The following are news announcements made during the past week.
Psion and CAEN RFID Unveil UHF-RFID Snap-on for the Ikôn
Psion, a global provider of mobile computing solutions, and CAEN RFID, a supplier of ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID systems, have unveiled the Snappy, a new UHF RFID reader with an integrated antenna. Developed by CAEN RFID for short-range applications, the device snaps on to the bottom of the Psion Teklogix Ikôn handheld computer, providing it with UHF RFID read and write capabilities from a distance of up to 50 centimeters (19.7 inches). The Ikôn, designed for mobile workforce automation, features a VGA display and the QWERTY keyboard option, color-coded for usability. It supports Wi-Fi for local networks and 3G HSDPA wide area connectivity, as well as Bluetooth and GPS functions. The Snappy is powered and controlled directly by the Ikôn, allowing the device to read EPC Gen 2 UHF RFID tags. The device’s core component is CAEN RFID’s new Quark reader module, which the company claims is the smallest reader module, and with the lowest power consumption, of any currently available on the market. The module’s software interface for operating the reader supports multiple languages, enabling retailers, transport companies, warehouses and other global organizations to use the device in multiple countries and languages, as required. The Snappy is available now through Psion’s network of distributors.
Rush Tracking Systems Releases Orchestrator for RFID-enabled Forklifts
Rush Tracking Systems, an RFID systems integrator and solutions provider, has announced its new Orchestrator software module for its VisiblEdge platform, which works in conjunction with RFID-enabled forklifts and is designed to enable companies to manage workflows in manufacturing and warehousing operations. Orchestrator optimizes and helps provide granularity to communication between VisiblEdge and warehouse-management systems (WMS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) and manufacturing applications. Orchestrator includes software that would run on the RFID-enabled forklift, and within the WMS or other enterprise application, enabling the enterprise application to better understand and leverage the RFID data collected by the forklifts, says Toby Rush, Rush Tracking Systems’ president and CEO. For example, if a forklift operator picks up an RFID-enabled pallet to move it out of the way, the VisiblEdge software may receive an error message from the WMS, indicating that pallet wasn’t labeled on the pick list. Orchestrator, however, enables more granular feedback that would ultimately clear that error as the operator moves the pallet out of the way, places it in another approved area and then continues on following the pick-list instructions and placing designated pallets in their appointed lanes. Moreover, the Orchestrator module helps document the new spot for the moved pallet, sharing that information with the WMS. If, however, the pallet was moved to a restricted area, such as a staging lane designated only for pallets on the pick list, Orchestrator would be able to identify that error to the operator, via communication with the WMS. “RFID-enabled forklifts generally will tell a WMS everything, and the WMS isn’t used to getting all that data,” Rush states. “Orchestrator provides the necessary granularity and takes care of all the shuffling so errors aren’t generated when they needn’t be.”
Zebra Offers RXi4 RFID Printer-Encoder to EMEA Market
Last summer, Zebra Technologies announced an RFID printer-encoder, the RXi4, designed to address the RFID market for high-volume item-level tagging, asset tracking, inventory management and other applications across retail, manufacturing, health-care and distribution channels (see RFID News Roundup: Zebra Intros New RFID Printer-Encoder for Advanced Item-Level Tagging). Now, the company is making the device available in Europe, the Middle East and Asia (EMEA). According to Zebra, the RXi4’s introduction to the EMEA market is in direct response to a growing demand for this type of reader. The firm cites a recent survey from VDC Research indicating that the EMEA market for RFID printer-encoders is expected to grow this year by nearly 20 percent. The RXi4, which supports a variety of global certifications, is an ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) EPC Gen 2 printer-encoder featuring encoding technology enabling the printer to auto-configure to an inlay, and allowing the variable inlay placement feature. RFID printer-encoders typically have a very stringent specification as to where to place an inlay in a label, to ensure the encoding of only one tag at a time. This placement specification is also very specific to inlays. Once media are converted for particular inlays and printers, Zebra reports, it becomes very difficult to use them on other printers. Zebra’s printer-encoders, the company explains, always had the ability to do this through a complex printer-configuration command, but thanks to the variable inlay placement feature, the RXi4 can detect an inlay’s location as it is fed through the printer, and then adjust power and encoding position without requiring user intervention. This ability enables the device to accept media that have been converted for another make and model of printer. The RXi4 also features Zebra’s on-pitch capability, first introduced with the RZ400 printer-encoder, which enables the printing and encoding of small tags very close together with a distance as narrow as 16 millimeters (0.6 inch). By spacing inlays closer together, Zebra explains, label converters use less material, thereby resulting in a lower cost per label, fewer media roll changes and faster printer-encoder throughput. Printing and encoding inlays with a 16-millimeter pitch is very difficult within a printer, the company notes, which is a very RF-unfriendly environment and can not be accomplished by many printer-encoders presently available. For most other printer-encoders on the market, users need to specify the spacing from inlay to inlay in order to ensure proper encoding within the printer. This spacing, depending on the particular model, could be as great as 50 millimeters (2 inches), resulting in fewer inlays per roll, with increased liner waste. The cost of converting these labels could be up to 10 percent greater than for converting them with inlays on their native pitch.
ROC IT Solutions Delivers RFID-enabled Solution to Medical Device Manufacturer
ROC IT Solutions, a startup provider of serialized and RFID label printing, receiving, shipping, returns, deactivation, aggregation and de-aggregation solutions for manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and retailers, has announced that it has signed its fifth client—a division of a leading global pharmaceutical company that manufactures medical diagnostic devices and supplies. The year-old ROC IT Solutions, which declines to name its clients, provides software enabling companies to capture and process data for serialized assets at the edge of the supply chain, where materials handling takes place. The software is designed to support enterprise resource planning (ERP), electronic pedigree, track-and-trace, automatic identification or other applications, as well as interoperate with any device for bar-code and RFID data capture, using GS1 standards. The newest client will employ ROC IT’s solutions and RFID technology—primarily passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) EPC Gen 2—to capture and process serial number data at the edges of the supply chain, thus enabling the creation of serialized advance shipment notices (ASN). Larry Hall, ROC IT’s VP of sales and operations, and one of the company’s founders, says his firm is helping the supplier with tag encoding, case and pallet aggregation, shipment verification, and integration with SAP AII. This effort will ultimately help improve processes downstream, he says, such as the execution of vendor-managed inventory (VMI), as well as automated receiving and replenishment (ROC IT Solutions does not provide solutions for validation and replenishment, so it is not a part of that portion of the project). The goal is to improve receipt and inventory processes and visibility throughout the supply chain. Several other clients are utilizing RFID in conjunction with ROC IT Solutions’ software as well, Hall says, including a large pharmaceutical retailer that is utilizing passive EPC Gen 2 tags for shipment accuracy out of its distribution center (DC). Another client, a large pharmaceutical manufacturer, is using a mix of 1-D and 2-D bar codes for DC receiving, shipping accuracy and aggregation, and label printing that includes integration to a SAP application. That client is currently working on a project for passive high-frequency (HF) RFID tags for shipment verification and accuracy and eventual customer validation and replenishment (again, since ROC IT Solutions does not provide solutions for validation and replenishment, it is not working on that part of the project).
Cedar Rapids Library Uses RFID to Sort Items for Shelving
Iowa’s Cedar Rapids Public Library (CRPL) has finished installing a new RFID-enabled automated materials-handling system designed to improve the check-in and shelving processes for its staff, ultimately reducing the amount of time it takes for materials to get into the hands of patrons. CRPL, the second-largest library in that state in regard to circulation, circulated more than 700,000 items last year. The solution comes from RFID Library Solutions, a new provider of automated handling systems for libraries. The system leverages high-frequency (HF) passive RFID tags and readers compliant with the ISO 15693 and ISO 18000-3 standards, as well as sorting systems, conveyor belts and related software. The RFID solution was installed and tested earlier this month at CRPL’s Westdale library, according to Roger Rayborn, CRPL’s computer information services manager, and is now up and running live. An RFID-tagged item, once dropped into the item return slot, lands on a conveyor belt. As that item moves through the conveyor system, a reader captures the ID number of its RFID tag, which is then correlated with back-end data that enables the system to determine where the item should be shelved. That information is relayed back to the conveyor system, which then distributes it to the appropriate bin alongside the belt. In other libraries, CPRL reports, systems such as these have been shown to reduce the time required for an item to return to a shelf from a mean of 50 hours down to only two. The system should not only help speed up the shelving process, CRPL indicates, but also reduce the number of repetitive-motion injuries to staff members, and increase the amount of time workers spend planning and facilitating programs, performing reference and research, and working with customers. The library received a $500,000 grant from the federal government in 2009 to replace its previous RFID system, which was destroyed in a flood in 2008.
RF Code Signs ITM Communications as First U.K. Partner
RF Code, an RFID firm and IT asset-management solutions provider, has announced that it has signed ITM Communications Ltd. (ITM) as its first certified partner. ITM, a provider of service-focused information and communications infrastructure solutions, such as networking and data-center systems and services, serves a variety of clients in the United Kingdom, as well as in Europe, the Middle East and Asia (EMEA). The partnership announcement follows last month’s launch of the RF Code European Channel Program, according to RF Code, which provides such solutions as active RFID-based IT asset-management and environmental- and power-monitoring solutions. ITM has completed both sales and technical training on RF Code solutions. In addition, the firm has also invested in a demonstration suite at its facilities in Milton Keynes, in the United Kingdom, to highlight RF Code’s value in automating the real-time discovery, tracking, monitoring and management of high-value physical IT assets found in diverse environments, including data centers and geographically dispersed enterprises, health care, government, corporate and educational organizations, as well as in logistics applications across industries. The suite also provides a full spectrum of environmental-monitoring solutions that help firms achieve compliance with the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme and the EU Code of Conduct for Data Centers, by providing access to real-time energy-consumption information. ITM will use RF Code’s technology to help monitor and react to energy consumption, RF Code reports, in order to achieve a reduction in operating costs within data centers and assist clients in meeting corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals.
TagMaster, SKIDATA Partner on Long-range UHF
TagMaster, a provider of RFID solutions for automatic vehicle identification, and SKIDATA, a provider of access solutions, have signed a memorandum of understanding whereby both companies have agreed to cooperate in the field of supplying integrated long-range ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID solutions. This integration, the companies explain, will support the SKIDATA Keytag, a UHF solution that includes an RFID-enabled transponder and RFID-enabled windshield sticker, to be read by TagMaster XT-readers designed for installations in parking, thereby providing contactless hands-free entry and exit for parking facilities.