Intermec RFID China Certified

China certifies Intermec's RFID equipment. ...

... "Intermec's passive ultra high frequency (UHF) RFID (radio frequency identification) readers are the first RFID hardware to be certified for operation in China by the country's State Radio Regulation Committee (SRRC). Part of China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII), the SRRC ensures that products sold for use in China meet the country's standards for radio frequency devices. The committee requires compliance testing for RFID devices before they receive the necessary certification. Test results must conclude that RFID hardware meets China's newly released RFID bandwidth and standards requirements. " ...

Via Intermec: Intermec RFID Hardware First to be Certified for Use in China

Logistics RFID Cold Chain Requirements

Accellos completes RFID consortium initiative to address emerging RFID requirements of the third-party logistics (3PL) market in the freezer, cooler and dry warehousing environments. ...

... "The purpose of the project was to develop RFID Slap and Ship capability that meets the compliance requirements of specific retailers. The RFID consortium, a best of breed group comprised of manufacturers, operators and system integrators was a unique approach to enhancing the Accellos Enterprise 3PL product, with each member of the RFID consortium having an equal vote in all project related decisions. " ...

Via Accellos: Successful Development of RFID Capabilities within Accellos Enterprise 3PL

RFID: Sun SAP Collaborate ...

Sun and SAP collaborate to enable seamless RFID solutions ...

... "Sun Microsystems, Inc. expanded its relationship with SAP AG to integrate and standardize RFID technology based on the SAP(R) Auto-ID Infrastructure component of SAP NetWeaver(R) and the Sun Java System RFID Software. This collaboration will enable RFID data network communication between Sun and SAP RFID technology (part of the mySAP Business Suite solutions), allowing for seamless data flow from any RFID-enabled device to the mySAP Business Suite. The technology integration has been tested and certified by SAP. Customers in a broad range of industries, including retail and manufacturing, are looking to RFID technology to help them gain insight into multiple facets of the logistics process, including maintaining inventories, interacting with suppliers, improving customer service and tracking orders. The collaboration between SAP and Sun will help speed time to deployment for customers looking to integrate RFID data into their back-end systems. The Sun Java System RFID Software provides centralized monitoring and management capabilities for large numbers of distributed RFID devices and delivers Jini technology-based dynamic networking capabilities, which help ensure that RFID data can continue to be transmitted to the SAP applications under demanding production environments. " ...

RFID: Sun SAP Collaborate: Via Sun: Sun and SAP Collaborate to Simplify Deployment of RFID Solutions on SAP NetWeaver ...

Additional references on SAP and RFID ...

Via SAP - Components & Tools of SAP NetWeaver: SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure: "SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure, the key component of SAP NetWeaver that provides RFID capabilities, provides SAP applications with a gateway into RFID data. "

Via SAP: SAP RFID Rollout Signals Major Savings for Midsize Flag-Maker: "SAP NetWeaver provides companies with a powerful platform to manage, integrate and leverage RFID data within their SAP and non-SAP business applications. By integrating a combination of SAP NetWeaver components with core business applications, such as enterprise resource planning or supply chain management, customers can RFID-enable their business processes. The implementation of SAP RFID technology was facilitated by Annin's implementation partner CIBER Novasoft. The integration of SAP RFID technology and the pre-existing SAP IT infrastructure means information captured from the RFID tags for the more than 500,000 master cartons shipped annually can be accessed directly in the enterprise SAP system. Retailers can track and report on the movement of Annin's inventory tagged with RFID through warehouses and stores. By creating this real-world aware network, Annin has laid the groundwork for shipping items using RFID and developing an integrated and scalable approach to the technology, providing benefits beyond merely meeting the Wal-Mart requirement. "

Via SAP: SAP Forges Next Generation of RFID-Enabled Business Solutions with Kimberly-Clark: "SAP and Kimberly-Clark will continue to leverage EPCglobal efforts to promote standards based solutions to the marketplace. SAP is bringing to bear the state-of-the-art Auto-ID, analytical and event-driven technologies provided by the SAP NetWeaver platform to collect, analyze and act on EPC (electronic product code) data shared among Kimberly-Clark and its trading partners. Kimberly-Clark has already deployed SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure as the system of record of enterprise-wide EPC information and as the interface that controls all EPC information flowing into mySAP ERP. "

Via SAP: SAP Enables Fraport AG to Reduce Maintenance Costs and Increase Safety at Frankfurt Airport with Mobile Asset Management: "Before the mobile deployment, service engineers had to fill out lengthy forms during equipment checks, then enter the data manually into the central ERP software. Service technicians now use PDAs to access daily maintenance plans and carry out work orders. The PDAs read maintenance-relevant information from the RFID tags installed on ventilation shutters and act as clients to the ERP software for reporting and archiving. Because the PDAs can read tags only at a distance of three centimeters or less, the mobile scenario confirms that service technicians duly checked each vent on their work orders. In addition to safeguarding maintenance processes and generating reports in compliance with federal regulations, the solution helps the company maintain a complete view across the entire asset life cycle and more quickly locate reoccurring faults. "

FDA RFID Anti-Counterfeit Drug Workshop ...

Upcoming FDA workshop on RFID anti-counterfeiting for drugs ...

... "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing a public workshop and vendor display on the use of electronic track and trace technology to combat counterfeit drugs. The purpose of the meeting is as follows: To identify incentives for widespread adoption of radio-frequency identification (RFID), as well as obstacles to the adoption of RFID across the U.S. drug supply chain and possible solutions to those obstacles; to solicit comment on the implementation of the pedigree requirements of the Prescription Drug Marketing Act (PDMA) and the use of an electronic pedigree (e-pedigree); and to learn the state of technology development related to electronic track and trace and e-pedigree technology solutions. To address these issues, we are inviting interested individuals, organizations, and other stakeholders to present information to FDA's Counterfeit Drug Task Force. We are also inviting vendors of track and trace technologies and e-pedigree solutions relevant to the drug distribution system to display their products for the educational benefit of FDA and attendees. (For this meeting, we are only interested in displays from vendors of track and trace technology and e-pedigree solutions for the PDMA requirement, as opposed to covert or overt counterfeiting technologies, such as holograms or colorshifting inks.)

2 DATES AND TIMES: The public workshop and vendor display will be held on February 8 and 9, 2006, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. See section V of this document for information on how to register to attend, present at the workshop, or participate in the vendor display. If you would like to present at the workshop or participate in the vendor display, you must register by January 27, 2006. " ...

Via FDA: Anti-Counterfeit Drug Initiative Workshop and Vendor Display ...

RFID Airline Luggage: Low ROI?

Airlines are not aggressively investing in RFID given their financial situation. ...

... "Radio frequency tags, or RFID, could reduce the losses, but the airlines aren't really using that because of their financial situation, Cantrell said. Delta, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, tested RFID bag-tracking but put off using it in favor of technology projects which return value more quickly than RFID would, Black said. " ...

RFID Airline Luggage: Low ROI?: Via Statesman: Lost luggage lands in Alabama

Via Computerworld: Delta to Test RFID Tags on Luggage: "Delta will give RFID devices a trial run on selected flights from Jacksonville, Fla., to its headquarters hub in Atlanta. It said the 30-day test will involve the use of more than 40,000 disposable RFID tags that operate at 900 MHz and are being made by two vendors: Matrics Inc. in Columbia, Md., and SCS Corp. in San Diego. "

Delta Says RFID Devices Pass First Bag-Tag Test: "The success rate of the RFID technology was far better than the 80% to 85% accuracy rate that's typically provided by bar code scanners, according to officials at Delta and the IT vendors that took part in the test. Pat Rary, manager of baggage strategy at Atlanta-based Delta, said the trial run at the airport in Jacksonville, Fla., also met a key requirement: It was invisible to the airline's check-in agents and required no new training. "

Via Silicon.com: Delta promises end to lost luggage with RFID: "The company announced that it is to spend between $15m and $25m to roll out an RFID system across its American network. When the system is installed, it will be able to track bags from check-in, where RFID tags will be attached, until they are dropped off at the baggage carousel at the customer's destination. "

Passport RFID 64Kb Chips ...

Grant Gross explores the US government requirement for RFID-enabled passports. ...

Passport RFID 64Kb Chips: Via PC World New Zealand: US to require RFID chips in passports

... "Starting in early 2006, the US Department of State will begin issuing passports with 64KB RFID (radio frequency identification) chips that will contain the name, nationality, gender, date of birth and place of birth of the passport holder, as well as a digitised photograph of that person. " ...

WalMart RFID Program Expands in 2006

Walmart works with suppliers to expand scope of RFID program in 2006. Mark Roberti provides status update on the Walmart RFID program and their near term plans.

WalMart RFID Program Expands in 2006: Via RFID Journal: WalMart To Expand RFID Tagging Requirement ...

... "WalMart announced that it would continue its rollout during 2006, doubling the number of its RFID-enabled stores, as well as RFID-enabling the distribution centers servicing those stores. " ...

RFID Sense Respond Demand Signals ...

RFID Sense Respond Demand Signals: Via One Network Enterprises: On Demand Supply Chain Solutions and Network Applications ...

... "Food Lion is utilizing One Network Shipment Execution and Appointment Scheduling. The solution includes visibility and the advanced functionality needed to both sense and respond to demand signals, a vital requirement in creating a demand-driven network. " ...

Food Lion LLC is a subsidiary of Delhaize America, the U.S. division of Brussels-based Delhaize Group (NYSE: DEG). Food Lion operates more than 1,220 stores and employs approximately 70,000 associates, delivering great prices, neighborly convenience and quality products to its customers, in 11 Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Food Lion stores offer more than 28,000 different products.

One Network is the pioneer of next generation solutions for dynamic supply networks. The company delivers an advanced process-centric software architecture, robust supply network process templates and leading-edge mobile/RFID devices. The solution is delivered via an on-demand network, transforming slow moving, linear supply chains into responsive, adaptive supply networks. One Network is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and has offices in the United States and Europe.

Walmart RFID Compliance Using SAP Netweaver Platform ...

Walmart RFID Compliance Using SAP Netweaver Platform: Via SAP: SAP RFID Rollout Signals Major Savings for Midsize Flag-Maker: Annin & Co. Gears up for Wal-Mart Requirement Within Three Months and Sets Cost-Cutting Course to Master Retail Market Challenges ...

SAP Netweaver Platform enables Walmart RFID Compliance for flag manufacturer ...

... "SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced that Annin & Co., the world's oldest and largest flag manufacturer, has implemented the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology within the SAP NetWeaver platform to meet WalMart's RFID requirement for key vendors. Annin, a midsize enterprise that manufactures more than 10,000 different flags and flag accessories, implemented the pilot project within three months, which will allow the company to achieve Wal-Mart compliance by January 2006. Annin also anticipates that its investment in RFID technology from SAP will bring significant cost savings. The announcement was made at the EPCglobal U.S. Conference 2005, being held in Atlanta, Georgia, September 13 - 15. " ...

Annin & Co is the world’s oldest and largest flag manufacturer. Starting from a sail loft in downtown New York City making signal flags for sailing ships in the 1820’s, Annin incorporated in 1847 and has since grown to four manufacturing locations. Annin now has worldwide distribution. As the official flag manufacturer to the United Nations, Annin’s international flags are the standards for exactness, followed by the rest of the world.

RFID QuickStart Kit Selected ...

Via Catalyst International: Uniden Selects CatalystCommand iRFID™ Software: The leading wireless consumer electronic products manufacturer will use Catalyst’s RFIDConfigure QuickStart Kit to integrate passive RFID technology into its supply chain ...

Uniden selects Catalyst's RFID QuickStart kit ...

... "Catalyst International, a global provider of supply chain execution (SCE) solutions, is now implementing its CatalystCommand iRFID™ software for Uniden America Corporation, the world’s largest manufacturer of cordless telephones, to ensure its compliance with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) requirement mandates set by Wal-Mart and Best Buy. CatalystCommand iRFID is an exclusive technology for integrating passive RFID technology into the supply chain environment. " ...

Catalyst International delivers software and solutions that enable companies to optimize the performance of their enterprise supply chains. Catalyst is the only resource that combines over 25 years of industry leadership in warehouse and logistics software development with an in-depth understanding of ERP systems. Catalyst has provided successful SCE solutions for customers around the world, including Boeing, Brown Forman, Reebok, Office Max, Panasonic, Rayovac, Subaru, and The Home Depot. It is headquartered in Milwaukee, WI and has offices or representatives in the UK, Italy, Mexico and South America.

Uniden America Corporation, the North American subsidiary of Japan-based Uniden Corporation, manufacturers and markets wireless consumer electronic products including cordless telephones, business telecommunications systems, networking and data products, scanners, FRS/GMRS radios, marine radios and other wireless personal communications products. Based in Fort Worth, Texas, Uniden America sells its products through dealers and distributors throughout North, Central and South America.

RFID Service Parts Management

RFID Service Parts Management: MCA Solutions and SeeControl Partner to Deliver World-Class Service Supply Chains: Alliance Links Strategy and Execution to Optimize Uptime and Reduce Costs ...

MCA and SeeControl collaborate to deliver RFID-enabled service parts management across the value chain ...

... "By combining MCA Solutions’ offering for optimizing service parts planning with SeeControl’s real-time visibility into field inventory levels, manufacturers can ensure that the right parts are in the right place at the right time to meet their customers’ needs, without incurring the risk of holding excess inventory, just in case. In addition, the combined solution can leverage emerging RFID technology to better control and plan service parts across the extended supply chain. " ...

SeeControl is the leading provider of B2B inventory visibility, control and asset management solutions. Global 3000 Automotive, Computer Systems, Industrial Automation, Medical Equipment, Semiconductor and Telecommunications leaders utilize SeeControl’s integrated solution to extend the enterprise to disparate business units, customer sites, and supply chain partners. With the world's first turnkey inventory tracking and management system, SeeControl clients enjoy differentiated cost structures and new revenue opportunities that put them ahead of the competition.

MCA Solutions, and its Service Planning and Optimization suite of solutions, helps companies in industries ranging from aerospace and defense and semiconductors to industrial and medical equipment, set new standards for asset utilization and customer support. SPO is a web-based suite of advanced inventory planning, forecasting and execution solutions that give companies the ability to manage and monitor inventory levels of mission-critical materials. It meets the demanding requirement of the service parts planning process, reduces operating costs and provides global, real-time visibility throughout the extended service supply chain. The first commercial software to optimize assets in a multi-echelon service supply chain network, it supports collaborative planning, forecasting and execution processes by linking with a company's enterprise and customer relationship management systems.

RFID Radiofrequency Identification Feasibility Studies ...

RFID Radiofrequency Identification Feasibility Studies: Compliance Policy Guides: Radiofrequency Identification Feasibility Studies and Pilot Programs for Drugs

... "RFID will be used only for inventory control, tracking and tracing of products, verification of shipment and receipt of such products, or finished product authentication. RFID will not be used to fulfill existing FDA regulatory requirements (e.g., fulfillment of labeling or Current Good Manufacturing Practice requirements, provision of chemistry, manufacture, and control information, storage of information in fulfillment of a regulatory requirement, or performance of label and product reconciliation). RFID will not be used in lieu of current labeling control systems to ensure correct labeling processes. " ...

RFID Drug Pedigree Requirement ...

Implementation of SB 1307 (Chapter 857, Statutes of 2004) Relating to Wholesalers: Pedigree Requirement

... "McKesson reported that EPCglobal, a non-profit organization, has developed broad industry standards for the use of electronic product codes (EPC) in global commerce. An EPC is a simple license plate that uniquely identifies objects (items, cases, pallets) in the supply chain. Multiple committees within EPCglobal are currently working to develop standards and fully examine both the feasibility and the ramifications of implementing EPCs to support the use of RFID with pharmaceutical products. EPCs can securely store information about a specific product in a tag that is affixed by the manufacturer. With the development of global standards and the utilization of RFID technology, EPCs will provide for immediate, automatic, and accurate identification of any pharmaceutical item in the supply chain and will enable the industry to track a product’s distribution history, which constitutes an e-pedigree." ...

RFID Clothing Commerce ...

C&T Contracting Page

... "Radio Frequency Identification (RFID): Although official scheduled implementation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is January 1, 2005, compliance is voluntary pending issuance of contractual language and implementation guidance by DLA. Generally, it is anticipated that passive RFID will apply to Clothing and Textile (C&T) acquisitions and that C&T will have little to no involvement with active RFID. Please Note: At this point in time, until contractual language addressing RFID is incorporated in a specific solicitation or contract (via modification), contractor compliance with this requirement is not mandatory. " ...

When U.S. warfighters go to war and operations other than war, products from DSCP's Clothing and Textiles Directorate (www.warfighter.net) always go with them. This business unit supplies more than 8,000 different items ranging from uniforms and body armor to tents and canteens. Many Clothing and Textiles products such as BDUs are unique to the military, and the Directorate teams with Military Service customers and private vendors to design and test them. Clothing and Textiles also identifies, tests, and approves commercial items for military use, such as sweatshirts, gloves, and blankets. It supplies special purpose clothing, wet weather clothing, chemical suits, and field packs. In addition to products, the Clothing and Textiles Directorate provides extended supply chain management right up to the "point of sale," when individual warfighters or military units receive the products they need. Through the Directorate, DSCP plays an active role in maintaining a domestic manufacturing base for military clothing and textile products, especially through small and disadvantaged businesses.

RFID Personnel Locator Project For Safety

ELectronics and Instrumentation

... "The objective of the Pad Personnel Locator project is to design and develop a radio frequency (RF) transponder-based system using RF identification tags. There is a requirement to monitor the location of personnel within the launch pad perimeter after cryotanking begins during Shuttle countdown for launch. These personnel include the astronauts, closeout crew, ice team, and, if necessary, rescue personnel. Monitoring these personnel is currently performed using a combination of television camera monitoring and radio link verbal communication. In the event of an emergency at the launch pad, location of injured personnel could be difficult since smoke and deluge water could obscure the view of the television cameras. The ability to accurately determine the location of injured personnel would allow rescue crews to immediately reach the desired location, minimizing their own exposure to the hazardous conditions present at the launch pad. The approach selected to track and locate personnel as they move through the launch pads is based on the use of radio-frequency-activated identification (RFID) tags." ...

RFID Personnel Locator Project For Safety

ELectronics and Instrumentation

... "The objective of the Pad Personnel Locator project is to design and develop a radio frequency (RF) transponder-based system using RF identification tags. There is a requirement to monitor the location of personnel within the launch pad perimeter after cryotanking begins during Shuttle countdown for launch. These personnel include the astronauts, closeout crew, ice team, and, if necessary, rescue personnel. Monitoring these personnel is currently performed using a combination of television camera monitoring and radio link verbal communication. In the event of an emergency at the launch pad, location of injured personnel could be difficult since smoke and deluge water could obscure the view of the television cameras. The ability to accurately determine the location of injured personnel would allow rescue crews to immediately reach the desired location, minimizing their own exposure to the hazardous conditions present at the launch pad. The approach selected to track and locate personnel as they move through the launch pads is based on the use of radio-frequency-activated identification (RFID) tags." ...

Proximity Cards ...

4.1 INTEGRATED ELECTRONIC AND AUTOMATED FARE PAYMENT SYSTEMS

... "There are two techniques that eliminate the requirement for physical contact between card and reader. The most prevalent of these techniques uses radio frequency inductive coupling. Since RF inductive coupling does not require physical contact between circuits being coupled, but only requires that the circuits be in proximity, cards using this type of coupling are called proximity cards. This technique employs an induction coil in the card read-write unit to generate an RF magnetic field that couples to another induction coil embedded in the card. The RF magnetic field provides power to the card's circuitry, and is modulated to carry signals to the card as well. The card must be equipped with a small power conditioning system to extract needed power from the magnetic field, regulate it, and provide it to the card's circuitry as long as the card is in the vicinity of the read-write unit. The card transmits signals back to the read-write unit by means of the same coil used to receive signals, or by means of a separate coil or antenna. " ...

RFID Reprogrammable Memory Logic

RFID Reprogrammable Logic: UMC and Virage Logic Announce Qualification of Embedded Non ...

Advances in electronics support the lowering of RFID costs ...

From PR Newswire (press release) ... "Design and application security, copy protection, Digital Rights Management and RFID all share the common requirement of small amounts of reprogrammable ...

... UMC (NYSE: UMC; TAIEX: 2303), world leading semiconductor foundry and Virage Logic Corp. (Nasdaq: VIRL), a leading provider of semiconductor IP platforms, announced the availability of Virage Logic's patented Non-Volatile Electrically Alterable (NOVeA) embedded memories for production on UMC's 0.18-micron (um) CMOS logic process. NOVeA is the industry's first commercially available embedded in system reprogrammable non-volatile memory (NVM) that is manufactured on a standard 0.18um CMOS logic process without any additional masks or process steps. ...

NOVeA employs a patented single poly floating gate Fowler-Nordheim technology for writing. NOVeA includes a powerful controller and instruction set in an architecture that provides 100% cell redundancy. The result is an extremely reliable, high yielding embedded NVM that can be manufactured on standard CMOS logic processes with ultra low manufacturing cost and power consumption. NOVeA RAM can be reprogrammed in-system up to 10,000 times, has specified endurance of 10 years and is designed for integration into deep submicron SoCs. The use of NOVeA and associated development tools and views provide users with a secure design solution while reducing overall SoC mask costs, silicon costs, design risk and design time.

UMC is a leading global semiconductor foundry that manufactures advanced process ICs for applications spanning every major sector of the semiconductor industry. UMC delivers cutting-edge foundry technologies that enable sophisticated system-on-chip (SOC) designs, including 90nm copper, 0.13um copper, embedded DRAM, and mixed signal/RFCMOS. UMC is also a leader in 300mm manufacturing; Fab 12A in Taiwan is currently in volume production for a variety of customer products, while Singapore-based UMC has just entered volume production. UMC employs over 8,500 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Europe, and the United States.

Founded in 1996, Virage Logic Corporation rapidly established itself as a technology and market leader in providing advanced embedded memory intellectual property (IP) for the design of complex integrated circuits. Today the company is a global leader in semiconductor IP platforms comprising embedded memories, standard cells, and I/Os and is pioneering the development of a new class of IP called Silicon Aware IP. Silicon Aware IP tightly integrates Physical IP (memory, logic and I/Os) with the embedded test, diagnostic, and repair capabilities of Infrastructure IP to help ensure manufacturability and optimized yield at the advanced process nodes. Virage Logic's highly differentiated product portfolio provides higher performance, lower power, higher density and optimal yield to foundries, integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) and fabless customers who develop products for the consumer, communications and networking, hand-held and portable, and computer and graphics markets. The company's comprehensive quality efforts are validated in its FirstPass-Silicon Characterization Lab, which helps ensure high quality, reliable IP across a wide range of foundries and process technologies. Headquartered in Fremont, California, Virage Logic has R&D, sales and support offices worldwide.

Covert RF Tags: Anti-Counterfeit Drug Initiative ...

Panel 6--Anti-Counterfeit Drug Initiative--October 2003 Meeting

... "If you want to see the RF tags in operation, please go to the show room there. We have it in paper, we have it in labels, special packaging. We demonstrate that we can read an RF signature on a box 10 feet away or we can read 10 millimeters away, depending on what the requirement of the client is. It is RF. We don't use a chip. It's in the paper, as you can see here. We embed our resonators in paper, and when we illuminate the paper with low energy, you get a signature back. The signature is now interpreted as a number. The number remains as part of the database. We are deployed. We're in somewhere between 50- and 100 million items a year, more covertly. We're now looking into the overt market. It's easy to identify. We can create numbers as large as you'd like. And basically they are created randomly, chaotically random, so it makes it very difficult for anyone to know what the next logical number in a sequence is. Also, our database is variable. We're not fixed size. We can have 16 bytes up to 6,000 bytes, depending on what the client requires. " ...

Asia Presence for RFID Manufacturing and Warehouse Systems ...

Asia Presence for RFID Manufacturing and Warehouse Systems: Apriso Announces Partnership Agreement with Mustang Technologies ...

From Business Wire (press release), CA ... for accomplishing the most pressing business initiatives of today: compliance, product genealogy, in-line production sequencing, real-time, RFID-based asset ...

... Apriso and Mustang Technologies Co. Ltd. have signed a partnership agreement appointing Mustang Technologies as an authorized Apriso FlexNet Implementation Services partner throughout the Asia-Pacific region. In addit