Apr 05, 2018The following are news announcements made during the past week by the following organizations:
Primera Technology;
JADAK;
SensThys;
OTI Europa ASEC, Warsaw's Public Transport Authority;
WISeKey, Toppan Printing;
Particle, RedBear;
Inmarsat; and
Cardinal Health.
Primera Technology Intros On-Demand Color RFID Label Printer
Primera Technology, a designer and manufacturer of specialized digital printers, has announced its RX500 Color RFID Label & Tag Printer. The printer will be showcased at next week's RFID Journal LIVE! 2018 conference and exhibition, to be held in Orlando, Fla.
The RX500 is a full-color on-demand RFID label and tag printer that can encode, verify and print labels in a single pass. Finished labels are then cut with an internal guillotine-style cutter and dispensed one at a time. On-demand printing makes the printer suitable for applications such as visitor or trade-show badges, for which a single label at a time with unique information is required. Batches of many labels or tags at a time can also be encoded and printed.
The built-in UHF RFID reader-encoder module is supplied by Honeywell. It is compliant with the EPC Global Gen 2 Class 1 and ISO 18000-b/c specifications for deployments in real-world applications. Print resolution is available at up to 4,800 dpi, with print speeds of up to 2.5 inches (63.5 millimeters) per second. A single full-color ink cartridge is utilized for ease of replacement in the field, the company reports. The printer weighs 7 pounds (3.2 kilograms) to facilitate transport.
"Printing full-color RFID labels and tags adds a new, value-added feature to the technology," said Mark D. Strobel, Primera's VP of sales and marketing, in a prepared statement. "With RX500, you can add color coding, graphics and high-resolution photos to RFID labels and tags. With color, you're essentially adding an extra layer of accuracy and safety in applications such as medical file folder labels, visitor badges, photo wristbands and specimen tracking labels."
Supported substrates include matte and gloss inkjet papers, vinyl, polypropylene and polyester. Water, smudge and smear resistance is provided via third-generation dye-based inks and the print surfaces of inkjet labels such as Primera's TuffCoat microporous labels. According to the company, UHF inlays from most major RFID companies can be encoded.
The RX500 color RFID printers are now available from Primera's website, as well as through its authorized resellers and distributors worldwide, priced at $2,495. Sample printed and encoded labels are available upon request for evaluation and pilot programs.
JADAK Launches Four-Port UHF RFID Reader
JADAK, a business unit of Novanta Corp., has announced the launch of the ThingMagic IZAR, a four-port RAIN ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID finished reader. The IZAR is a compact, programmable network-attached reader with read and write capabilities.
Designed for medical, retail and transportation customers, this reader is ready to use out-of-the-box and can be integrated for customers with limited design capability. At +31.5 dBm, the IZAR allows on-reader applications and processes, the company reports, increasing efficiency and eliminating the need for additional processors.
The reader, which comes with a Mercury6e UHF RFID module, employs the same architecture and universal firmware (Mercury API) as all ThingMagic RFID products. For existing Mercury6 or Sargas customers, the Mercury API permits a common language across all ThingMagic devices. The same applies to customers migrating from ThingMagic finished readers to ThingMagic embedded modules, the company explains; this common language allows portability of existing software, reducing software design costs and accelerating time to market.
ThingMagic IZAR has a Web-based user interface and is designed to work with RAINstream, ThingMagic's optional add-on software that streamlines data transfer by allowing direct transfer of tag data to back-end systems via several alternative protocols, thus eliminating the need for interpretation code at the host or server. Additionally, the IZAR is tag-agnostic and supports a variety of tag types, including specialized, custom, advanced, standard (AEIATA, for instance) and sensors. JADAK will demonstrate the ThingMagic IZAR in booth #1003 at next week's RFID Journal LIVE! 2018 conference and exhibition, to be held in Orlando, Fla.
SensThys Offers Low-Priced RFID Kit
SensThys, a designer and manufacturer of disruptive high-volume RFID solutions, has introduced its QuadKit, a four-read-point kit with a per-read-point of $249 for an order size of greater than 200 units. The QuadKit includes a SensArray+ networked reader and antenna, three SensRF-10 antennas and all necessary Ethernet and RF cabling.
"The pricing of the QuadKit clearly demonstrates that the economics of RFID infrastructure can be significantly lowered by the technology integration demonstrated in the SensArray product suite," said Neil Mitchell, the company's VP of sales and marketing, in a prepared statement. "Our objective is to remove the cost of RFID hardware as a concern for the integrator, allowing them to design systems that deliver on the full potential of RFID technology."
The SensArray+ integrates several functions into a thin-profile form factor, including a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet switch with three external RJ45 ports; a class 4 PoE+ power distribution system; a 30dBm UHF passive RFID reader based upon Impinj's R2000 platform; an integrated 8.5dBic RHCP antenna; three external antenna ports for connectivity to three additional antennas (four total antennas); and a GPIO port with four inputs, four outputs, 24VDC and 600 mA output.
SensArray is similar to SensArray+, the company reports, but is targeted at daisy-chaining readers and excludes the ability to connect external antennas and GPIO. SensArray has two Ethernet ports for routing data and power. The kit includes the SensArray+ system, three SensRF-10 slim 8.5dBic 10-inch antennas, three 12-foot SMA-to-Reverse-SMA cables, and a 50-foot CAT6 Ethernet cable.
The QuadKit is available in limited quantities now, with full availability expected in May 2018 at a price of $1,179 for a single unit, decreasing to $985 for orders greater than 200 units. The two SensArray products are in general availability, with single unit pricing of $635 (for the SensArray) and $689 (for the SensArray+), decreasing to $525 and $569, respectively, for orders larger than 200 units.
OTI Europa ASEC, Public Transport Authority Sign Contract in Warsaw
On Track Innovations, a global provider of Near Field Communication (NFC) and cashless payment solutions, has announced that its European branch, OTI Europa ASEC, has signed a contract with Warsaw's Public Transport Authority (PTA) for the design, execution and implementation of the Kasa+ system to support passenger service points in and around the city. The contract is the result of a public tender won by OTI Europa ASEC, and is expected to be completed during the next 13 months, with a value of approximately $300,000 to OTI.
"OTI Europa ASEC is responsible for providing the IT system, analysis of requirements and solution preparation, as well as for system launch and three years' warranty protection," said Agnieszka Swiatly, OTI Europa ASEC's managing director, in a prepared statement. "With wide knowledge related to the PTA's sales system and know-how associated with the market and technology, we were able to prepare a winning offer."
Public transport in Warsaw's urban complex is managed and supervised by the PTA, a member of the European Metropolitan Transport Authorities (EMTA) and the International Association of Public Transport (UITP). It provides transport to two million citizens of the Warsaw metropolitan area and connects the city to its neighboring communes.
WISeKey, Toppan Printing Team Up to Securely Connect Inert Objects to Internet
WISeKey International Holding, a Swiss cybersecurity and Internet of Things (IoT) company, and Toppan Printing Co., a printing company involved in the security business, have announced that they are collaborating to provide smart tags that allow objects to securely authenticate and communicate online.
In 2017, the International Chamber of Commerce and the International Trademark Association commissioned Frontier Economics to write a report about the economic impacts of counterfeiting and piracy. The report estimated that the value of international trade in counterfeit and pirated products will grow from $461 billion in 2013, or as much as 2.5 percent of all international trade, to $991 billion in 2022. It also estimated that the total scale of domestic production and consumption of counterfeit and pirated products will grow from $249 to $456 billion in 2013, to $524 to $959 billion in 2022.
These estimates do not take into consideration other wider economic and social costs, the company reports, such as loss of jobs, foreign direct investment and fiscal revenue. Aiming to decrease these figures, this collaboration will combine WISeKey's Internet of Things security systems with Toppan's secure printing and anti-counterfeiting offerings.
Among other applications, WISeKey's chips are used by global telecommunication manufacturers and health-care organizations, as well as Visa and MasterCard. The same certified technology is now available in WISeKey's VaultIC lightweight hardware security modules. VaultIC chips provide an anti-counterfeiting tool by enabling cryptographic security to identify any item online using contactless Near Field Communication (NFC) with an Android- or Apple iOS-based smartphone.
Toppan provides a suite of security printing technologies, including passports, identity cards, banknotes and other secure documents. More recently, the firm has extended the use of these technologies for anti-counterfeiting protection of branded goods. Similar to how NFC secure elements are embedded in e-passport covers, Toppan designs specific tags for integration in any packaging, such as wine or spirit bottles, cosmetics, perfume boxes and luxury goods.
"Counterfeit goods often lead to bad user experience in addition to dramatic loss of revenue for companies and significant socio-economic costs for economies," said Olivier Debelleix, WISeKey's director of brand protection and wearable security business, in a prepared statement. "WISeKey's technology brings anti-counterfeiting labelling into the Internet age. Our collaboration with Toppan leverages our respective strengths in new geographic markets and applications."
"The durability and counterfeit-resistance of Toppan's security printing solutions are trusted all over the world," said Tomoji Isaka, Toppan Europe's sales manager, in the prepared statement. "WISeKey's VaultIC cryptographic module will further increase the security levels we provide our customers to protect their assets."
Particle Acquires RedBear to Accelerate IoT Innovation
Particle, an Internet of Things (IoT) platform, has announced that it has acquired RedBear, an IoT hardware development company based in Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Particle's acquisition is designed to help developers or enterprises bring IoT solutions to market faster, the company reports.
RedBear, founded in 2012, fundraised early products on Kickstarter. Its team will add expertise in building Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Wi-Fi-enabled IoT hardware to its product lines. RedBear's CEO, Chi-Hung Ma, will lead Particle's development team in China.
"Particle is committed to building the best team in the business to enable anyone to create IoT solutions that produce real value," said Zach Supalla, Particle's co-founder and CEO, in a prepared statement. "The RedBear team impressed us with their track record of enabling IoT makers to bring their ideas to life in a third of the time and a tenth of the cost as in the past. This acquisition enables Particle to bring new products to market faster and scale to meet soaring demands for IoT connectivity, adding valuable expertise from the heart of the electronics industry in Shenzhen."
Particle recently partnered with RedBear to develop and manufacture Particle Mesh, its portfolio of mesh-development kits. Particle Mesh debuted in February and sold more than 20,000 units during the first month of pre-orders, the company claims. RedBear's previous developments also include cloud platform partnerships with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and ARM Mbed.
"Particle and RedBear share the same laser focus on creating connected solutions that help product creators at any stage create value with IoT," said Chi-Hung Ma, the CEO of RedBear and Particle's director of new product development, in the prepared statement. "Becoming part of Particle will expand our team's resources to build innovative hardware solutions that better connect anything to the internet. We're already at work on more game-changing products and look forward to sharing them soon."
Particle will support customers of RedBear's DUO and Nano hardware through 2019.
Inmarsat Finds Mining Industry Must Strengthen Cybersecurity Measures to Profit from IoT
Mining businesses are struggling to meet the new security challenges presented by the Internet of Things (IoT) as they look for ways to exploit the technology. This is according to recent research from Inmarsat, which reports that while mining businesses stand to gain a significant advantage over their competitors by deploying IoT technologies, without the right cybersecurity measures in place, these initiatives may come crashing down before gains can be made. The report, titled "The Future of IoT in Enterprise," can be downloaded here.
Market research specialist Vanson Bourne interviewed respondents from 100 large mining companies across the globe for the report, and found that the sector is struggling to counter the security challenges created by the IoT. According to the company, 94 percent admitted that their approach to cybersecurity could be improved, while 67 percent stated that their data security measures would need a complete overhaul to be fit for IoT deployments.
The availability of skills emerged as a key area of concern in the research, with 64 percent stating that they required additional cybersecurity skills in order to safely deploy IoT solutions. However, despite recognizing the enhanced security threats of the IoT, just 44 percent are investing in new security technologies, while only 17 percent reported that they were taking steps to plug their security skills gaps by hiring new staff.
"Mining companies stand to make considerable gains by exploiting digital technologies such as IoT, but as the industry becomes more digitally-oriented, the risks for these businesses increase," said Joe Carr, Inmarsat Enterprise's director of mining, in a prepared statement. "A more connected mine is a more vulnerable one and as IoT connects evermore parts of a mining company's operations to the internet, they open up new avenues for attack, whether that's from environmentalist groups seeking to disrupt operations or from state-sponsored actors conducting cyber espionage.
"At the same time, the increased dependency the sector has on data for its operations and profitability means that the risks of not having adequate security in place grow exponentially. Whereas a decade ago a data breach or intrusion would have been an inconvenience, today a mine might grind to a complete halt, so it is worrying that so many mining companies are struggling in this area."
Carr added in the prepared statement, "For mining businesses to thrive in this climate, IoT and digital security needs to be at the top of the agenda and it is essential that boards raise their understanding of the risks they face. This involves ensuring that the fundamental network infrastructure underpinning device connectivity aligns with the highest security and reliability standards, and that the end points are configured correctly."
Cardinal Health Survey Finds Health-Care Providers Cancel Surgical Cases Due to Lack of Supplies
The operating room (OR) needs better supply chain management systems and analytics to help reduce costs and support patient safety, according to a new Cardinal Health survey of surgical personnel and hospital supply chain decision makers. Forty percent of respondents revealed that they've actually canceled a case, while 69 percent have delayed a case because of missing supplies. Furthermore, 27 percent have seen or heard of an expired product being used on a patient, and 23 percent have seen or heard of a patient harmed due to a lack of supplies.
The third annual Cardinal Health Hospital Supply Chain Survey, fielded by SERMO, looks at operating room supply chain perceptions from supply chain administrators, service line leaders, physicians and nurses.
"Financial challenges persist across health care systems, and the operating room is one of the most costly areas to run," said John Roy, the VP and general manager of Cardinal Health Inventory Management Solutions, in a prepared statement. "Fortunately, there is a clear solution to support patient safety and reduce surgical case cancellations: better supply chain management." In addition, he said, more than half of frontline clinicians say inventory management is "complicated" or a "necessary evil." In fact, 64 percent of respondents admitted to hoarding supplies and cited wasting or overuse of supplies as significant problems within their organization.
The survey found that OR surgeons and nurses are frustrated with their hospital's current manual inventory-management process. Eighty-three percent of respondents' organizations are manually counting in some part of their supply chain, while only 15 percent have automated RFID systems. However, respondents see the benefits of automation. One in four say automated systems free up time to focus on patients and support better outcomes, and 39 percent agree automation reduces costs.
"Fixing these challenges requires thinking beyond the shelf," Roy said in the prepared statement. "We believe streamlining processes and gathering real-time data through automated inventory systems can transform inventory management from a 'necessary evil' to a powerful tool that supports better quality of care."
Nearly all frontline providers surveyed (92 percent) said they see the need for an inventory-management system designed for the specific volume and nature of supplies in the OR. Although supply chain decision makers are most responsible for cutting costs, surgeons and OR nurses said they recognize the importance and are up for the challenge as well. Seventy-seven percent would like to be more involved in supply chain decision-making, nearly half say "saving money helps us all," and three in four contend that quality patient care can be maintained while reducing costs.
"OR surgeons and nurses work under intense pressure and depend on a large volume of varied supplies," Roy said in the prepared statement. "While different OR stakeholders all face their own distinct challenges, together they can form a partnership to make important changes that move their organizations forward."
