Aug 28, 2017The IoT RFID Pavilion of the Brazilian Association of the Radio Frequency Identification Industry (ABRFID) at the Latam Retail Show—to be held on Aug. 29–31 at the Expo Center Norte in São Paulo—will also be the place of delivery of the first ABRFID Award, on Aug. 31 at 3:00 PM. The first edition of the award will be focused on three vertical categories, and the event will also feature a GS1 EPCglobal category and a tribute to a distinguished professional in the development of the RFID ecosystem in Brazil.
The award will recognize the pioneering and innovation of three companies that have implemented RFID technologies and/or the Internet of Things (IoT) concept to benefit businesses from inside and/or outside Brazil, in different vertical markets. The award for the GS1 EPCglobal category will honor the work of a company that deploys the best case of success suited to the global RFID standard.
The winners are being chosen by judges comprising professors and researchers from several Brazilian universities, who are dedicated to increasing knowledge about RFID and IoT technologies in that country. The judges are under the coordination and supervision of Professors Marcelo Lubaszewski, of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), and Renata Rampim, of Unicamp. The ABRFID award is supported by GS1 Brasil.
In addition to recognizing the work of companies, the ABRFID Award will be given to a personality whose professional performance has brought benefits to the market as a whole and to its ecosystem. The choice will be made by the board of ABRFID, which is formed by Adriano Franki (from Valid, and the president of ABRFID), Reinaldo Andrade (from Honeywell, and the VP of ABRFID), Carlos Ribeiro (of SmartX Technologies), Roger Davanso (from CCRR) and Pedro Moreira (of SmartX). The selection process will take place with the accompaniment of Professor Marcelo Lubaszewski.
The trophies for the ABRFID Award are being made using a Sinctronics 3D printer, with recycled plastic material from discarded IT equipment, such as printers, ink cartridges and cell phones, in processes utilizing RFID. As such, the ABRFID Award trophy, in addition to being sustainable, employs the circular economy concept. The awards will be give out by Sinctronics at the association's booth.
ABRFID's IoT RFID Pavilion, as the name implies, will focus on RFID and IoT solutions. Demonstrations and presentations of companies such as Valid, Honeywell, the RFID Center of Excellence (RFID CoE), iTag, Moura and Sinctronics will be held, all of which are absolutely involved with Internet of Things business processes and radio frequency identification.
In addition, the IoT RFID Pavilion will feature a talk by Mark Roberti, the editor and founder of RFID Journal. Roberti, one of the world's leading RFID experts, will be a speaker in the Latam Retail Show's free seminar area. He will be in Brazil thanks to the co-sponsorship of RFID CoE, and will speak on Aug. 30 at 5 PM about how RFID technology makes—and will make—a difference in the omnichannel strategies of retail companies (see RFID Journal's Mark Roberti to Present Retail Omnichannel Strategies at Latam Retail Show).
During his lecture, to be titled "How RFID Benefits the Retail Omnichannel," Roberti will address the application of real omnichannel strategies, how to deploy the Internet of Things concept based on low-cost RFID technology, and ways to invest in technology efficiently and achieve a return on investment (ROI). His presentation will focus on tracking products in the supply chain, and on delivering new experiences to attract new customers and reduce costs.
In a business vision, the term "omnichannel" means reaching maximum sales potential and largely serving the interests of customers, including their preferred channel for consumption. The market deals with 21st-century consumers who go to a physical store, use their smartphones to search for products available for sale, and compare prices and benefits with online offers from other establishments (see No RFID, No Omnichannel [NOTE: This article is in Portuguese, but can be translated into English]).
At the heart of the omnichannel concept are consumers, particularly younger people, who want to shop when, how and with any device they choose, whether at a physical store or on a computer in their home, or who buy items by phone and pick them up at the store. This puts enormous pressure on retailers to know what they have, and where and when they can deliver the purchased goods. Roberti's lecture will explain how RFID technology enables the true retail omnichannel.
Mark Roberti's participation in the Latam Retail Show is sponsored by RFID CoE, located in Sorocaba, the fruit of HP Brazil's partnership with the Flextronics Institute of Technology (FIT). In addition to demonstrations that will be presented by the companies, the booth will feature an RFID CoE education area.
RFID CoE has trained approximately 800 professionals to date for mature implementations of RFID and IoT projects throughout Brazil. The institution is also responsible for the development of the HP printer factory in Brazil, which is fully focused on the Industry 4.0 concept and a pioneer in the world, with the use of RFID tags in its manufacturing and distribution processes.
RFID CoE also stands out for the implementation of another pioneering and internationally recognized project known as Smart Waste, which allows the recycling of cartridges and discarded printer housings, and which has resulted in the creation of another innovative and unprecedented initiative. Sinctronics, one of the first plants in the world based entirely on the circular economy concept, dismantles equipment and obtains raw materials for reuse in new equipment using RFID technology.
