RFID Journal LIVE! Europe 2014

12 Aug, 2014 6:15 pm

Cocktail Reception in Exhibit Hall

Closing Remarks

23 Oct, 2014 1:30 pm

Wilko Fights Stock Loss With RFID

Wilko, a leading British housewares and household goods retailer with more than 300 stores, is using an RFID-enabled solution to improve inventory control and loss prevention. Although the stores were equipped with security tagging and closed-circuit television (CCTV), they were still losing stock and unable to prove how the product was being stolen, apart from empty packets left around the store. Learn how the RFID system alerts the store to loss, when it happens, with real-time visibility about what is passing through the tills and what isn’t, before it is taken through the exit point.

12 Aug, 2014 8:30 am

Morning Coffee

12 Aug, 2014 5:15 pm

Tracking Tools Via RTLS

A manufacturer of tools has combined its existing passive RFID tracking technology for the industrial market with Wi-Fi-based active RFID tags and real-time location system (RTLS) software. The solution enables product manufacturers, mine operators and other users of the firm’s storage cabinets to identify the real-time location of assets and personnel. Learn how a staff member can wear an active badge indicating his or her identity, as well as authorized activities linked to the badge’s unique ID number. The worker could then check out a tool from a cabinet using the badge ID, and the software would be updated to indicate the worker had removed that item. If it was not returned, management could access the software to identify who had that asset, use the RTLS data from the badge to determine where the employee was located, and proceed to that location to retrieve the tool.

12 Aug, 2014 12:15 pm

Australian Oil Refinery Construction Site Tracks Assets Via RFID

A global energy company is testing an RFID system from Australian firm Industrial Automation Group to track the locations of hundreds of thousands of assets at a major construction project in a remote region on the west coast of Australia, north of Karratha. At the site where the new refinery is being erected, tags are already being affixed to some of the hundreds of thousands of tools, materials and components that will be used during construction. Learn how the system enables the firm to see actual products moving, view where they were located and receive alerts if anything is not onsite when expected, or is located in the wrong place.

12 Aug, 2014 1:00 pm

Lunch Break in Exhibit Hall

12 Aug, 2014 2:45 pm

Mining Contractor Prevents Vehicular Collisions With RFID

Vehicular collisions are common occurrences in mines, because it’s tricky to navigate underground in loud, dark, rugged environments. A contractor based in Western Australia needed a way to prevent vehicular collisions in a gold mine, where the scope of the project did not merit the time and resources required to install a comprehensive RFID system for tracking vehicles. Learn why the firm chose a cost-effective RFID solution to improve safety during short-term mining projects. And hear how the solution consists of placing an active tag on each vehicle, an interrogator in the cab of each hauler, and a reader antenna mounted on the body of each hauler. When a tag comes within range of an interrogator, it sets off both audible and visual alerts for the driver.

12 Aug, 2014 3:30 pm

Improving Delivery Times With RFID

A producer and exporter of iron ore is deploying an RFID solution to speed up customers’ deliveries, saving time and money. The firm conducts more than 7,000 truck runs daily to and from multiple locations, including mines, processing plants and jetties. All of the trucking routes are on crowded roads shared with other mining companies and the general public. In addition to dealing with the traffic, the firm must comply with government restrictions on transport time—it has to complete those daily runs within seven hours—as well as the allowable weight of truck shipments. Learn how the company attached passive ultrahigh-frequency RFID tags to its fleet of 7,000 trucks, and how it installed fixed RFID readers at the security entry gates to all mines and plants in order to track trucks passing through checkpoints and arriving at weigh stations. Readers were also installed on the weighbridges to automate transactions (such as weight, stock transfer order, route information and quality), and at the entry gates to jetties. Site engineers use handheld readers wherever it is impossible to install fixed readers due to a lack of electricity and proper infrastructure.

23 Oct, 2014 3:00 pm

Networking Break in Exhibit Hall

12 Aug, 2014 4:30 pm

The Use of RFID in Tracking Highway Coating Materials in the Supply Chain

A manufacturer, supplier and installer of specialized highway coating materials has historically experienced problems in effectively controlling the movement and supply of these materials within its own internal supply chain. This has led to high levels of wastage, estimated between 5 and 10 percent. The company has required a new system that tracks materials from the point of manufacture to local storage depots, and then tracks their distribution via individual vehicle-based work teams to the point of delivery and installation. Learn how the firm is using a system that employs resin-encapsulated RFID tags, as well as handheld, portal and vehicle-mounted scanners, to solve this problem.

12 Aug, 2014 10:45 am

Networking Break in Exhibit Hall

23 Oct, 2014 8:30 am

Coffee in Exhibit Hall

23 Oct, 2014 9:00 am

Opening Remarks

23 Oct, 2014 4:00 pm

Tracking Paper Records With RFD

Managing patient records presents a mammoth challenge for the multiple trusts (regional health-care bodies) of Great Britain’s National Health Service (NHS). Hospitals typically have thousands of records onsite, very few of which are digitized. A hospital outside of London has installed an RFID solution that reduced the number of hours needed to retrieve and put away patient files by 80 percent. Passive RFID tags are attached to paper records, and handheld readers are used to track the locations of those documents on shelves, or elsewhere within the hospital. Learn how the system reduces the number of hours that hospital personnel spend putting away or locating files, and frees up 10 to 15 percent of library space, since files can now be placed at the most convenient shelf location, rather than alphabetically.

23 Oct, 2014 10:30 am

Networking Break in Exhibit Hall

23 Oct, 2014 11:00 am

Automating Asset Management, Orders Via RFID

Three years after deploying passive 125 kHz RFID tags to track its tool usage, a concrete substructure construction firm has expanded its use of the system to identify users of its 16,000 assets—including tools, excavators, trailers and other heavy equipment, as well as consumables, such as gloves and boots—across its numerous construction projects. The company is also using the technology to manage the online ordering of those assets. Hear how the firm is employing 125 kHz RFID to expedite shipments of equipment and supplies to its workers, as well as track usage, and how it has recouped its investment.

23 Oct, 2014 4:45 pm

RFID Improves Worker Accountability

When meat-processing workers enter the plant floor where meat is cut and packaged, they bring with them a batch of cutting tools that require close scrutiny. The knives and cutting devices must be frequently replaced and sharpened daily. A knife that remains in the work area after an employee leaves his or her shift, and is then reused, could contaminate the meat and require the destruction of an entire day’s worth of products. A German cutlery manufacturer has developed a solution that includes passive RFID tags built into the handles of its knives, as well as in staff ID badges. Readers can be installed at entrances and exits, cleaning and sharpening stations, or other requested locations, in order to track those tagged tools at a processing facility. Learn how meat processors can track and trace which individuals brought which tools onto the plant floor, whether they brought all of them back at the end of the shift, and whether the knives were sharpened prior to reuse.

23 Oct, 2014 12:20 pm

Lunch Break in Exhibit Hall

23 Oct, 2014 1:30 pm

Managing Global Assets Via RFID

A nonprofit agency is using a radio frequency identification system at its Bristol warehouse and London headquarters, in order to identify equipment used during emergency-response scenarios around the world. Approximately 500 assets, such as laptops, satellite telephones, forklifts, vehicles and generators, are fitted with passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID tags that are interrogated via handheld readers as the items are sent into the field for use by volunteers, and again when they are returned. The system enables the firm to gain visibility into where specific equipment is located, as well as who is responsible for those assets and when an item is being underutilized (based on it having remained at the local warehouse for an extensive period of time). Learn how management in England is monitoring such details as when there is a shortage of a specific asset at a particular site, and how it easily locates another site in the area that might have such items that have not already been assigned to a volunteer.

23 Oct, 2014 11:00 am

Can Online Retailers Be Disrupted?

Amazon.com was founded in 1994, in the very early days of the World Wide Web. Since then, the company has had a major impact on the global retail landscape, paving the way for other online retailers and disrupting the business models of conventional “brick-and-mortar” retailers. Radio frequency identification gives companies with brick-and-mortar stores a chance to use technology to disrupt online retailers, by providing them with the inventory visibility necessary to become true omni-channel retailers, and to use stores as warehouses for same-day deliveries. But this can only be achieved if companies are using RFID for what it truly is—a disruptive technology. Learn how RFID should be properly viewed and deployed.

Networking Break in Exhibit Hall

23 Oct, 2014 3:00 pm

Networking Break in Exhibit Hall

23 Oct, 2014 4:00 pm

Tracking Vehicles’ Locations During the Manufacturing Process

A high-performance car manufacturer is employing RFID to track the movements of its custom-made vehicles as they pass through the finishing process, to ensure they are produced according to the demands of the automaker’s customers. The automaker installed the RTLS at its production facility in the United Kingdom in early 2009. The system informs the company of the whereabouts of cars during the “off-tracks” (finishing) process, how long each process takes to complete, and where bottlenecks occur. Hear how the system’s server provides a map of the facility, with an icon indicating each car’s specific location, allowing employees to see where each vehicle is located.

23 Oct, 2014 4:45 pm

Railroad Streamlines Operations With RFID

A railroad operator is employing EPC Gen 2 RFID technology to track 10,000 rail-freight wagons, locomotives and passenger cars, thereby helping the company and its subsidiary to manage rail cars and work processes within its rail yards. The use of RFID-enabled technology has improved the efficiency of its rail-yard processes, better managed its rail-car inventory and maintenance orders, and improved customer service, by delivering detailed information to customers regarding which shipments have arrived, as well as when this occurred. Learn how personnel can identify wagons automatically, and at a distance, by using handheld readers while walking alongside a train and utilizing the devices to interrogate each rail car’s tags.

23 Oct, 2014 5:30 pm

Closing Remarks

23 Oct, 2014 5:35 pm

Conference Concludes

23 Oct, 2014 11:40 am

Intersport Is Using RFID to Boost Sales, Decrease Costs

Intersport Jan Bols, an athletic equipment and clothing store located in the Netherlands, reports that it has boosted sales and decreased inventory-tracking costs via a radio frequency identification solution that tracks approximately 10,000 items storewide, from the back room to the point of sale (POS). With the technology in place, Intersport JB can now conduct a full inventory count weekly, as well as ensure that all goods are stocked on storefront displays, thereby increasing sales. The firm began testing the technology in November 2013, conducting weekly store counts of its inventory, and comparing the results against the manual counts and inventory data in the retailer’s existing management software. During the pilot, the store found that a single employee using the technology required less than 30 minutes to perform an inventory count, with an accuracy of more than 99 percent. Learn how the use of RFID contributed to increased sales, since goods were more reliably displayed on the sales floor. In addition, hear how the checkout process was made quicker and more accurate, since the tags of all the items placed on the RFID-enabled counter are read instantly, and the POS system can then immediately provide a customer with transaction details, including the total cost.

23 Oct, 2014 12:20 pm

Lunch Break in Exhibit Hall

23 Oct, 2014 2:15 pm

Marks & Spencer Expands RFID to All Its Stores

A pioneer in the use of radio frequency identification, Marks & Spencer (M&S) is one of the United Kingdom’s leading retailers, with some 760 stores. In 2001, M&S began using RFID to track deliveries of fresh food between its suppliers and distribution centers. In 2004, the company launched a major RFID effort, deploying a solution to tag and track some men’s clothing items at several locations, and eventually expanding the deployment to 550 U.K. stores and additional types of apparel. Last year, Marks and Spencer upgraded its early RFID implementation and expanded the technology’s use to include home goods. The firm is rolling out the new system throughout its store operations this year, with plans to have all of the new Gen 2 readers in place—and all of its apparel and home goods RFID-tagged—by spring 2014. Learn why the company expects the technology’s future potential benefits to provide greater visibility and accuracy of all stock at the item level, from leaving a supplier through the distribution chain and into stores, as well as an opportunity to reduce the costs of annual stock-taking—plus, the loss of margin associated with excessive markdowns, theft and fraud.

23 Oct, 2014 3:00 pm

Networking Break in Exhibit Hall

23 Oct, 2014 4:00 pm

Monitoring Inventory at Multiple Locations With RFID

A clothing company has expanded its radio frequency identification system from what was initially a trial involving five of its stores in Germany, to cover 25 locations across Europe. The company, which manufactures its own apparel and footwear for men, women and children, is testing whether the technology can improve its supply chain visibility and in-store inventory, to ensure that at all times, certain goods are on the shelves for purchase at each of its stores. They launched the system to better ensure that “never out of stock” (NOS) items are always on the shelf, attaching EPC Gen 2 passive UHF tags to hangtags at the point of the garments’ manufacture. To date, 11 apparel suppliers are applying and reading RFID tags at a total of 13 locations. Learn how the firm has employed EPC tags and readers to manage shipments of high-demand items to a total of 25 stores, and how it is using the technology to monitor inventory at each location.

23 Oct, 2014 4:45 pm

Clothing Designer Adopts RFID Across Global Supply Chain

An international high-end clothing designer operates locations throughout the world. With the goals of gaining greater visibility into its products’ supply chain, from distribution center to stores, and of better preventing theft, the company has installed an RFID-enabled system at all 70 of its stores on multiple continents, as well as at three third-party DCs. Hangtags with embedded RFID tags are being attached to garments at the factory where the goods are manufactured, after which the clothing is boxed and sent to a distribution center. As boxes of merchandise arrive at one of the RFID-enabled DCs, a reader captures each tag’s ID number. The tags are then read again when the DC ships the goods to a store. Learn how the system provides supply chain visibility, fast point-of-sale processing and security at the store doors.

23 Oct, 2014 2:15 pm

RFID Automates Tool and Equipment Rental Trailers

Speedy Services, a provider of rental tools and equipment to the construction and industrial services industry within the United Kingdom, has created a self-service equipment storage and rental solution. The RFID-enabled onsite mobile equipment pod offers flexible hours to accommodate customers, and enables workers to rent the equipment they need, while unused tools remain in the trailer. Tools leaving or returning to the pod are automatically tracked, and rental fees are assessed by means of embedded RFID tags and a fixed UHF RFID reader integrated into the pod. Learn how the pod’s tracking systems automatically update a customer’s account on Speedy’s My Speedy extranet system, thereby offering the customer full visibility regarding its current usage and incurred charges.

23 Oct, 2014 9:50 am

Aston Martin Optimizes Manufacturing Processes With RFID

Luxury Automaker Aston Martin is using active RFID tags to monitor the locations of vehicles as they progress through the post-assembly test and verification stages of the manufacturing process. By capturing information like location and process dwell times, the movement of vehicles through the process becomes fully traceable, and location-driven business analytics can be used to enhance process performance and efficiency. Aston Martin uses battery-powered 6-8 GHz ultra-wideband (UWB) RFID tags to inject location information into its Smart Factory Offline application. Tags are attached to each vehicle’s windshield at the end of the assembly line before they enter the offline process. Each tag’s ID is then linked to the vehicle’s specific production information, including VIN, model and a logical process map specific to that vehicle. The location system then generates frequent and granular new locations for the vehicle, recording both its physical and logical progression through the area. Learn how employees access this data through a single online portal, and how they use this information to gain new insights into process performance.

23 Oct, 2014 4:00 pm

RFID Speeds Up Preparations for Flash Sales at Vente-privee

European online retailer Vente-privee sells a variety of goods through members-only flash sales, during which products are briefly offered at reduced rates. The firm receives product samples at its headquarters; prepares photographs, videos and other materials about those goods; and then returns the samples to the suppliers while proceeding with a flash sale. Vente-privee is employing a radio frequency identification solution to identify each tagged sample, as well as where it is currently located and where it has been. Learn how RFID enables the retailer to spend less time searching for samples, ensuring that the items are properly photographed and described as they circulate around the facility, before being returned to product suppliers.

23 Oct, 2014 11:00 am

RFID Takes Airbus to New Heights of Efficiency

Airbus, a winner of the RFID Journal Award for best implementation, has been pioneering best practices in the adoption of RFID by deploying the technology as “business radar” across all aspects of its business, including supply chain logistics, transportation, manufacturing and aircraft in-flight operations. This approach, which leverages a passive and active RFID reader infrastructure for multiple applications operating on a common software platform, has yielded significant cost savings as well as improvements in operational efficiencies. During the past three years, the company has significantly expanded these capabilities to new areas of operations across its value chain. Hear how Airbus is benefiting from these systems, as well as its latest plans for the next few years.

23 Oct, 2014 4:45 pm

Wearable Technology—Connecting With Customers Via RFID

Four Levent, a spinoff of The Synthetic Family, has created a high-quality dress shirt with a Near Field Communication (NFC) RFID tag embedded in each cuff. The chip has enough memory to store a unique ID number, as well as some basic information. Whenever a shopper taps his or her smartphone on the NFC tag, that person is directed to the company’s website, showing that particular shirt and size. The customer can then, via a free app, write his or her own information to the tags, such as a business card, a company URL or a link to a video. Learn how the firm is using RFID technology to connect with its customers and enhance customer loyalty, and how the tags can be used in even more creative ways.

23 Oct, 2014 1:30 pm

RFID Improves Efficiency and Transparency at Factory

German manufacturer Rehau is employing radio frequency identification technology to track the automotive bumpers it fabricates at its eight global facilities, thereby increasing the efficiency of its processes, from injection molding to final fabrication, and to quickly identify any problems related to a particular customer’s order. The system tracks the parts through injection molding, painting and fabrication, in order to record each process completed for every bumper. Learn how RFID is being used to find where each item is located during the fabrication or painting process, thus preventing mistakes that could otherwise lead to a product for a specific order being fabricated incorrectly.

23 Oct, 2014 4:00 pm

Using RFID to Establish a Secure Blood Supply Chain

Intelligent Mechatronics and RFID (IMaR) and Universal Trace jointly developed a pre-analytical blood product tracking system that facilitates the integrity and real-time visibility of blood products throughout the pre-analytical blood supply chain. Designed to facilitate the recent technological advances from the Internet of Things (IOT), RFID, smart interconnected objects, cloud computing and the future Internet, the system is based on passive UHF RFID systems strategically placed at traditional venerable points across the supply network. Learn how RFID-enabled technology is delivering a secure and tamper-proof pre-analytical blood supply chain for the health-care industry.

23 Oct, 2014 11:40 am

Steel Pipe Manufacturer Tracks WIP Materials

To improve its production efficiency, TenarisDalmine, a provider of steel pipe products and related services has deployed an RFID system to track pallets within a large industrial area. The use of RFID has led to increased production efficiencies and inventory accuracy, as well as improved worker safety. Learn how the firm has direct and immediate access to information without the need for intermediate processes and people, which increases accuracy, decreases the amount of time necessary to conduct searches, and allows for more productive use of internal transport vehicles.

23 Oct, 2014 9:30 am

How RFID Solutions Drive New Business Benefits

RFID hardware has become more reliable over the past few years, enabling companies to take advantage of RFID data in new and powerful ways. Software solutions are enabling firms to reengineer processes and deliver more value. In this session, our panel of experts will explain how businesses are leveraging these new capabilities.

23 Oct, 2014 9:05 am

Creating Business Value by Enabling the Internet of Things

Radio frequency identification and RF sensors are one way in which companies can link things—assets, products, inventories, environments—to the Internet. Learn how RFID technologies are being added to products to enhance their functionality by connecting them to the Internet, and how RFID and sensors are being employed to make environments smarter and more responsive. In addition, hear what strategies leading edge companies are employing to take advantage of the emerging Internet of Things.

23 Oct, 2014 4:45 pm

Using RFID to Track and Trace Aircraft Spare Parts

In a joint effort, Nefab and KLM have developed a Web-based Aviation Packaging Information System (APIS) to manage the inbound and outbound flow of packaging between Nefab and KLM. The system uses fixed RFID equipment installed in buildings and in trucks, as well as mobile handhelds for repair and exception-handling. RFID is used throughout the entire supply chain, is available and is easily expandable. The APIS software registers each package’s movements and location, and links its contents to the RFID tag’s unique serial number. This enables the two companies to achieve real-time visibility.