Sep 07, 2010RFID software company Xterprise has announced the release of Clarity Mobile, a mobile version of its existing Clarity software platform on which vertical applications can be built for item-level RFID tracking. Clarity Mobile, the firm explains, offers an RFID system that is less expensive and easier to install than a fixed-reader solution for item-level tracking using ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) Gen 2 tags and handheld readers.
This new package is intended to offer a solution to companies that would benefit from item-level tracking, but that are disinclined to install a fixed reader infrastructure because they consider the equipment too expensive, or simply due to the small size of their facilities. Fixed readers are not only costly and usually require cable installations, but they can also be cumbersome or unattractive in some settings, such as in a store. It is the needs of these potential customers, says Dean Frew, Xterprise's president and CEO, that the company has aimed to address with the new mobile solution, which he says is easy to install, without any infrastructure, and easy to use.
"A segment of the market has been telling us we need something lighter than a fixed RFID reader installation," Frew states. Therefore, approximately six months ago, Xterprise began working with its retailer customers to develop a solution that would provide item-level tracking with RFID readers. The company's developers realized the system could be designed to reach a much larger market than simply the retail sector. The resulting Clarity Mobile system, he says, is designed to offer a generic solution that can be employed across multiple industries—from retailing to IT, utility or oil and gas companies, as well any other organization that wants to locate its products, tools or other items without installing interrogators.
The resulting system works like this: Customers first fill out a questionnaire about the items they wish to track. In the case of retailers, they also provide a catalog file listing those items. The questionnaire asks such questions as "Do you have wireless network connectively in the facilities where you want to manage inventory?" and "How many of each item in your product catalog do you want to manage?"
The system allows companies to track each item based on six different categories (such as an item's size, color, make or model) in multiple zones that they can create around their facilities. Thus, the questionnaire also asks, "What are the six attributes that you want to use to manage your inventory or assets?" and "How many sites and what are the locations in those sites where you want to manage inventory?"
Based on the information provided in the questionnaire, Xterprise selects and encodes the appropriate EPC Gen 2 UHF tags for the application, and delivers them, along with the appropriate number of Motorola MC3090-Z handheld readers, to the end user so that it can then attach those tags to the items it intends to track. The handheld readers are loaded with Clarity Mobile software, which receives and transmits data regarding the ID tags being read, and is configured to support the customer's catalog and/or item details and zones that will be used to identify where the items are located. The entire process, from filling out the questionnaire to the system's delivery, takes about six to 10 weeks, the company reports.
According to Xterprise, the handhelds can be used to conduct inventory or search for specific items. Clarity Mobile software on the devices will allow users to indicate in which zone they are located, as well as search for an item with a "Geiger counter" or locate items based on a search for one or more of the six specific categories attributed to each item (such as size, color or brand). The Clarity Mobile Web application—or, for customers that opt to purchase the entire package, the software running on a server—enables users to manage their product catalog based on RFID data (for example, assets or inventory can be added or deleted) and run reports on item locations and transactions.
The unique element to this solution, Frew says, is its versatility as a generic solution that can be used across multiple industries. Although he declines to provide specific pricing—which he says would vary depending on the particular deployment—it would typically cost well below 50 percent of the price tag of a fixed-reader solution.
