HP RFID Data Center Management

HP launches RFID-enabled data center management service. The RFID technology will support visibility to assets and reduce loss, increase security, and improve management controls. ...

... "The HP Factory Express RFID Service tracks critical data center assets, such as HP factory-built servers, storage devices and rack enclosures, so customers can continuously monitor the equipment as soon as it is received at their facilities. When deployed as part of a full RFID solution from HP and its partners, the service automates and tracks device movement, providing an accurate inventory of all assets throughout their lifecycle. RFID is a data-collection technology that uses radio waves to remotely store and retrieve data to identify objects. It provides companies with up-to-the-minute supply chain visibility, including inventory, logistics and freshness dates. Data center asset management is becoming crucial to customers, particularly those with thousands of servers in multiple data centers across several geographies. Many data centers operate with manual inventory lists and have low inventory accuracy. With moves, adds and changes, keeping track of technology devices can be complex. HP's RFID tagging process allows technology devices to be scanned from the factory to the customer without requiring workers to manually inventory each asset. Customers can then quickly locate and maintain devices with minimal employee intervention, saving time and reducing loss or theft of valuable technology assets. " ...

Via HP: RFID Service for Tracking Data Center Assets

RFID KUTag

KU researchers have developed high-performance, low-cost, and thin RFID tag that will perform well on metal or liquid containers. ...

... "Deavours foresees the KU-Tag, which is thinner than a quarter, transforming internal asset tracking, allowing users to reliably place RFID tags on any object regardless of what it is made of or contains. For example, electronic readers placed throughout a manufacturing plant could send out radio signals to which each tag would respond with its identifying information. " ...

Via University of Kansas, Information and Telecommunication Technology Center: KU RFID Tag

RFID Acquisition in Security Market Segment

The Stanley Works agrees to purchase Xmark Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of VeriChip, for $45 million cash. Stanley Works will integrate Xmark into its Security line of business. ...

... "Xmark, whose headquarters and principal operations are located in Ottawa, Canada develops, markets and sells RFID-based systems used to identify, locate and protect people and assets. Xmark focuses on three vertical markets: providing infant security systems under the Hugs and Halo brands, wander protection systems under the RoamAlert brand, and hospital asset tracking systems under the Assetrac(R) brand. " ...

Via Stanley Works: Agreement to Acquire Xmark from VeriChip Corporation

MicroWireless RFID Tracks Investory

Axcess International's Micro-Wireless Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system will be implemented by the U.S. military to enable automatic inventory accounting and perimeter security for its ordnance assets. ...

... "Micro-Wireless technology allows for ultra-small, low cost wireless identification transmitters to be assigned to each asset, enabling automatic tracking, local area location determining and automatic security monitoring. The military initially selected Axcess' MicroWireless system for a pilot program because of its proven domain expertise in automatically identifying, tracking and protecting assets. During the thorough laboratory testing that began early last year, the military integrated the Axcess system into its core software system. The total system is now being implemented in the arms storage facility. Various forms of wireless tags are placed on the different types of armament. The items' electronic identifications are enrolled in the software to provide an automatic, real time inventory of each armament and its location based on its transmitted signal. Any unauthorized movement of an armament outside the storage area, automatically triggers an alert. The handling of armaments can be linked to authorized service personnel electronically via an RFID personnel badge so the authorized movement does not trigger an alarm. " ...

Via Axcess International: Micro-Wireless RFID System Implemented by U.S. Military for Ordnance Security

Mojix RFID Technology

New announcement and launch planned for upcoming RFID event. ...

... "Mojix plans to unveil a new technology and a new class of RFID system that brings quantum leaps in RFID reliability, reach, scale and security to supply chain management and asset tracking. " ...

Mojix Link

RFID Asset Tag

Omni-ID Prox is a new short-range, passive UHF RFID tag in a small form factor that is targeted at the asset management application market. ...

... "The Omni-ID Prox tag was specifically designed for asset identification where increased visibility and asset registration are essential. It delivers unmatched precision in the tracking of smaller high-value assets, electronic devices, communications and network cards, servers, and other assets or applications that demand high performance. In addition, Omni-ID Prox can be utilized to track tools or products during manufacturing as well as manage asset rentals. " ...

Revolutionary RFID Tag, Omni-ID Prox is Nominated for Best in Show Award

Vehicle RFID Inventory Control and Asset Tracking

ThingMagic partners with DEWALT and Ford Motor Company to integrate embedded RFID asset tracking system into the 2009 Ford F-150, F-Series Super Duty pickups and E-Series vans. The Ford Work Solutions Tool Link by DEWALT uses RFID reader system to enable Ford and DEWALT customers to track RFID-tagged assets and validate inventory is under control. ...

... "Ford is the first automotive manufacturer to offer passive, embedded RFID technology in its vehicles, allowing customers to capitalize on RFID's capabilities, including asset tracking and inventory control, to ensure crews arrive and leave the job site with the right tools and materials for their jobs. As part of the Ford Work Solutions, a collection of affordable technologies that will assist Ford customers in better running their business, Tool Link by DEWALT is the result of a partnership between leaders in the embedded RFID technology space, professional power tool industry and the automotive business.

Building on DEWALT's knowledge of the professional power tool market, ThingMagic's Advanced Development Group has also designed rugged, reliable RFID labels that allow truck operators to tag, scan and track expensive tools, equipment and other assets using the ThingMagic-designed system. Additionally, Ford Works Solutions Tool Link by DEWALT is designed to support loss prevention of equipment and supplies through real-time inventory updates. Ford is debuting the ThingMagic RFID-enabled vehicle line during the industry’s annual Chicago Auto Show. " ...

Via ThingMagic: Ford Motor Company and DEWALT to Provide First RFID Enabled Trucks

Medical Center RFID Achieves Benefits and Expands Use

Carolinas Heart and Vascular Institute expands its use of RFID tracking throughout its medical system, as the RFID-enabled process has shown improvements in utilization and accuracy of critical high-value equipment, which translates into financial benefits. ...

... "The cabinet-based system was initially deployed in a cardiac catheterization laboratory suite to store, track, and manage the utilization of high cost items such as Drug-Eluting stents and PTCA balloon catheters. The organization has now expanded its use of the system by deploying twenty-six units to manage those items for additional cardiac catheterization laboratories while also managing pacemakers and ICDs for the electrophysiology laboratories. With these additional units, CHVI will complete a broader deployment of the technology to support efforts to increase charge capture accuracy, eliminate product expiration, and optimize on-hand inventory levels to support organizational improvement initiatives. " ...

Via Mobile Aspects: Carolinas Medical Center

RFID Medical Center Asset Tracking Implementation

Southern Ohio Medical Center implements RFID-enabled asset tracking solution from Radianse, called Reveal. The medical center is realizing the benefits of streamlined equipment inspection processes, quick device recall, improved asset utilization, and enhanced regulatory compliance through quick asset location and better management systems from increased visibility. ...

... "SOMC will use the application to better find and manage 1600 medical devices and equipment across four floors. Moving forward, as part of its $110 million facility expansion, the hospital expects to use additional Radianse Reveal applications to improve patient flow and overall safety from admission to discharge. SOMC is adding more than 100 rooms, a new emergency services area as well as same day surgery and other facility and service additions.

SOMC originally planned to start smaller, but the response was so positive, and the potential so great, it opted to go hospital-wide right away, according to Cooper. The hospital chose a mix of room- and zone-level coverage. With Radianse, room-level accuracy is typically within three feet. " ...

Via Radianse: Southern Ohio Medical Center implements RFID Asset Tracking

RFID Pharmaceutical Tracking Monitors Location and Status

University of Michigan Health System implements RFID technology to enable tracking of pharmaceutical drug supply for location, status, and replenishment. The system will be enable via an on-site wireless network. ...

... "The Department of Pharmacy Services selected InnerWireless PanGo to help manage the supply and location of pharmacy boxes, which are often stored on highly mobile crash carts. Federal guidelines – from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) – also require that these boxes contain an adequate supply of medications that are not expired. The PanGo platform gives the pharmacy department the capability to monitor the location, as well as replenish supplies and replace soon-to-expire medications in each box more quickly.

PanGo is the first location management platform to aggregate location data from a variety of RTLS and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) sources and integrate it into the enterprise in a standards-based way, delivering a cost-optimized, scalable solution. Additionally, PanGo is the only asset-tracking application that provides a seamless, Web-based view of thousands of assets, regardless of the RTLS or RFID technology used to track them. Through this combination of features, PanGo offers a solution specifically designed to give users real-time visibility, alerts and analysis about the location and status of key assets. " ...

Via InnerWireless: University of Michigan Health System Selects Asset Tracking Solution

University of Michigan Facts: "The University of Michigan Health System includes three hospitals, approximately 30 health centers and 120 outpatient clinics, the U-M Medical School and its Faculty Group Practice and the Michigan Health Corp."

2008 Patient Safety Goals

InnerWireless Products: In-Building Wireless: "PanGo Vision is a web-based enterprise asset tracking solution specifically designed to give business users real-time visibility, real-time alerts, and real-time analysis about the location and status of key assets. "

Solar RFID Reader Powers Asset Tracking System

Savi Technology deploys solar-powered Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers and signposts that lower energy usage and costs and enable real-time asset tracking. In many cases, Army bases may be in remote locations with limited power. Solar energy is being used more frequently in remote RFID networks. ...

... "Solar energy provides an energy efficient and environmentally friendly power source for users' RFID hardware, and also eliminates the need to install electrical infrastructure in remote areas where there is no fixed reader infrastructure. Savi engineers mounted solar panels and RFID signposts on poles located at a major U.S. Army supply facility in Kuwait. The solar-powered signposts activate RFID tags attached to vehicles or pieces of equipment. The tags then report the assets' positions to nearby RFID readers, which relay the information to Savi Site Manager software that automatically updates the assets' latest location. These tools enable the facility to track more than 25,000 tags per day. " ...

Via Savi Technology: RFID Asset Tracking Uses Solar Power

RFID Tracks Locates High Value Hospital Assets

Ship2Save implements RFID location services at Holland hospital to track and locate healthcare pumps. This smart asset tracking process is becoming more critical in the healthcare industry as hospitals leverage advanced systems and technology to provide healthcare services. ...

... "Tergooi hospital, a 330 000 sq-ft medical center in northern Holland, has adopted a Wi-Fi based tracking infrastructure that is assisting them in locating infusion pumps. Installed and integrated by Ship2Save, an RFID solution provider, in collaboration with Ecole Polytechnique, a Montreal based University; the system uses Aeroscout asset tags to monitor movement and usage of intravenous pumps across various locations in the hospital. Tags that are attached to the infusion pumps transmit information to wireless access points throughout the hospital, this information is then forwarded to a location engine platform for analysis. The calculated location is then plotted to a graphical interface that nurses and hospital management use to find available pumps on the hospital floor plan. " ...

Via Ship2Save: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to track Infusion Pumps

OATSystems RFID Solution Tracks Assets and Work-in-Process to Lower Working Capital

OATSystems has implemented its RFID-based Asset Tracking and Work-in-Process Solution at customers, such as Hewlett-Packard Brazil. ...

... "HP Brazil estimates that OAT's new solution has reduced its printer inventory by 17 percent by increasing visibility into the location of its products. Using OATSystems Asset Tracking Solution, HP tracks its printers from their origin on the assembly line through critical transition points to their eventual outbound shipment. HP also uses the system to create product DNA to save unique information on the RFID tag for each printer. By saving information such as install-by dates and testing results, HP tracks and identifies printers returned for repairs under warranty. Having a full record of the printer's history has enabled HP to improve its repair service and allowed it to return printers to customers much more efficiently. Today, the OAT solution is supporting nine RFID-enabled manufacturing and product completion lines producing over three million products annually. " ...

Via OATSystems: HP Brazil Reduces Printer Inventory by 17 Percent

RFID PathMinder System Building Block

RFID PathMinder is a system building block that is configured to meet RFID application-specific needs in the industrial space. ...

... "The RFID PathMinder combines the RFID integration and domain expertise of URS/EG&G with Siemens advanced automation and RFID product technology to deliver the reliable, real-time, asset tracking required in supply chain logistics, retail distribution centers and manufacturing.

The RFID PathMinder offers a wide array of optional, fully integrated functionalities, including RFID reading (UHF), advanced event triggering, pre-processing/filtering RFID readings, wireless networking, PLC control, motion control, optical data matrix reader interfaces, status indicators (light column, audio alarms, HMI) and UPS protected power. The RFID PathMinder can also be configured to include an all-flash memory based industrial PC (Siemens Microbox controller) to support application specific software locally. " ...

Via Siemens: Siemens & URS/EG&G Introduce RFID PathMinder

Active RFID Tags Compatible With Cisco CCX Format

AeroScout WiFi tags are now compatible with Cisco's CCX tag format. Location functionality can be added to Wi-Fi networks easily. ...

... "The Cisco CCX tag format builds upon the Wi-Fi beaconing tag method that AeroScout and Cisco jointly pioneered. It is a new standard for communication from Wi-Fi-based Active RFID tags, which delivers location information and other valuable data to the Cisco Wireless Location Appliance. The beaconing method eliminates the need to associate with the Access Point and enables AeroScout's asset tracking solutions to easily scale to tens of thousands of tags without negatively impacting the Wi-Fi network. For example, one recent AeroScout installation uses this method to enable over 15,000 AeroScout tags to operate on a Cisco Unified Wireless Network. Other non-CCX tags that require an association method of continuous back-and-forth communication are severely limited in scalability and drain network resources." ...

Via AeroScout: Enhanced Location and Sensor Capabilities With Cisco

Active RFID Asset Tag Supports WIFI RTLS

WhereNet's multimode WhereTag(TM) IV active RFID asset tag is available. The WhereTag IV ISO 24730 mode can be applied in indoor or outdoor environments, and the IEEE 802.11 mode supports applications requiring lower precision in more stable, radio frequency (RF) friendly environments. ...

... "Supporting both ISO 24730 and IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi)-based real-time locating system (RTLS) applications, the WhereTag IV works with WhereNet's integrated wireless architecture for real-time location, messaging, telemetry, and workforce communication applications, providing constant asset visibility with the degree of location accuracy matched to the enterprise customer's specific business requirements. " ...

Via WhereNet: Multimode Active RFID Real-Time Locating System Tag

iSUM RFID Asset Tracking Built By Alien and Xterprise

iSUM demonstrates convergence of RFID asset tracking and integrated edge devices. ...

... "iSUM provides a scalable, high performance platform for tracking assets across the supply chain, and for enabling organizations to orchestrate supply chain visibility solutions at the edge of the enterprise in a simplified and cost effective manner. Developed collaboratively by Alien Technology and Xterprise and deployed at Orlando-based logistics-leader iGPS (Intelligent Global Pooling Systems), iSUM takes advantage of the extensive plug-and-play capabilities of the BizTalk RFID platform for building and managing rich solutions that connect real-time business processes with intelligent edge devices, combined with the high performance, flexibility and robustness of Alien Enterprise RFID Readers. " ...

Alien Technology Demonstrates Support For Microsoft BizTalk RFID

Texas RFID Tracks Hospital High-Value Assets

The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano in Dallas-Fort Worth uses RFID technology to track high-value assets. The system is designed to be transparent and simple-to-use to drive adoption. ...

... "The system essentially automates the tracking and cataloging of almost all of the hospital's most expensive equipment. " ...

Via Dallas Morning News : Hospital RFID For Asset Management

RFID Laptop Asset Protection For Federal Agencies

AXCESS provides three civilian U.S. Government agencies with its ActiveTag(TM) wireless RFID system for locating, tracking and protecting laptop computer assets and critical documents. The RFID implementation addresses the theft of laptops and other assets, which have been reported by groups including the FBI and IRS. This RFID solution can prevent assets thefts by automatically identifying, locating and tracking assets as they move around a facility. AXCESS RFID tags use small, re-usable battery-powered tags that transmit a wireless message up to 100 feet to hidden palm size receivers. The receivers are connected via networking to software that monitors the assets. The tags are activated only on-demand and only at control point locations. ...

... "In October 2006, the Congressional Committee on Government Reform found that all 19 civilian agencies reported losing personally identifiable information. AXCESS' ActiveTag(TM) system provides a proven solution to this problem that works in concert with standard security alarm equipment, to identify authorized personnel and provide instant message alerts when unauthorized individuals attempt to remove tagged laptops or other assets. The technology, which manages assets with no manual human involvement, can identify a laptop by using a small battery-powered property tag that is attached to the computer, often with an optional anti-tamper circuit that serves as a fail safe measure. " ...

Via AXCESS: Solution Solving Government Laptop Theft Problem

RFID Asset Tracking Starter Kit

AssetTrack Express is a new solution from Fluensee that enables companies to quickly and begin using asset tracking technology and RFID, at an inexpensive price point. ...

... "AssetTrack Express is an out-of-the-box RFID starter kit to manage assets that most companies can install and have up and running within a day. It includes everything necessary for companies to deploy RFID technology to automatically track and manage nearly any type of valuable asset. With this kit, companies can start exploiting RFID's many uses, such as monitoring, planning and tracking asset movements, and providing analytical reports that help improve asset utilization. The standard AssetTrack Express kit is comprised of Fluensee's sophisticated asset tracking software, a rugged handheld RFID reader, up to 250 assorted passive RFID tags, a quick set-up guide, as well as support services. For an additional cost, kit contents can be modified - to include stationary readers or alternative tag technologies, for example - based on the user's specific needs." ...

Via Fluensee: AssetTrack Express - RFID Starter Kit