Tyco’s Sensormatic Division Buys Vue Technology

Oct 09, 2008Electronic article surveillance (EAS) and RFID systems manufacturer Sensormatic, part of Tyco International, has plunked down $43 million to purchase Vue Technology, which makes RFID-enabled item-level tracking systems designed to improve inventory, optimize replenishment, reduce labor costs and boost sales.

Sensormatic's goal for the acquisition is to expand its product portfolio for retailers. For Vue's part, being acquired will bring it under the fold of a company with global reach in the retail market.

"Sensormatic has been involved in RFID for almost a decade, and like a lot of companies, we've tried different things and struggled with how this technology was going to evolve," says Scott Clements, Sensormatic's VP and general manager, adding that the firm has developed RFID systems for the supply chain and other applications. "Like everyone else, we weren't seeing the kind of traction we'd hoped. So about a year ago, we started thinking about where we wanted to go."

Since the retail sector was Sensormatic's major focus, the company began seriously considering the use of radio frequency identification to track individual items within stores. "And the biggest value is, that is the part of the retail supply chain that we know best," Clements says. But rather than be merely a manufacturer of components, Sensormatic aspired to become a solutions provider.

"Customers wanted someone to help them solve their problems," Clements states. "So we realized we needed an enterprise software capability that would take RFID coming out of the sensors and other products, and then take that data and turn it into actionable information. We looked at our different opportunities, and knew that Vue was the best fit."

Such a union worked for Vue as well, says Robert Locke, the company's CEO. "We've been focused for six years or so on RFID in retail extensively," he explains. "In the last year, we've gotten tremendous traction with retailers around the world, and the challenge you face as a company is the ability to support all those customers and enhance the solution and broaden your market presence. That's hard to do as a startup. So we began to look for the right partner, or right acquirer, to help us do that. Sensormatic, and Tyco, gives us scale and presence in the retail market, and gives us the ability to succeed and to expand."

Vue has garnered several large retailers as its customers. American Apparel, which operates more than 180 stores in 13 countries, is employing Vue's TrueVue software platform—in conjunction with Motorola readers and Avery Dennison UHF EPC Gen 2 tags—to improve inventory accuracy, and to keep its sales floors better stocked. Soon after implementing the system, the company began seeing benefits (see American Apparel Makes a Bold Fashion Statement With RFID). And the Netherlands' largest bookseller, Boekhandels Groep Nederland (BGN), is installing Vue RFID antennas on bookshelves to track special-order titles in a number of its stores (see Dutch Bookseller Soon to Use RFID to Locate Items on Shelves).

Clements acknowledges that the two companies have some product overlap, but says they plan to work during the next few months to combine the best features of both portfolios. That product overlap includes Sensormatic's iREAD and Vue's VuePoints, both of which are networked RFID reader antenna systems (see ADT Announces iREAD Network Antenna System). "Vue has done a very nice job with the antenna design," he says, "and iREAD does a good job of low-cost multiplexing. We'll blend the two together."

Once the acquisition is complete, Vue will operate as a unit within Sensormatic, retaining its independent brand and offices in Lake Forest, Calif. Locke says he will stay on board to head up the Vue team.