TOSHIBA TEC Europe has implemented an RFID system to track notebook computers at its facility in Regensburg, Germany. The company claims it is the largest RFID implementation in Europe, with 2 million tags processed after seven months. Toshiba reports it has reduced handling time by 75 percent and cut associated costs by 40 percent.
The company has developed an RFID-enabled lift truck, and will embed tags in the floors of customers’ warehouses to help make the vehicle’s operation more productive.
Intermec has deployed RFID at the Blue C Sushi restaurant in Seattle, Washington, to improve both inventory management and customer service. The system uses Microsoft BizTalk RFID and an inventory management software solution from integrator Kikata.
The US Senate last week passed FDA legislation that included a provision of interest to the RFID industry. The provision mandates that internet-based pharmacies include visual anti-counterfeiting technology on all pharmaceuticals sold to US customers. The provision specifically technology like RFID or barcodes.
The sanctioned spectrum should be compatible with UHF RFID frequencies used in many other parts of the world, including the United States and Europe.
A Florida pizzeria is using RFID so customers can pay for their pies at a self-service kiosk, and the restaurant can keep better tabs on orders.
Cardinal Health recently announced that it will outfit its Sacramento, California, pharmaceutical distribution center with RFID technology by fall of this year. It is a move to prepare the company for California’s legislation that will require the tracking and tracing of drugs distributed in the state.
Georgia’s largest health-care system is using active RFID tags to track the status and location of 2,400 infusion pumps, on and off the premises.
The first GE Sensing product is the RF ValProbe, designed to help pharmaceutical and life sciences companies monitor and validate environments—such as freezers and sterilization processes—for regulatory and quality compliance purposes.
The company plans to bring the database software to market this month and help its partners develop related applications.
At its Sapphire conference this week, the company spelled out its strategy to develop software for systems using radio frequency identification.
The manufacturer has integrated its RFID system with its ERP software and is affixing EPC Gen 2 UHF tags on the four appliances it supplies to Wal-Mart.