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Benefits of Case/Pallet Tagging
Rapidly Flow to Retailers
In a review and outlook report to be published in January, RFID research firm IDTechEx says supply chain applications of the technology have failed to live up to expectations. Summarizing the reports findings, IDTechEx CEO Raghu Das said, "the pallet/case market for RFID tags became the nearest thing to a black hole in the RFID universe in 2006, thanks to reluctant mandated customers, technical problems and pricing for volumes that never came despite retailers reporting excellent paybacks." According to this research, the RFID tagging of under 400 million pallets and cases for large retailers over the past two years has already improved these retailers'margins by up to $100 million. However, this was provided at a loss of about $100 million to the consumer goods companies that did the tagging. In addition, the RFID suppliers to these consumer goods companies also lost about $100 million in the exercise. In the case of the RFID suppliers, that money came from investors and parent companies. System integrators are faring better, with some even claiming to make money installing pallet/case RFID infrastructure at CPG companies and retailers.
Although IDTechEx forecast that retail eventually will be the biggest market by far for RFID, it says the real opportunity for them is with item level tagging. Retail mandates asked for their top suppliers to tag the pallets and cases of the highest volume products they sell, Das says. "The highest volume products tend to be those which are lower value and lower margin and therefore it comes as no surprise that most consumer goods suppliers don't get a payback. For RFID suppliers, item level tagging for retailers is a better business where high value products are tagged first."
http://www.idtechex.com
RFID for Process Improvement
Trumps Customer Mandated Uses
A survey of 275 manufacturing firms by ChainLink Research reveals that ROI is much greater on RFID projects that are driven by process improvement rather than by customer mandates. The report, RFID for Manufacturers, drills deep into specific process improvements manufacturers are making across the enterprise--in inbound logistics, receiving, the plant floor, shipping, distribution, service and support, asset management, and managing the chain of custody. Based on its research, ChainLink estimates that RFID spending by manufacturers will more than double from 2005 to 2007. These investments will support a rich and diverse set of RFID implementations, especially on the plant floor. One surprising finding of the research was that 67 percent of smaller companies (under $25 million) are implementing or planning to implement RFID. And these smaller firms are the most likely to be driven by process improvement goals (63 percent) or by both process improvement and mandates (27 percent), rather than by customer mandates alone (10 percent). ChainLine will present a webinar on the findings Jan. 10th.
www.clresearch.com/rfidmfg.htm
Deutsche Post Looks to RFID
To Track Mail Containers
Deutsche Post World Net (DPWN) has launched a project to develop passive RFID tags incorporating a small, rewriteable display for use on mail containers. The D-RFID tags, as they're called, will be used to track 6 million yellow shipping crates that hold the 70 million letters passing daily through DPWN's 84 distribution centers. At present, each container carries a thick paper label noting, in typed text, the contents of the box and the distribution center or mail truck for which it is destined. It also carries a bar code with the same information that is read by conveyor systems. DPWN currently throws away about 500 million of these paper labels per year and the RFID project was designed to eliminate this environmental waste.
D-RFID tags are envisioned as high-frequency passive RFID tags with displays powered by the tags, which draw their energy from the magnetic field of the RFID interrogator. Tags located on bins would be exposed to rain, snow, bumps, heat and washing, so their displays must be easily read from all angles without a glare. In addition, they would have to last about four or five years for such a system to be cheaper than paper labeling, says Gerhard Stonner, DPWN's head of engineering. Technology partners working on the project include the German Federal Ministry of Research, the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Micro-integration, the University of Paderborn, Vossloh Information Technologies and Spree hybrid & Kommunikationstechnik.
http://www.rfidjournal.com
RFID Cold Chain: Yes We Have No Bananas
Chiquita, well known for being a banana supplier, is now using refrigerated cargo containers for shipping produce, which has driven the need for CCM (Cold Chain Managment) and RFID technology. Chiquita teamed up with the University of Arkansas' RFID Research Center to come up with a way to monitor temperature conditions and determine when produce might have been compromised. This would replace the current method, which produces false temperature readings at times, sometimes resulting in a full trailer of produce being rejected. The company says efficient CCM will reduce instances of lost revenue.
http://www.rfidgazette.com
IBM Introduces Middleware for RFID
IBM has launched a middleware product created to provide a building block for multiple-company RFID supply chain applications. WebSphere RFID Information Center is built on specifications for the forthcoming EPC Information Services (EPCIS) standard from EPCglobal, which provides a framework for supply chain partners to securely exchange EPC-related data. Pre-release customers have used the software for pharmaceutical electronic pedigree pilots, track-and-trace applications for perishable foods, customs clearance, and other applications. Big names cited in the announcement include consumer packaged goods giant Unilever, e-customs project ITAIDE in Europe, and 'Big Three' pharmaceutical distributor AmerisourceBergen.
Amerisource Bergen said it would use the solution in its supply chain tracking and authentication pilot, an important implementation since IBM is promoting the software as a valuable component for electronic pedigree systems. Related uses include product authentication for counterfeit deterrence, and advanced monitoring and inventory management applications.
"Some of the use cases we and our customers have developed have hundreds of events occurring each second," said Craig Asher, IBM Software Group's chief architect for the product and also co-chair of EPCglobal's Software Action Group for EPCIS. "WebSphere RFID Information Center makes it possible for business people to interact with RFID data. The data is no longer just a string of numbers."
Asher says that the IBM solution works on top of the third layer of EPCglobal's RFID architecture, which is where EPC event data is put into context so it can be meaningful for application software. The first layer is the tag and reader, and the second layer is preliminary filtering of raw data. Layer 3 provides the link to the EPCIS data repository.
http://www.rfidupdate.com
Aberdeen Research Cites Visibility
Is Key Reason for RFID Use
During the last six months, Aberdeen's Emerging Technologies Practice has surveyed more than 300 organizations using or planning to adopt RFID technology. Of those, 68 percent indicate that their primary objective in adopting the technology is to enable or optimize business processes related to the supply chain. Why are the majority of RFID projects related to the production and movement of goods? The answer, says Aberdeen, is visibility.
In its benchmark report, "Total Supply Chain Visibility with RFID," Aberdeen notes that achieving total supply chain visibility is still an elusive goal for most enterprises, even those with mature RFID initiatives. The proposition is costly, time-consuming and requires unprecedented cooperation and collaboration among the organizations involved, many of whom have competing objectives and incompatible requirements for the technology. Some anticipate immediate rewards from the endeavor; others have trouble seeing any value for themselves at all. However, some enterprises have begun to develop standards-based approaches to this conundrum and are publicly acknowledging that applications of RFID to the supply chain can avoid loss, speed time-to-market, insure quality, facilitate service, reduce paperwork, improve workforce efficiency, and provide forward visibility to demand. This report illuminates the early successes and describes a roadmap to achieving total supply chain visibility.
http://www.aberdeen.com
Intermec Donates Equipment for Research
Intermec Inc. has donated mobile RFID hardware to the University of Arkansas RFID Research Center. The center works primarily in the retail, manufacturing and transportation domains to examine the use of RFID, its effects on business and society and how best to use the technology within the supply chain.
Intermec's donation includes the company's 761 ruggedized mobile computer and IP4 portable RFID reader along with a custom Intermec RFID application. Designed for global use, the Intermec products support RFID EPC Gen 2, ISO 180006b and 6c industry standards, and meet ETSI and FCC RF certifications. The products also are certified to be compatible with IBM, SAP, Oracle, Sun and Microsoft enterprise software for seamless integration.
"Through this donation, Intermec is helping the University of Arkansas create innovative supply-chain process improvements and advance the adoption and awareness of RFID," said Dr. Bill Hardgrave, director of the RFID Research Center. "Intermec technology is a valued addition to our advanced research capabilities." The center's 8,000 square-foot lab models a production warehouse environment and is available for tours, as well as RFID testing and training.
http://www.businesswire.com
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