Mar 04, 2013The following are news announcements made during the past week.
Chicago Public Schools to Implement RFID for Tracking Assets
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has announced that it will implement an RFID-based enterprise asset-management solution from Radiant RFID. Chicago's school district, one of the largest in the United States, serves more than 402,000 students. According to Radiant, the district will deploy its Virtual Asset Tracker (VAT) system to manage a diverse and mobile inventory of more than $450 million in capital and controlled assets, including technology, video, audio-visual and kitchen equipment, furniture, instruments and vehicles. The VAT system consists of ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) Gen 2 RFID technology, as well as Radiant software and Web reporting that includes exception reports, matching reports, lost inventory and total inventory. VAT will present this data in numerous formats to all CPS departments, including accounting and finance, information technology, property management and administration, and users will be able to create custom reports and view system dashboards in order to make better decisions regarding asset utilization. By automating data collection, Radiant reports, RFID technology greatly reduces the need for human effort and the incidence of errors. Radiant is currently working with CPS to replace the district's existing bar-code system with the RFID solution, for the tracking of approximately 100,000 assets at 200 campuses, while upgrading data visibility district-wide. According to Radiant, the company's solution will ultimately encompass all 650-plus campuses throughout the district. Radiant's VAT system is being utilized at other public agencies in Chicago as well, including the Suburban Bus Division of the Chicago Regional Transportation Authority.