Jul 07, 2006This article was originally published by RFID Update.
July 7, 2006—IDENTEC SOLUTIONS today announced the purchase of BAUMER IDENT GmbH, a German provider of automatic identification systems. Located in Weinheim, Germany, BAUMER IDENT manufactures industrial auto-ID systems, with a particular focus on the automobile sector. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
IDENTEC is an Austrian firm that specializes in industrial active RFID systems, or "intelligent asset management", to put it less technically. It has a North American office in British Columbia, Canada, and has made headlines a number of times over the last few months. Most notably, the company announced a $15 million round of financing last week, with RFID Invest AG of Liechtenstein as a lead investor. In the funding announcement, IDENTEC said it would increase its global footprint as well as drive into new verticals. With its specialization in the auto industry and German location, BAUMER IDENT does both for IDENTEC; beginning August 1st, the BAUMER IDENT headquarters will be rechristened IDENTEC SOLUTIONS Deutschland GmbH. Also, all of BAUMER IDENT's products will be integrated into the IDENTEC portfolio and continue to be marketed.
Another coup for IDENTEC came last month when Boeing and FedEx announced that their high-profile aircraft part-tagging pilot would use IDENTEC tags. A total of 50 active tags will be deployed on one FedEx MD-10 Freighter for a 120-day period ending September 15th. The pilot is meant to test the effects of regularly beaconing active RFID tags in a functioning aircraft, effects which the companies expect (and hope) to be negligible. Assuming no unforeseen hitches, Boeing will work with the US Federal Aviation Administration to certify that active RFID is indeed safe for use in aircraft. Federal certification would presumably pave the way for far wider adoption throughout the airline and aerospace industry. (See Boeing and FedEx Fly with Active RFID.)
Other IDENTEC clients include Volkswagen, Deutsche Post, and General Electric.
Read the acquisition announcement
