Microsoft to Showcase RFID-Enabled Applications at EPC Connection 2007

Sept. 13, 2007—RFID Journal and EPCglobal North America, a not-for-profit, vendor-neutral, user-driven organization supporting the adoption of Electronic Product Code (EPC) technology, have announced that Microsoft and several of its key technology partners will demonstrate RFID-enabled applications built on Microsoft's BizTalk platform, in an exhibit-hall theater pavilion at EPC Connection 2007. The conference will be held on Oct. 2-4, at Chicago's Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.

"It's important for companies to understand that deploying RFID applications doesn't have to be complex and expensive," says Anush Kumar, senior product manager for Microsoft BizTalk RFID. "With BizTalk RFID, companies can use a proven platform to extend visibility to the edge of their enterprises and across their supply chains. And our partners will be demonstrating ready-to-deploy, RFID-enabled applications that leverage this capability today."

Kumar adds, "With new capabilities, such as native support for electronic data interchange [EDI] and RFID, BizTalk Server 2006 R2 provides the ability to gather data from the edge of the enterprise, enabling the real-time visibility needed to achieve new levels of efficiency across the supply chain. BizTalk Server 2006 R2 provides the infrastructure required to connect existing applications, regardless of the platform, and to create and leverage new applications."

The Microsoft Partner Pavilion will feature live demonstrations of the following applications:

Returnable Asset-Tracking Solution: TCS/Motorola
Reusable assets are often misplaced, and the lack of visibility into their movement can lead to substantial losses for companies. TCS has partnered with Microsoft and Motorola to offer an RFID asset-tracking solution enabling companies to better manage their returnable assets. TCS' RFID-enabled asset-tracking solution provides an automated process with a Web-based interface to track and monitor the movement of returnable assets across a user's premises. It provides information about assets due back from various trading partners, and also presents information regarding the status of returnable assets against associated order numbers, improving the visibility of assets possessed by different partners across the supply chain. The solution uses Microsoft's BizTalk RFID platform to facilitate development, integration, installation and deployment.