The following are news announcements made during the past week.
FTC to Host Workshop About RFID’s Impact on Consumer Privacy
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will host a workshop on Sept. 23 to discuss emerging RFID applications—including contactless payment devices and item-level tagging—and their implications for consumer protection policy. The Transatlantic RFID Workshop on Consumer Privacy and Data Security will also examine consumer awareness and education initiatives, and security and privacy threats and proposed solutions, bringing together industry representatives, government officials and consumer advocates from Europe and the United States. The workshop is being held in conjunction with an RFID symposium on Sept. 22, sponsored by the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue, the European-American Business Council and EPCglobal, with the support of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Commission. Following the FTC workshop, the Commerce Department, in cooperation with the European Commission, will host a “matchmaking” event for U.S. and European companies, at which new transatlantic RFID partnerships and technical exchanges will be explored. Free and open to the public, the workshop will be held at the Federal Trade Commission Conference Center, located in Washington, DC. In addition, the workshop will be broadcast live via a Webcast here. Interested parties may submit written comments or original research until Oct. 23. For more information, visit the FTC’s Web site.
Strong Growth Predicted for RFID in Retail Apparel Market
British research and analyst firm IDTechEx estimates that approximately 200 million RFID tags will be purchased this year for apparel, 75 percent going to Marks & Spencer. The remainder will be used by Sumitex International, Lemmi Fashion, Sungod Enterprises, NP Collection, Sanyo Shokai, Throttleman, VF Corp. and Tomorrow’s Mother. Those millions of RFID tags will comprise 38 percent of the total $68 million retailers will spend on RFID globally, according to IDTechEx, which is releasing these and other findings in a 200-page report entitled “Apparel RFID 2008-2018.” By 2013, the firm claims, the amount spent on RFID technology in apparel will rise to $988 million. In the report, numerous apparel companies cite increased sales of up to 20 percent using RFID to monitor shelf stock levels. The report analyzes the use of RFID in the apparel value chain, from tagging cloth in manufacturing to retail fashion and rented apparel. Additionally, the report profiles 142 end users from around the world, including companies in Chile, Canada, Sweden, Taiwan and elsewhere.
RedPrairie Integrates RFID into its Yard-Management Application
Enterprise applications company RedPrairie, headquartered in Waukesha, Wis., has introduced a new release of its warehouse management system (WMS) that integrates RFID functionality directly into the yard-management application, a module of the WMS. The yard-management module will enable companies to employ RFID to track trailers from gate check-in through checkout, the company says, making yard management more accurate and efficient. For instance, data collected from RFID interrogators that read passive RFID tags on trailers as they enter or leave the yard can be utilized to verify and record their presence on-site, while fixed-zone readers or mobile interrogators can be used to locate trailers within the yard, as well as confirm trailer movements and support yard audits. The data can be collected in the yard-management module used to improve scheduling and labor allocation, and analyzed to better understand trailer flow through the yard. Built-in event-management capabilities in the WMS can alert managers and initiate resolution to exceptions uncovered by the RFID reads. The yard management module is available now.
Bibliotheca Introduces Hybrid Bar-Code, RFID Library Solution
Bibliotheca RFID Library Systems, located in Huntsville, Ala., has introduced BiblioHybrid, a library solution for security and patron self-service that combines its RFID system and electromagnetic (EM) bar-code systems designed to help libraries transition from bar codes to RFID. The system utilizes tags that operate at 13.56 MHz and comply with the ISO 15693 standard. BiblioGate Hybrid security gates can trigger acoustic and visual signals when patrons attempt to exit without properly checking out materials, and can detect library materials fitted with either bar codes or RFID tags. The Biblio SelfCheck Hybrid solution enables patrons to self-check out and in media outfitted with either bar codes or RFID tags, as well as pay fines, extend due dates and more. Both BiblioHybrid solutions are now available.
PowerID Expands Channel Network in the Americas
PowerID, a provider of battery-assisted passive (BAP) RFID technology, has announced it has signed partnership agreements with five value-added reseller (VAR) and system integrator partners in the Americas since the April 2008 release of its EPCglobal Class 1, Gen 2-compliant labels. New partners include Xterprise, Venture Research, Rush Tracking Systems, Intelliwave, and Synergy. The partners are bundling PowerID’s labels, which operate in the ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) range (850-960 MHz), into their RFID offerings.
XIO Strategies to Help DOD With RFID, IUID
XIO Strategies, a Vienna, Va., provider of supply chain management and communications consulting services to government, has announced it will provide subject matter expertise for two U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) programs. XIO will work as a subcontractor to Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC). The first contract is in support of the Defense Department’s Purchase Card On-line System (PCOLS) program. Under the initiative, XIO will help develop training materials, conduct online and on-site training sessions for the DOD community, and support training activities at eBusiness and Purchase Card conferences. Under the second contract, XIO will offer guidance regarding the department’s Item Unique Identification (IUID) policy, and the application of that policy, to the U.S. Navy’s Littoral and Mine Warfare (LMW) operations and supplier contracts. XIO will review and update the LMW Sonar Mine Detecting Set (AN/AQS 20A) UID Implementation Plan in accordance with life-cycle acquisition process. IUID is a system of establishing globally ubiquitous unique identifiers within the DOD.