As background, recall that the first part of 2009 was very weak as the market contracted in the face of meaningful economic uncertainty and the newness of RFID. We saw improvement beginning in the May/June timeframe and with 4Q09 we believe the industry was likely back to peak revenue. Much of the recovery was lead by Asia, most notably South Korea, Japan and China. We also saw apparel pilots jump in numbers, which also contributed to the improved growth. Overall for 2009, we estimate the industry was flat, with about 450M-500M tags used for Gen 2 applications. We did see a meaningful jump in software revenue, albeit off of a small base. Many companies reported seeing good sequential growth in both 3Q09 and 4Q09. By most accounts, expectations are that 1Q010 will also show sequential growth. We expect this sequential growth will build throughout the remaining quarters of 2010.

Equipment and Solution Status
By and large, end users see current hardware as having good quality and providing sufficient read rates; they are also encouraged with continued declines in pricing, primarily for readers. The key challenge is that equipment configuration is generally customized by application. We expect improvements in reader functionality and third party software will make this configuration process more automated and less costly. Beyond the reader, there remains a good bit of learning that is necessary in terms of designing processes and tag placement.

There is very good tag capability with Monza-3 and Higgs-3 silicon in terms of read performance and a reasonable level of location accuracy. We expect continued improvements in tag technology will reduce the tag placement problem. Tego has enabled meaningful extended memory capability that is now available. We see a wide variety of product offerings designed for specific applications for basic inlays as well as significantly ruggedized versions.

We see the best development having come from full solution capability aimed at a wide number of applications, including medical cabinets and inventory tracking, laundry tracking, steel fabrication, apparel inventory, timber inventory management, and many others. These solutions are in use today, generating a good ROI and can be ported to similar applications. We see meaningful investment in this area, and we are encouraged that end customers are allowing solutions to be developed in live environments. This leads to rapid updates and improved offerings.

Pricing
As a follow-up to UPM and Avery putting forward announcements of a 10% price increase, we have a few observations and a comment. With respect to our observation, we have heard of several instances where existing customers have been told that their pricing won’t change, potentially undermining the cost increase effort. Our view is that this is a natural phenomenon as customers place significant resistance to the increase and individual salesmen seek to protect their relationships. Our view is that it is too early to truly understand to what extent the price increase will take hold. Our comment is this – the companies should be absolutely focused on pricing the tags appropriately to make a profit. It is time to focus on customers that will gain appropriate value from RFID and are willing to pay accordingly. And, it is sure not time for one vendor to play price games to gain share. It is an emerging market that needs to realize value to progress, playing a share game is not helpful.

For Complete Article, Please See the Upcoming RFID Monthly Newsletter
Please see the upcoming March edition of the RFID Monthly Newsletter to see the full article, which includes commentary by key vertical markets.

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Gen 2 Market Perspective is a post from: RFID Monthly

Guest Article – By Chris Hanebeck

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 17 miners are killed each year by mobile mining equipment. Oddly enough, the vast majority of these accidents occur in surface mines where neither visibility nor space are typical limitations. Given that these fatalities reoccur year after year, we need to ask why they happen. Miners, more than anyone else, are keenly aware of the risks involved in their work, including those related to performing tasks in close proximity to large equipment. Most of the accidents involving miners and mobile mining equipment occurred when equipment operators and miners were preoccupied with a task at hand or were very comfortable in their work; thus the miners were not observing the equipment or required safety standards closely enough (see http://www.msha.gov/FATALS/2010/FAB10m02.asp for a recent example). Not surprisingly, most collisions happened when pedestrians were in the “blind-spots” of the equipment. While the industry has experimented with a number of technologies such as radar, video capture and proximity sensors, similar to those used in cars today, none of these have proven to be effective in solving the problem of fatalities among miners. According to NIOSH several RFID technologies, ranging from LF to UWB, are potential options, though.

Preventative Solutions
It is conceivable that RFID readers are placed on the equipment while miners wear tags. A passive RFID system can alert equipment operators of pedestrians in close proximity and, thus, enable the operator to proceed with caution. If more than one reader is mounted on the equipment, the system can further alert the operator on which side the person is located. Passive RFID systems have several limitations, though, including a typically short read range, a fairly long lag time (even when measured in seconds) before information is processed and also that the location of a tag may not necessarily be established within the required accuracy. An active RFID system, based on ultra wideband technology, for example, can substantially improve the solution in that tag performance is superior and such systems have a high accuracy for determining a person or object location. Obviously, the higher cost of readers and tags makes this a solution that may only work within a broader range of application scenarios to share the initial investment. Additional application areas can include site access and general safety management, as well as monitoring of work activities (where appropriate and ethical) and equipment utilization. An interesting, and in many cases more attractive, third solution is a passive RFID system that uses phased array antennae such as the one offered by Mojix where the tag cost is very low, while the mine operator can leverage the same benefits that an active RFID solution provides. To determine which technology is best suited for a given mine, it is obviously necessary to look into the specific circumstances of each case. In our experience a thorough analysis of the business processes quickly leads to a cost-benefit model, which can be used to justify further investigation and to begin a possible project.

Accident Response
An active RFID or phased array antennae passive system is highly useful when it comes to disaster recovery, as well, due to the fact that the last location of personnel is known and users can quickly establish which personnel was close to an accident or safety hazard. These processes can be especially valuable when the tag location accuracy is high and ping rates are in the two to five second range. The tag reads can be used to: (1) establish if all miners have gathered in their safe areas for evacuation purposes; (2) take away the need to manually account for personnel; and (3) quickly establish when an individual is in an area different than the assigned one. At the same time, equipment ranging from laptop computers to heavy machinery can be monitored and accounted for quickly and automatically. When the active RFID or phased array antennae passive system is combined with video feeds, it provides security staff and management in the control room with the ability to review footage of an accident and to see an individual’s reactions, such as miners approaching or retreating from a potentially dangerous area. This will be a key capability to assist in determining the necessary course of action. For example, someone running towards an explosion site could possibly be trying to help another person or he simply could be in shock, thus not understanding the consequences of his actions. While a RFID tag read, when displayed on a computer map of the facility would not provide sufficient clues as to which of the two scenarios is taking place, a video image combined with RFID tag reads will provide the necessary clarity about what is actually occurring. The system now becomes an indispensible tool allowing disaster response teams to be efficiently dispatched in order to identify wounded personnel very quickly and to immediately help those who need it most. Based on video feeds and possibly other sensors, the emergency response team can also establish which areas are accessible, in order to provide help, and which areas are not.

Underground Mines
The technologies that are used in underground mines tend to be more complex, in that they are not as easy to implement and maintain for a variety of reasons. At the same time, UWB technology is not permitted for use in indoor applications in certain countries. The mining industry has discussed a number of options including passive RFID systems where miners wear tags or even readers. Both passive and active RFID systems have their advantages and neither has been established as a de-facto standard, yet. The applications relating to underground mines must further include disaster recovery and redundant communication capabilities. The Miner Act of 2006 has called for proposals about how to locate miners underground in case of emergencies. The mining industry is responding with different technological solutions including passive RFID, reverse RFID (miners wearing readers), mesh networks and active solutions. What is encouraging is that the industry experts are looking beyond the immediate and important safety aspects of an RFID system to solve efficiency and work-related problems as well as routine safety tasks such as checking for health and work-related certifications and regular appraisals of equipment.

Outlook
In summary, the mining industry seems to be ripe for a solution that goes beyond the immediate need in disaster recovery. Mining applications provide the opportunity to implement RFID infrastructure, whether they are based on active, passive or reverse RFID technology, for a multitude of applications that could even go as far as to establish how work is performed in order to improve specific aspects of it. The initial business case in mining is straight forward in that these RFID applications need to protect and save human lives first and foremost. Putting a cost to this objective is obviously not necessary for a variety of reasons. What is most important for implementers and users alike is that mining is a field where RFID technology can provide a lasting contribution to how the industry operates. At the same time, the Miner Act of 2006 will likely continue to provide a motivation for the industry to push ahead so that we might see a number of interesting and encouraging applications for RFID soon. It is also very likely that the initiatives in mining, when they are implemented through RFID technology, will serve as blueprints for similar industries such as construction, oil & gas or the railroads. This legislation may ultimately prove to be a strong impetus to deploy RFID technology in very intelligent and innovative ways.

Chris Hanebeck is a supply chain management and RFID consultant with 18 years of experience in international management consulting, strategy development, change management, software implementation and technology innovation. He has successfully completed projects for over 65 clients on three continents, authored over 50 publications, holds US patents on RFID and wireless technology and regularly speaks at major conferences. Chris is also a member of the faculty at the University of North Texas where he teaches courses on supply chain strategy and enterprise resource planning. He can be reached at hhanebeck@yahoo.com.

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RFID in Mining is a post from: RFID Monthly

Guest Column – By John Burnell

Cloud computing is the latest Next Big Thing in IT, and could be a good thing for RFID providers. (Sorry RFID industry colleagues, but yes, that means we’re not the Next Big Thing anymore. By my estimation, RFID was two or three Next Big Things ago, surpassed by mobility, virtualization, and maybe open source). Cloud computing is becoming a catchall used to describe a range of IT services and architectures that feature shared and/or managed resources that are delivered over the Internet or another network. I believe the cloud is an intriguing business model for RFID providers to pursue, because it mitigates three of prospects’ leading fears that hamper RFID adoption: implementation and support costs, business value, and the risk of getting stuck with outdated technology. 

Salesforce.com is probably the best-known example of a cloud service, but enterprise data storage may be the most widely used. The cloud model has gained acceptance very quickly, and is projected to undergo exponential growth. This year, 46 percent of CIOs say they absolutely will use cloud computing or are more likely to do so than they were in the past, up from 31 percent just a year ago according to the InformationWeek Analytics 2010 Outlook Survey. Cloud computing won a lot of fans last year when capital and personnel budgets were tight, because it allows companies to deploy new systems without having to make a big up-front investment. 

Anecdotal evidence also shows how quickly and how far cloud computing’s influence is spreading. One of my clients is a major international business consulting firm with no vested interest in cloud computing. Its advisors say that executives – outside the CIO – have become so enamored with the short-term cost savings and other benefits that cloud computing initiatives are providing that they are actively looking to see if non-IT functions could be obtained on a service model. It’s causing them to rethink outsourcing strategies and their internal back office operations. They can think creatively because so much functionality is available via cloud or services models, including human resources systems, mobile device management, WMS and even ERP (NetSuite will even push ERP functions to an iPhone). 

Cloud and SaaS have already reached the RFID Industry. For example, Odyssey provides its Odyssey RFID 4DoD  exclusively as a hosted solution. Odyssey RFID 4DoD  enables Department of Defense suppliers to comply with multiple RFID shipment labeling and Wide Area Workflow (WAWF) data reporting requirements. The firm has won a good share of the DoD supplier market, and Vice President of Sales and Marketing Andrew Lim told me the prospect base is very receptive to the services model. 

“People really like it compared to traditional software solution integration projects because they get exactly what they expect to get, and they pay exactly what they expect to pay,” Lim said. “The biggest obstacle is people don’t understand the offering, because it’s such a radical departure from the traditional model.” 

RFID as a service doesn’t need to be confined to a niche. Fluensee offers asset tracking solutions on a subscription basis, and several other vendors have ongoing services or have run special programs with equipment upgrade and service level guarantees. VDC Research recently commented that the services model is underutilized in the RFID market, but vendors who offer it have been successful, and in many cases outperformed the market at large in 2009. 

I say more solution providers should seed the RFID cloud. Here are five reasons I think RFID is a great fit for cloud delivery models, and five reasons it might not be.

RFID is Good for the Cloud Because…
1. It takes a lot of risk out of deployment. Many users have been reluctant to implement RFID because they were unsure of technology performance or the best choice of frequencies, standards and products. Fear of vendor lock-in is also an implementation obstacle. The cloud model alleviates these fears because the customer doesn’t actually buy the equipment, and the vendor is responsible for maintenance and upgrades. 

2. It reduces resource commitments. Support is often a big concern with RFID prospects, because they have little or no previous experience with the technology. Many of these worries go away when the applications and the servers that host them, are off site and become someone else’s responsibility to maintain. Incidentally, while the cloud model introduces valid concerns about uptime, availability and security, cloud services are largely free of the horror stories that have marked the beginnings of other technology adoption curves. 

3. Scalability. One of the key value propositions of cloud and SaaS models is they allow users to respond to demand fluctuation without investing in additional equipment and labor. The RFID compliance labeling system needed to satisfy a toy maker that ships 70 percent of its yearly volume in the six weeks prior to Christmas would be underutilized most of the rest of the year. The service model can take this excess capacity – and costs inherent with it – off the books. 

4. Costs aren’t just shifted, they’re reduced. The cloud and SaaS are pay-as-you-go models where the customer pays a monthly subscription fee but does not need to make a significant up-front investment in software licensing, equipment and service contracts. This fact alone can make RFID implementations possible for organizations that otherwise couldn’t afford them. Plus, it can be easier to get project approval when the project doesn’t have to be paid for from the capital expenditures budget, which is currently tight at many companies. 

5. If ROI is there, it will get there faster. What’s an RFID article without the phrase “Rapid ROI?” I’m not going to argue the ROI value proposition here, other than to make one point. Managed services implementations typically are completed faster than traditional ones because solution providers leverage existing resources and have well-defined offering. The sooner implementation is complete, the sooner it can provide value.

RFID Won’t Work in the Cloud Because…
1. RFID solutions aren’t software. While the cloud can host RFID applications, users still need to get physical tags on items, and these tags can’t be read from a remote service provider data center. Users will still need to install and work with physical equipment. 

2. Scalability benefits are limited. When RFID systems expand some costs will go up, regardless of the elasticity provided by a services model. When volumes go up, companies will spend more on tags and any labor associated with applying and reading them. Scalability may be limited for vendors too. The cloud model is successful for service providers because it enables them to leverage a core resource across multiple customers. That’s why cloud-based storage or Google Apps work so well – initial investments in storage capacity and software development, respectively, are recouped by selling the same asset again and again. In contrast, RFID systems tend to be highly customized, which limits the ability to leverage. However, since WMS and ERP have been delivered through the cloud, there’s no reason to think plenty of RFID-enabled applications couldn’t be too.

3. It’s not the delivery model that’s holding RFID back. The biggest barrier to RFID adoption is that many companies simply don’t see the business value of it. While a cloud delivery model can improve the RFID value proposition by reducing investment and support needs. Ultimately, the decision to implement RFID must be swayed by the business value of the technology itself. That leads us to the next problem… 

4. Business process changes create value, not wireless tags. RFID is most successful when it enables users to do things a better way. Cloud delivery doesn’t necessarily created the needed business process changes, or make it any easier to do so. 

5. Customers will be cloudy. Despite the growth of cloud and SaaS, they are relatively immature and are new to many organizations. RFID prospects already struggle to see the value of the technology few have experience with it. So, to sell cloud-based RFID services, you’ll need to convince customers of both the value of RFID technology and of the cloud delivery model. According to my math, if you get 75 percent buy-in on RFID value proposition, and 75 percent buy-in on the delivery model, you don’t get a 150 percent chance of the prospect saying yes – your likelihood of success is more like 56 percent (0.75 x 0.75). 

Most of us don’t know the answers to how these issues will play out. But given the growth of interest in cloud-based models, and the relative stagnation of the RFID industry, RFID solution providers should start examining the question of whether a cloud approach is good for their business. 

This article reprinted with permission.

John Burnell is principal of Burnell Reports, which provides customer education, marketing communications and research services for technology vendors. He has been in the RFID industry since 1990 and formerly was editor-in-chief of Frontline Solutions, and senior correspondent for RFID Update. Contact him at +1 216.571.2319 or john@burnell.com, or visit www.BurnellReports.com.

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RFID Providers Should Get Their Heads in the Cloud is a post from: RFID Monthly

Key highlights from the February 2010 edition include.  

• Gen 2 Tag Price Increase. We understand that UPM Raflatac and Avery will implement a 10% price increase for all UHF inlays effective March 1; Avery Dennison will follow on April 1. Some HF products will also be subject to the price increase. In our view, this is simply a reaction to basic market forces in that volumes are simply too low at current pricing to make money, particularly given increases in commodity costs.
   
• RFID Solution at Rica Lewis Looks Compelling. Rica Lewis, a European provider of Jeans, has implemented item-level tracking RFID tracking to improve inventory management and merchandising. Our basic analysis suggests a compelling revenue enhancement benefit that well exceeds the incremental costs of deployment once fully implemented. Rica Lewis is tagging several hundred thousand pair of jeans today and expects to be tagging its full product set of 5M pair by year-end. Tagging occurs at the source.
   
• Opinion: RFID as a Revenue Enhancement Tool. More CEOs should be aware that RFID can help drive incremental revenue in a wide number of industries. Today, most executives likely consider RFID to be an operational efficiency tool. Nonetheless, we see examples where RFID enables revenue enhancement by improving customer-facing tasks, offering a differentiated service, providing business intelligence or through offering better billing practices. We also provide some examples where revenue enhancement could be added to existing programs.
   
• Thought Leadership: Embedding RFID into Strategy. When companies adopt a new technology, they need to consider its impact on the overall performance of the organization. Obviously, a technology which costs more than it generates in value is not suited for widespread adoption; however, cost, time, quality and flexibility are not the only criteria for successful RFID implementations. Namely the ability to change the competitive landscape in an industry is one factor that merits consideration. Guest Article – Chris Hanebeck 

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RFID Monthly Newsletter – February 2010 is a post from: RFID Monthly

Stratum Global announced the appointment of Angela Trillhasse to Vice President, Sales and Marketing. Trillhause has previously worked with solution providers in Business Development and Sales Executive roles. She began her career with IBM working as a Systems Engineer, Marketing Representative and Business Unit Executive. 

Ubisense announced that Peter Batty is rejoining the organization as VP of Geospatial Technology. Batter was formerly the CTO of two leading geospatial software companies, Intergraph and Smallword. He was also a co-founder and CTO of Ten Sails, the company that provided early stage funding to and later merged with Ubisense. 

The UID Supplier Alliance announced that it has selected a 2010 Chairperson and Vice Chairperson. Ken Koldan has been elected Chairperson and Don Sennott has been elected Vice Chairperson. Koldan is the New Business Development Manager for FLEXcon Co. Inc. and Sennott is the Senior Sales Manager/UID Program Manager for the Imaging Systems Divisions of Horizons. 

Fujitsu Frontech North America announced that the new Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel in Vancouver is using the new Fujitsu WT-A511 UHF band RFID tags to more accurately manage its inventory of 10,000 employee uniforms and 25,000 bathrobes, towels, tablecloths, sheets and other linens. The tags are intended to withstand hundreds of washings, harsh chemicals of dry cleaning, temperatures of 250 deg F for drying and 400 deg F for ironing, and pressure applied by uniform pressing machines. 

UPM Raflatac announced that India-based Viraj Profiles, a manufacturer of stainless steel profiles, has implemented RFID to attain real-time location data for all steel profile bundles. The company plans to attain accurate bundle retrieval to prevent erroneous shipments, and enable faster inventory and reduced labor costs. Viraj implemented a solution from Vicinity RFID Solutions that included UPM Raflatac ShortDipole UHF tags and Psion Teklogix UHF Handheld Readers. 

AeroScout announced the deployment of its Logistics Visibility solution at European express delivery provider TNT Express. TNT deployed AeroScout’s Logistics RTLS system to automate the inventory management of its roll cages, which are metal carriers used to transport parcels between depots across the company’s European road network. AeroScout’s Wi-Fi tags are attached to each roll cage, and AeroScout’s MobileView software enables the tracking and management of the carriers and parcels. The solution is designed to eliminate manual roll cage tracking. By eliminating manual tracking, TNT plans to improve asset utilization, decrease roll cage replacement costs and reduce delivery delays. TNT Express intends to use MobileView to track 16,000 roll cages across Europe, and will also use the system to generate alerts for surpluses and shortages of cages at depots.  

AssetPulse announced that Alco Water Service in Salinas, CA has been using AssetPulse’s RFID solution for 18 months to ensure security and compliance of its well sites. Each of Alco’s well sites consists of a small pump house surrounded by a barbed fence. For security reasons, Alco needs a record of activities for each pump station, including a time-stamped trail of personnel entering the pump station. AssetPulse distributed 433 MHz active RFID badges to personnel after testing for interference with Variable Frequency Drives and other electronics at the pump station to ensure proper functionality. 

HID announced the integration of its iCLASS contactless smart card technology in U.S. Bank’s PayID card program, which uses a single card for multiple functionalities, incuding physical access, contactless payments and traditional magnetic stripe purchases. The HID iCLASS PayID card contains contactless smart card chip technology from INSIDE Contactless and CPI Card Group managed the production of cards for the program. 

Zebra announced that Yilport Container Terminal in Gebze, Turkey has implemented Navis SPARCS N4 to support the terminal’s targeted growth of 2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in five years. The terminal is currently at 400,000 TEU, and intends to use the web-based SPARCS N4 system to reduce operating costs, improve customer support and increase stacking yard capacity. 

TransCore announced that Snowland Freight, a Minnesota-based freight brokerage, has adopted TransCore’s Logistics Software, a Windows-based transportation management system designed for brokers and 3PLs. The software package comes with business analytics and carrier rate calculators, intended to enable Snowland to generate carrier rate confirmations via email by enabling web-based communication both carriers and customers. 

Transcore announced that Landstar System has completed integration of TransCore’s CarrierWatch monitoring service into its companywide transportation management software (TMS) system. Through the integration, Landstar intends to provide its sales agents with the latest up-to-date safety and authority carrier data, along with paperless regulatory data retention for all carriers utilized. 

Terso Solutions has expanded into Europe by forming Terso GmbH, based in Mannheim, Germany. Terso GmbH will assemble RFID-enabled refrigerators, freezers and cabinets, as well as provide technical and customer support for the European market in a variety of industries, including healthcare, life sciences and security. Joe Pleshek, President and CEO of Terso Solutions has assumed CEO duties of Terso GmbH. 

Psion Teklogix and TECSYS announced that Psion Teklogix’s rugged handheld computers have been certified on TECSYS Visual Logistics Warehouse Management System (WMS), which provides visual instructions for workers and is intended to enable improved order accuracy and fill rates. 

ClearCount Medical Solutions announced 510(k) clearance from the U.S. FDA to begin commercialization of its SmartWand-DTX system. The solution provides hospitals and surgery centers with a new patient safety tool to augment manual sponge counts while providing positive identification and detection of retained surgical sponges. This offering is complementary to ClearCount’s award-winning SmartSponge system, which enables a surgeon to scan a patient before closing to identify and locate unintentionally retained surgical sponges. 

Identive Group announced the consolidation of its facility in Mainz, Germany with its European headquarters in Ismaning, Germany. The Mainz office is expected to be closed by the end of March 2010. With the closing of the facility, the company plans to eliminate 13% of its global workforce, which is scheduled to be complete by end of February 2010. 

Ekahau announced a new program to provide customers with a risk-free approach to try enterprise-grade Wi-Fi tracking applications in their organizations. Ekahau’s program will allow customers to purchase and use the Ekahau RTLS system and receive their investment back if not satisfied with the system’s performance.

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Corporate News Summary – February 2010 is a post from: RFID Monthly

Schweizer Electronic and Siemens have agreed to a cooperation for the manufacture(odd wording) and marketing of RFID transponders with integrated sensor technology to be called ‘SEAGSens.’ Schweizer will be responsible for the manufacture of the transponders developed in collaboration with the Offenburg University and Siemens. Siemens will assume the distribution and marketing. The SEAGSens are intended to be used in seamless temperature monitoring, tracing and identification of blood bags, medications or foodstuffs. Pilot projects are underway and the first series production order of the transponder has been placed. 

Ryzex announced that its North American business has joined the Motorola Enterprise Mobility PartnerSelect Program. This alliance extends the existing relationship between Motorola and Ryzex’s European division. Ryzex North America will now offer Motorola enterprise mobility solutions, such as bar code scanners, mobile computers, wireless LAN solutions and RFID products. 

mophie announced a collaboration with Flight System Consulting and Focal Point Computer to develop an iPhone mobile payment solution for FeliCa technology, which was originally developed by Sony and is used in ~100 million mobile phones  and 120 million transportation and electronic money cards in Japan. The new iPhone solution, called marketplace FeliCa, will allow users to instantly read and write electronic memory card information using only an iPhone and the marketplace FeliCa App. 

Psion Teklogix also announced a partnership with Viascan to provide participant location data during the 44^th Annual Canadian Ski Marathon scheduled for February 13-14, 2010. Twenty-two of Psion Teklogix’ Workabout Pro rugged handheld computers equipped with Viascan’s ViaTrack mobile application will scan the bibs of skiers at checkpoints along the 160 km trail, and data will be loaded into Viascan’s VServer and communicated the to the results center. 

Dallmeier and initPRO have collaborated to integrate RFID data into images for data surveillance. In the system, the initPRO reader sends data to the Dallmeier recorder via Ethernet. The data is then displayed within the management software PView, either in or next to the video image. A particular application for the technology is the documentation of the transfer of risk with logistics services providers, as parcels can be scanned for damage or loss upon transfer and data can be saved by the digital recording system. 

A group of payment and wireless providers announced a payment infrastructure trial bringing SIM-based mobile payments to Slovenia. Using Mobitel handsets, participants in the trial will be able to make purchases at any Slovenia merchant locations using MasterCard and Maestro PayPass contactless payment cards. Banka Koper’s payment service will be provisioned over-the-air onto a single-wire protocol SIM card. Both the MasterCard M/Chip application and Mobitel’s single-wire protocol NFC SIM card have been developed by Sagem Orga. The NFC-compliant Mobitel handset, manufactured by Sagem Wireless, incorporates INSIDE’s MicroRead NFC solution, which handles communication with NFC terminals, tags and other NFC handsets. The trial is scheduled to run through June 2010. 

Smart card manufacturers Giesecke & Devrient and Oberthur, and chip suppliers Infineon Technologies and INSIDE Contactless announced the launch of an initiative to provide a new security solution for public transit applications. The solution will build on an open source standard now implemented by the four partner companies, and other participants in the smart card industry have been invited to join. The new standard is intended to bring improve performance and security for public transport applications, as well as availability of multiple sources for chip products. The first emulation chips and transportation smart cards using this standard are scheduled to be available by the end of 2010.

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Partnerships – February 2010 is a post from: RFID Monthly

Cenveo also affirmed that its adjusted EBITDA for 4Q09 is expected to be greater than the $56.3 million adjusted EBITDA for 3Q09. Based on preliminary results, the company expects that 4Q09 revenues will range from $445 million – $460 million. The company also announced that, as of January 2, its total outstanding debt was approximately $1.23 billion. 

Confidex secured €5 million to expand its production capacity, enhance its brand and develop solutions for new applications, including DASH7. Suomen Teollisuussijoitus, Aura Capital and previous owners have invested a total of €2.7 million and a €2.3 million euro loan was granted by Finnvera and the Sampo Bank Plc. Confidex’s new, larger production facility in Guanzhou, China was scheduled to open on February 5. The company also announced that it has joined the DASH7 alliance in January.  

Infineon Technologies reported F1Q10 results with revenue of €941 million, an increase of 10% over F4Q09 and an increase of 27% over the prior year quarter. Net income for F1Q10 came in at €66 million compared to €14 million during F4Q09 and a loss of €404 million during F1Q09. The company guided to F2Q10 revenue to be roughly flat or down slightly from F1Q10 due to seasonality. For full-year F2010, the company has increased its revenue guidance to be roughly 20% above that of F2009. 

Gemalto also announced that it has acquired Valimo Wireless, a mobile authentication provider. Valimo initially developed the two-channel, two-factor authentication based on Public Key Infrastructure. Valimo’s Mobile ID solution facilitates secure online banking, mobile payments, government services, electronic and mobile commerce, and identity and access rights management for enterprise applications. The two companies had been partners for five years, and in Turkey deployed a system to 30 million subscribers, representing the largest mobile digital signature rollout to date. 

ScanSource announced its F2Q10 results with revenue of $548 million compared to $477 million for the year ago quarter. The company reported diluted F2Q10 EPS of $0.44, an increase from $0.43 the prior-year quarter. Management provided F3Q10 guidance with revenue of $535 million to $555 million, well above consensus estimates. Management noted that the company would be increasing its marketing and reseller training for several existing technologies, including RFID. 

Intermec posted 4Q09 revenue of $179M, down -19%. EPS came in at $0.12, excluding charges, versus $0.19 last year. Intermec’s mobile computing business saw good sequential improvement among channel players and some enterprise customers. 

Zebra announced 4Q09 results with overall revenue of $222.5 million, down 4% y/y. EPS came in at $0.33 compared to $0.40 last year. Zebra Enterprise Solutions (ZES) revenue was down 12% y/y to $19M. Management guided the ZES 1Q10 revenue to be $19 million – $20 million, and indicated that its pipeline is gaining momentum, with renewed interest in auto-related solutions for inventory management and in defense applications for tracking assets and people. 

Bluehill ID announced results for 4Q09 with sales of EUR 4.8 million, up from EUR 3.9 million in 4Q08. Revenue was supported by strong sales from the Multicard Indentity Management business units in the Netherlands and Germany, as well as from high frequency RFID inlays through TagStar Systems. The company is planning to delist from the Open Market on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange at the end of February. The first consolidated financial information for Identive Group will be published for the first quarter of 2010.

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Funding News and Recent Reports – February 2010 is a post from: RFID Monthly

HSBC has selected Gemalto to supply an end-to-end EMV migration service across its 19 markets in the Asia Pacific region. Gemalto will provide services covering EMV credit card provisioning, secure personalization and business recovery planning. By replacing the traditional magnetic stripe with an EMB version, HSBC plans to keep customer data more secure.  

Gemalto announced that it is providing banking group Intesa Sanpaolo (Italy) with its Optelio solution for the first large-scale rollout of EMV PayPass contactless payment. The project will first be deployed in Milan, and Intesa Sanpaolo plans to extend the deployment nationwide while upgrading the POS terminal base. Eleven national retail chains including fast food restaurants, supermarkets and home improvement stores will initially provide acceptance points. Smaller merchants are expected to follow as the program continues. 

Gemalto also announced that it is supplying the Advanced Bank of Asia in Cambodia with its Ezio Pocket Reader strong authentication solution. The reader is compliant with the MasterCard Chip Authentication Program (CAP) and Visa Dynamic Passcode Authentication (DPA) standards and will combine a card and one-time PIN requirements to access secure customer accounts. 

Neology announced that it was awarded a contract to provide passive RFID tags, readers and integration support to the Mexican State of Puebla for the fifth consecutive year. Neology began integrating passive RFID devices into the regions vehicle registration cards, drivers licenses and windshield tags in 2005. The company also installed static RFID readers and connected to a web-based central network. After the State of Puebla implementation, Neology’s system was expanded nationwide. 

Atmel announced that Xirgo Technologies selected Atmel’s Cortex-M3 product family for its next-generation enhanced-battery-life asset tracking platform. Xiro’s communication devices are used in auto insurance, fleet tracking, vehicle financing, and dealer lot inventory verticals. Xirgo is targeting its next platform, designed to extend battery life of portable tracking solutions, for the emerging cargo and package tracking verticals. 

ODIN announced that it was awarded a contract from the U.S. Air Force Global Logistics Support Center to monitor and maintain its network of passive RFID readers deployed in the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii. The contract covers 150 passive RFID readers at seven Air Force bases and one Navy base. ODIN will be responsible for updating firmware, determining proper configuration and maintaining system performance. The contract, including two option years, extends until January 2013. 

Alien Technology and KWIKSCORE Race Timing Systems have been selected by South Australia’s motorcycle controlling body as the timing system for the South Australian Off-Road Championship Series. The system incorporates Alien’s Higgs-3 IC within Squiggle tags and the ALR-9900 Enterprise category reader. 

Wavetrend announced that it was awarded an exclusive contract to supply its active RFID, GPS and AssetTrace Software solution for a container management and high-value asset tracking application by Townley Group International. Townley Group is a project logistics freight forwarder located in Australia. The contact included real-time tracking of parts and components of an entire Australian Gold processing plant as it was transported by multiple ships from its original location in Cobar, Australia to a new location in San Juan, Argentina. 

TagMaster was selected by Bombardier Transportation to provide a system for a new Metro project in Asia. TagMaster made the first equipment delivery in December 2009 and all remaining equipment which includes more than 100 heavy-duty readers and 800 HD tags, will be delivered and installed during 2010. The readers will be mounted onboard trains to provide train location and positioning information to the Bombardier communication-based train control system being supplied. The accuracy of the RFID system is particularly important in areas where the train has to be stopped at a precise position to align with the platform. 

TagMaster also received an order for a vehicle access control in India related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games to be held in October. The installation will control access of vehicles entering and leaving arenas and other sites in the Delhi area. The order will be delivered in the first half of 2010. Indian distributor Pepperi-Fuchs will assist in the implementation of the government funded installation. 

Sentry Technology announced a $240,000 contract with the Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Library to install QuickCheck patron self-service kiosks and electromagnetic (EM) theft detection systems. The Sentry systems are being deployed to simultaneously process both EM strips and encrypted RFID labels. The systems include statistical report software as well as remote diagnostic control and management of QuickCheck over a local network via the internet.

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New Business Wins – February 2010 is a post from: RFID Monthly

Data Systems International introduced dcLINK 6, a platform designed to integrate barcode, RFID and voice technologies with enterprise solutions. With dcLINK 6, businesses can either use existing business processes or new custom tailored processes to operate on rugged data collection devices, smartphones or other browser-capable devices. With interfaces to Oracle’s E-Business Suite, JD Edwards Enterprise One, JD Edwards World and People Soft Enterprise and SAP Lawson M3, cdLINK enables enterprise applications and data available wherever it is physically needed. 

INSIDE Contactless announced that it is providing its Open NFC commercial-grade protocol stack available in a free and open source edition under the Apache License, Version 2.0. The Open NFC protocol stack provides a complete middleware solution or mobile phones, embedded products and other devices. Open NFP supports functionality from low-level RF control to high-level NFC Forum tag handling, peer-to-peer communications as well as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi pairing, interactions with single-wire protocol SIMs and other secure elements and compatibility with smart cards and RFID tags based on Felica, mifare and ISO 14443 standards.

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Software News Summary – February 2010 is a post from: RFID Monthly

Favite introduced the FS-GH102, a new 8-port UHF handheld reader. The device uses the Impinj R2000 chipset, compliant with Gen 2 standards and supporting the dense reader mode. The device offers a read range up to nine meters and is equipped with a Marvell PXA270 520 MHz processor, 128MB DRAM and 1 GB Flash memory, 3.5” touch screen, 1D/2D bar code scanning and WiFi 802.11, GPS and Bluetooth. The battery offers up to eight hours of working life and the device is IP65 rated for indoor and outdoor use. 

Atmel introduced its AT42QT101X family, a new line of single-key touch controllers for the portable device market. The device offers power consumption below 17 µA for portable touch devices such as power buttons, hearing devices, consumer toys and proximity sensors. The devices are currently available, starting at $0.55 for quantities of 10k units. 

Magellan Technology unveiled its new M3DR-4330, a 3D Desktop Jewelry RFID reader. The reader is compatible with Magellan’s PJM Diamond Soft software, designed to provide a method of quickly and accurately counting and tracking high-value inventory. The reader has a Linux-based operating system and can be connected to a Windows OS either via USB or Ethernet interface. The M3DR-4330 uses the protocol specified in the ISO/IEC Standard, 18000-3 Mode 2 and is now available from Magellan and its Authorized Resellers and Premium Partners. 

Barco introduced its FlexiRay, a narrow profile, modular UHF RFID antenna. The antenna was designed for use in both interiors and in industrial applications, and is available in lengths ranging from 490 mm to 1330 mm. 

International Coding Technologies announced the release of a rugged RFID (Gen 2) identification tag for concrete, steel, pallets and other assets for under $1.00. The tag includes a visual readable format, a barcode and RFID all on one inlay. The inlay is sealed in a ruggedized, watertight, rust-proof plastic unit that can be permanently attached to products in harsh environments. The passive tag is made in three variations, Cast-A-Code for concrete, Steel Code for steel structures and Pallet Code which comes with adhesive backing or screw holes for attachment. 

Panasonic introduced its Toughbook H1 Field, a new tablet computer offering an integrated RFID reader as optional equipment. The tablet also offers optional security features such as a contactless SmartCard reader, and Insertable SmartCard reader and a Fingerprint reader. The tablet was designed to target field sales personnel, first responders, supervisors, inspectors, maintenance workers and other mobile service professionals. The computer is IP65 certified and is expected to be available from Panasonic resellers and distributors for $3,379. 

Gemalto introduced a new payment card for U.S. residents traveling internationally. The company introduced the World Traveler program, which includes a globally accepted dual interface EMV payment microprocessor card for U.S. banks and card issuers. The new card enables use in unattended ticketing/payment kiosks abroad, which are becoming less likely to accept magnetic stripe bankcards. 

UPM Raflatac announced a solution, developed with Marnlen RFID, to provide Bairstow Lifting Products with a method for recording certification and inspection. Bairstow intends to place HF RFID tags on all products it manufactures, providing a method for customers to inspect and certify the company’s rigging and fall protection products. The solution uses UPM Raflatac’s MiniTrack HF tags and two custom, low-profile, small-format tags developed by Marnlen RFID that affix to existing tags and Bairstow’s metal and non-metal rigging and fall protection solutions. The tags are designed to withstand physical degradation, shock, UV radiation, temperature variability and moisture. The tags are rigid and provide adhesion, enabling mounting to surfaces from polyester, nylon, rope, wire and steel.

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Hardware News – February 2010 is a post from: RFID Monthly