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Zeroing In on the Closed-Loop
EMS also offers its industrial-oriented, high-memory HS-Series 400 kHz active read-write tags and readers for automotive applications, a selection of passive read-only tags and readers, and a range of network-interface modules to connect to industrial networks, including those from Profibus, DeviceNet and Interbus-S.
EMS says it is now targeting some key markets with its 13.56 MHz HF closed-loop systems. “RFID for manufacturing is a major, strong market,” says Mattioli. “We are also developing systems for the transportation and logistics market.”
EMS’s focus on closed-loop RFID systems is justified, say analysts, because such systems represent a simpler and more straightforward investment for RFID customers; networks can be designed and deployed to address specific and possibly unique operational criteria without having to conform to a technology that is shared between any number of other companies in the supply chain. In addition, because tags are often reused for many years, the cost of the tag is less of an issue than tags used once in the supply chain.
“There is a solid business in high-frequency RFID, and there remains a lot of high-growth applications for closed-loop high-frequency systems,” says Mike Liard, senior AIDC/RFID analyst at Venture Development Corp. (VDC), a Natick, Mass.-provider of market research and consulting services to technology companies. “Closed-loop HF systems are a whole different value proposition than UHF,” he says. “They are less complex, have already proven themselves, have effective returns on investment that can be shown [to potential customers] and have an established ISO technology standard.”
Those factors are now set to push the HF market through a period of significant growth. In 2003, high-frequency tag sales reached $83.2 million. By the end of 2007, sales should grow to $493 million, according to research by VDC.
While seeing plenty of potential in UHF systems, EMS is confident that its existing HF business will remain its focus. When it comes to developing its own UHF systems, the company is remaining cautious. “UHF is a very sexy technology that everyone wants to talk about, but it’s a young market,” says Mattioli. “We are very much interested in it, but we are not a startup. We are waiting for the technology to mature.”
Nevertheless, EMS plans to launch its first UHF readers by the end of the year. The company’s caution regarding UHF is understandable, say analysts. “Established HF players like EMS don’t want to play in UHF yet,” says ABI’s Michielsen, “but they are keeping their hand in the pot, ready for when they do.”
EMS insists that it has the resources to expand into the UHF supply chain market when the time is right. Back in 1988, three years after the company was founded, EMS was acquired by Datalogic, the Italian bar code company. “Datalogic is a huge company,” says Mattioli. “They bring capital research technology and resources and sales and marketing infrastructure.”
Analysts believe that the relationship benefits both EMS and its parent. “A company like Datalogic, with its existing customer relationships, can be absolutely critical when it comes to getting EMS to the table to discuss RFID deployments,” says ABI’s Michielsen.
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EMS says it is now targeting some key markets with its 13.56 MHz HF closed-loop systems. “RFID for manufacturing is a major, strong market,” says Mattioli. “We are also developing systems for the transportation and logistics market.”
EMS’s focus on closed-loop RFID systems is justified, say analysts, because such systems represent a simpler and more straightforward investment for RFID customers; networks can be designed and deployed to address specific and possibly unique operational criteria without having to conform to a technology that is shared between any number of other companies in the supply chain. In addition, because tags are often reused for many years, the cost of the tag is less of an issue than tags used once in the supply chain.
“There is a solid business in high-frequency RFID, and there remains a lot of high-growth applications for closed-loop high-frequency systems,” says Mike Liard, senior AIDC/RFID analyst at Venture Development Corp. (VDC), a Natick, Mass.-provider of market research and consulting services to technology companies. “Closed-loop HF systems are a whole different value proposition than UHF,” he says. “They are less complex, have already proven themselves, have effective returns on investment that can be shown [to potential customers] and have an established ISO technology standard.”
Those factors are now set to push the HF market through a period of significant growth. In 2003, high-frequency tag sales reached $83.2 million. By the end of 2007, sales should grow to $493 million, according to research by VDC.
While seeing plenty of potential in UHF systems, EMS is confident that its existing HF business will remain its focus. When it comes to developing its own UHF systems, the company is remaining cautious. “UHF is a very sexy technology that everyone wants to talk about, but it’s a young market,” says Mattioli. “We are very much interested in it, but we are not a startup. We are waiting for the technology to mature.”
Nevertheless, EMS plans to launch its first UHF readers by the end of the year. The company’s caution regarding UHF is understandable, say analysts. “Established HF players like EMS don’t want to play in UHF yet,” says ABI’s Michielsen, “but they are keeping their hand in the pot, ready for when they do.”
EMS insists that it has the resources to expand into the UHF supply chain market when the time is right. Back in 1988, three years after the company was founded, EMS was acquired by Datalogic, the Italian bar code company. “Datalogic is a huge company,” says Mattioli. “They bring capital research technology and resources and sales and marketing infrastructure.”
Analysts believe that the relationship benefits both EMS and its parent. “A company like Datalogic, with its existing customer relationships, can be absolutely critical when it comes to getting EMS to the table to discuss RFID deployments,” says ABI’s Michielsen.
