By Mark Roberti
There’s been some talk recently that Europe has lost interest in RFID. Don’t tell that to the Finns. In a recent study, Deloitte Consulting analyzed the fastest growing Finnish companies that are less than five years old. The study looked only at the growth in revenue of these companies over the past three years (not their profitability). Of the top five rising stars, three-Stockway, Vilant Systms and Top Tunniste-are RFID companies.
Here are the top five with the percentage growth in parentheses:
1. Firstbeat Technologies Oy (861)
2. Stockway Oy (566)
3. Vilant Systems Oy (347)
4. Valueframe Oy (311)
5. Top Tunniste Oy (289)
Stockway is a Helsinki-based software company. Its Trackway solution is a distributed, peer-to-peer system that enables business partners to track shipments with RFID in real- or near-real time. Stora Enso, a global paper and packaging company based in Helsinki, has used the solution to track CDs (see Tracking CDs in Real Time).
Vilant Systems is a Helsinki-based systems integrator specializing in RFID applications for logistics tracking and asset management. It does process-change consultancy, system design services, installation and customization of readers, back-end integration and management, and support for
HF and UHF RFID supply chain applications.
ToP Tunniste is a Tampere-based RFID system integrator. It runs the ToP Shop online store as a sales channel for HF and UHF interrogators, tags, labels and software products.
RFID deployments might not be making headlines in Europe, but it is making headway-especially in Finland.