RFID Journal has unveiled the finalists for its 2017 RFID Journal Awards. The winners will be announced at RFID Journal LIVE! 2017, the company’s 15th annual conference and exhibition, to be held at Arizona’s Phoenix Convention Center on May 9-11. All finalists in the end-user categories will be invited to speak at the event, and the winners, along with the other end-user finalists, will receive a prestigious crystal award.
“Each year, the scope of projects expands as RFID technology matures,” says Mark Roberti, RFID Journal’s founder and editor. “In many cases, the technology is being used in mission-critical applications and delivering incredible benefits. Attendees at LIVE! 2017 will benefit from hearing about these deployments and seeing the products chosen as among the best this year.”
End-user companies were nominated in five categories:
Best Retail RFID Implementation
• Lululemon, for its use of RFID to ensure that all inventory available in the store is optimally represented on the store floor through real-time replenishment, and to establish a foundation of accurate, real-time inventory available to satisfy guests’ needs across stores at any time (see RFID Brings Lululemon’s Inventory Accuracy to 98 Percent)
• Tegu, for its use of RFID to enable its consigned inventory strategy, which allowed it to gain more shelf space and increase sales (see Tegu Uses Smart Fixtures to Build Sales)
• Tesco, for its use of RFID to improve on-shelf availability, while at the same time freeing up staff to spend more time servicing customers (see Tesco Deploys Tag-Reading Robot at Five Stores to Track F&F Clothing)
Best Manufacturing RFID Implementation
• Heraeus Noblelight America, for its use of RFID within its UV curing light bulbs to identify and authenticate the type of bulb, as well as validate its warranty
• Honda, for its use of RFID to provide visibility into the flow and location of rework vehicles, both inside the production facility and within its massive holding yards
• HP Brazil, for its use of an internally developed Internet of Things software platform to analyze RFID data and provide unique insights into manufacturing operations (see RFID Platform Tracks HP Brazil’s Manufacturing, Distribution)
Best Health-Care RFID Implementation
• Cook Medical Korea, for its use of RFID to track medical device inventories and shipments nationwide
• DIA Construction, for its use of RFID in a greenfield hospital development to track 200,000 assets
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, for its use of RFID to create an integrated system and methodology to manage all consumable inventory
Best Logistics/Supply Chain RFID Implementation
• GERDAU, for its use of an RFID system to cut costs and increase production
• Marroquinera, for its use of an RFID system to provide timely and complete real-time information regarding the movements of merchandise inventories so that management can make better decisions related to production, purchasing, storage and the dispatch of inventories
• Ternium, for its use of RFID to track finished materials and optimize the storage, picking and shipping of goods
Best RFID Implementation (Other Industry)
• Delta Air Lines, for its use of RFID to better track baggage and provide customers with real-time updates regarding the locations of their suitcases (see Delta Gives Green Light to RFID Baggage Tracking and Airline Industry Study Is Upbeat About RFID-Based Baggage Tracking)
• Houston Forensic Science Center, for its use of RFID to accurately track all incoming supplies, supply room inventory, and real-time supply consumption, thereby enabling better replenishment
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), for its use of RFID to track the hardware for and optimize the assembly of the James Webb Space Telescope
Best Use of RFID to Enhance a Product or Service
• Berntsen International, for its use of RFID in its InfraMarker System, which dramatically reduces the time and cost of locating underground utility pipes
• Onis Data Solutions, for its use of RFID for identification, access control and security for 53,000 VIPs attending the Rio de Janeiro City Carnival 2017
• SharpEnd, for its use of NFC tags in product packaging to transform 45,000 bottles of Malibu coconut rum into connected media platforms (see Malibu Rum Serves Up NFC-Connected Bottles)
The judges also selected 10 finalists for Best New Product being exhibited at this year’s LIVE! event. The finalists are:
• Confidex, for its Links NFC Portfolio, which enables customers to choose memory options and customized printing (see Confidex Announces Confidex Links Service for NFC Tags)
• Farsens, for its Rocky 100 configurable RFID chip, which lets companies use a single chip to develop multiple, distinct battery-free sensors
• Guard RFID, for its self-powered and wireless active RFID reader and tag exciter, and its fully wireless real-time location network, for sites without power or Internet connectivity
• HID Global, for its Seal Tag edTamper UHF system, which alerts users to tampering even after a seal has been broken
• Identiv, for its uTrust Sense Temperature Tracker, a low-cost, portable temperature sensor that can be read by an NFC-enabled phone (see Identiv Offers NFC RFID Temperature-Tracking Solution)
• Kathrein RFID for its RRU 4000 RFID IoT gateway, which provides direct connectivity into back-end systems, such as SAP, as well as different options of hardware and software interfaces, including PoE+, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and 2G/3G mobile connectivity
• NXP Semiconductors, for its UCODE 8, which offers greater read sensitivity, Advanced Auto Adjust for improved read-performance, optimized EPC Session 2 operation and other features
• STMicroelectronics, for its ST25DV dynamic NFC RFID tag, a dual-interface RF-I2C device that supports fast data speeds over longer distances (see STMicroelectronics Unveils New NFC RFID Tag ICs for Long-Range Contactless Communication)
• Tyco Retail Solutions, for its RFID Fitting Room, which uses RFID hardware and software to provide unobtrusive, real-time item-level insight that helps retailers better serve customers and combat shrinkage, while enabling in-fitting-room merchandising and promotional opportunities (see Tyco Retail Solutions Adds Fitting Room Analytics to Its TrueVUE Software Suite>
• Zebra Technologies, for its SmartSense for Retail system, which uses RFID, video and microlocationing technologies to automatically sense and record the locations and movements of merchandise, store associates, shoppers and assets, and turns that data into actionable information (see Zebra Launches RFID-enabled Overhead Sensor)
In addition, RFID Journal’s editors will present the 2017 RFID Special Achievement Award to the late Ken Traub, principal at Ken Traub Consulting, for his work with GS1 to develop software standards for sharing Electronic Product Code data (see Special Achievement Award: Ken Traub).
This year’s LIVE! event will feature eight conference tracks, seven preconference seminars and workshops, four post-conference seminars, three co-located events, fast-track training provided by RFID4U, RFID Professional Institute certification and more than 200 exhibitors showcasing the latest RFID products and solutions. Additional information is available at www.rfidjournalevents.com/live/.