiting for, particularly for inventory control and supply chain, as well as other applications.

RFID Applications: CCM - Cold Chain Management

[This post is part of a short series aimed at giving a quick overview of existing and future applications of RFID - radio frequencyidentification - technology .] Cold Chain Management (CCM) has applications in any industry where strict temperature control must be maintained for products or assets. Example uses are for pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, perishable food products, and chemicals. A new breed of temperature-sensitive RFID tags are helping to automate CCM processes, thus reducing spoilage or critical situations (in the case of medical equipment for surgery, etc.). These RFID CCM systems not only monitor temperatures - or sometimes even light or humidity - but typically also wirelessly transmit any data collected to a central system where a human being can filter the data and act upon a situation as necessary.

A loosely-related application (though not part of CCM) of temperature-sensitive RFID tags is for monitoring livestock, to more readily detect when an animal might be sick. This would be based on not only a change in body temperature - as measured by an ear tag-thermometer combo - but the persistence of change over an extended duration.

[additional sources: SMB Edge, Canadian Forces Logistics, RFID Journal, Medical Device Link]

Impinj + Reva Achieve Dense RFID Reading

In Europe, RFID readers must use a "listen-before-talk" technique, where a reader checks for other signals before transmitting its own broadcast. Reva Systems and Impinj performed a joint test using 36 readers and a single listen-before-talk sensor, as well as a Reva TAP (Tag Acquisition Processor) to achieve "dense reading" rates of 98-99% accuracy - previously unheard of for such signal density. Furthermore, the European spectrum for UHF (Ultra High Frequency) RFID is only 3 Mhz compared to 26 Mhz in the USA. So the net result is that the achievement might mean wider adoption of RFID in European, especially in the supply chain.

[BusinessWire via RFID Update]

Metal-Compatible RFID Transponders

--By Raj Dash, Staff Writer

One of the problems with HF (High Frequency) RFID tags is that typically do not function well on, in, or near metal. There are, however, many industrial applications where RFID would be a boon. Trials show that UHF Gen2 RFID tags do much better in these situations. As such, Sontec Co. has devised an RFID transponder for RSC (Retail Supply Chain) use that functions well around the high metal content of consumer goods such as appliances and electronics.

The company's EPC Gen 2 tags' silicon chips are supplied by Texas Instruments and is actually mounted on metal - something no one would even bother to try with other RFID chips. This chip gets around a number of the interference problems.

[via RFID News]

AIM Global RFID Position Statement

--By Raj Dash, Staff Writer

AIM Global, a non-profit industry trade association with a focus on automatic identification technologies, published a "position statement" RFID solutions and issues. In the paper, AIM Global expressed their support for the use of item-level tagging for supply chain use, especially in promoting a secure food chain and for pharmaceutical pedigreeing.

They did not take a stance on whether HF (high frequency) or UHF (ultra high frequency) tags were the better solution, saying that both have their place. In addition, they plan to fund efforts to remove artificial regulatory barriers and promote education of RFID. Get more details from the position paper (free registration required). [via RFID Solutions Online]