rfid journal magazine, september/october 2014 · by bob violino. f rfid j ?a@>
TRANSCRIPT
D E D IC A T E D T O R A D IO F R E Q U E N C Y ID E N T IF IC A T IO N A N D IT S B U S IN E S S A P P L IC A T IO N S
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www.r&djournal.com SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014
• PERSPECTIVE Can Apple Disrupt The Global Banking Industry?page 10
• VERTICAL FOCUS: BUSINESS EVENTS RFID Helps Conference Organizers And Exhibitors page 24
• PRODUCT DEVELOPMENTSMobile RFID Readers That Work WithSmartphones And Tablets page 30
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contents
features
departments
5 Editor’s Note Embracing the Internet of Things.
6 Out in Front Enabling ubiquitous RFID sensors;
drones to capture data from RFIDsensors on bridges; gapping thebridge.
10 Perspective Can Apple disrupt the global bank-
ing industry?; why you need achief RF officer; Brazil is poisedto become a major player in RFID.
columns
39 software savvy Security in the cloud.
By Ken Traub
40 Tuned In These RFID applications can
give retailers the upper hand. By Bill Hardgrave
43 supply Chain Links The language of business.
By Ian Robertson
COVER ILLUSTRATION:
EDITORIAL
Mark Roberti, [email protected]
Andrea Linne, Executive Editor/[email protected]
Paul Prince, Executive Editor/[email protected]
John Hull, Creative Director [email protected]
Rich Handley, Managing [email protected]
Beth Bacheldor, Senior [email protected]
Claire Swedberg, Senior [email protected]
Edson Perin, Brasil [email protected]
Sam Greengard, Contributing [email protected]
Bob Violino, Contributing [email protected]
Rhea Wessel, Contributing Writer/[email protected]
Jennifer Zaino, Contributing Writer [email protected]
INTERNET OF THINgs JOuRNAL
Mary Catherine O’Connor, Editor [email protected]
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Kimberly A. Ray, VP of [email protected]
Cheryl JohnsonSenior Director of Events [email protected]
Debbie Hughes Senior Editorial Director of [email protected]
Deborah LambertEditorial Coordinator of [email protected]
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Contents © 2014 RFID Journal LLC
Vol. 11, No. 5 Sept./Oct. 2014
C O V E R S T O R Y
16 How to Benefit From the Internetof Things—Today
RFID lets businesses make smartconnections, to automateprocesses, improve customerloyalty and cut costs with remotemonitoring.By Michael Belfiore
V E R T I C A L F O C U S
24 RFID Benefits at Business Events Monitoring attendees can help
conference organizers plan anddeliver better shows, and provideexhibitors with more qualifiedsales leads.
By Jennifer Zaino
P R O D U C T D E V E L O P M E N T S
30 What You Need to Know AboutMobile RFID Readers
When paired with smartphonesor tablets, these lightweight, low-cost devices can be used for avariety of business applications.
By Bob Violino
RFID Journal • September/October 20142
tune in onlineMost-Read Stories in September
• The IoT Challenge
• Macy’s Expands RFID and Beacon Deployments
• RFID-Reading Drone Tracks StructuralSteel Products in Storage Yard
• Major Beacon Deployment Takes Offat Miami International Airport
• PayPal Deploys RFID for CashlessPayments at Music Festival
Top 10 Search TermsOn RFIDJournal.com
1 EPC
2 Sensors
3 NFC
4 RTLS
5 Zara
6 Hotels
7 Beacon
8 Construction
9 Walmart
10 Library
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RFID Journal maintains an Ask the Experts forum,where you can submit questions about RFIDtechnology and its applica-tions. Your questions will beanswered by RFID Journaleditors or outside experts.Recent questions include:
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• What are the advantages ofdoing an RF survey?
“
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Find New Business OpportunitiesRFID providers now have a source where they can findcompanies worldwide that are actively seeking to deploythe technology. RFID Requests for Proposals is updatedregularly, with new RFPs from companies in diverse industries. Each RFP includes detailed information, contacts and submission deadlines.
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RFID in Manufacturing, Nov. 6Enabling the Internet of Things, Nov. 13
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Not until agreater numberof products instores containUHF tags 9%
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RFID Journal holds several face-to-face conferencesevery year, as well as a number of online virtual eventsand webinars. These events feature end users speakingobjectively about the business reasons that theydeployed an RFID system, the technical hurdles theyovercame in doing so and the benefits they nowachieve as a result, as well as presentations byacademics, vendors and other experts. Many of thesessions were recorded, and we have compiled theserecordings into seven DVDs that are available forpurchase for only $99 or free with a one-year premiummembership to RFID Journal.
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5RFID Journal • September/October 2014
editor’s note
Potter Stewart, a U.S. Supreme Court justice,famously wrote in an opinion in an obscenitycase that while he could not define pornogra-phy, “I know it when I see it.” The Internet ofThings is a bit like that. It’s hard to define. Yetbusinesspeople and technologists see applica-
tions such as Google Glassand the new Apple Watch,and they get it.
So we don’t need to de-fine the Internet of Thingsfor companies to beginthinking about how andwhere they can use IoTtechnologies. It’s impor-tant to understand thatone day virtually all ob-jects will be connected tothe Internet, so they canbe identified, monitoredand controlled remotelyand in many cases auto-matically, or so they canprovide the user with in-formation that otherwisewould not be available. To
help companies develop an IoT strategy, weprovide a roadmap in this issue’s cover story(see “How to Benefit From the Internet ofThings—Today” on page 16).
The vast majority of objects will be con-nected via passive RFID for two reasons: Pas-sive transponders are the cheapest radiosavailable, and therefore the least expensiveway to provide connectivity and interactivity;and passive radios do not require any mainte-nance. That means even inexpensive items canbe tracked and managed with passive tags.
But passive RFID alone won’t be enough.Companies that want to monitor the condi-tions of assets or the environment remotelywill likely need to deploy active RFID sensors.
In some cases, Near-Field Communication,ZigBee, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections willbe required. But don’t get too caught up in thetype of radio you’ll need to use. What’s impor-tant is strategy—and as you’ll see in our coverstory, you can use IoT technologies to auto-mate processes, build brand loyalty, and mon-itor the conditions of assets, people and envi-ronments remotely.
RFID is already connecting many things tothe Internet. Business conference organizers,for example, are putting RFID transponders inbadges not only to monitor which sessionspeople attend but also to allow guests to locatethe people they want to meet in real time (seeVertical Focus, page 24). Readers positioned inbooths could recognize visitors and matchtheir information to data they entered previ-ously, so exhibitors could present solutionsthat best meet attendees’ needs. Exhibitorswould know how long visitors stayed at abooth, and they could use this information toidentify their best prospects for follow-up afterthe event.
Of course, more people are using mobilephones and tablets in the workplace and out-side the office to connect to the Internet. Light-weight, low-cost RFID readers that plug intothese devices enable them to be used for a vari-ety of business applications, and when neces-sary the data collected can be shared via the In-ternet in real time (see Product Developments,page 30). RFID-enabling the devices we carry isjust another example of the burgeoning inter-connectivity that is the Internet of Things.
Embracing the Internet of Things
Mark Roberti, Founder and EditorPH
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The NaTioNal aeroNauTics and Space Administration(NASA) would like to put low-cost sensors on space vehiclesto monitor structural and environmental health. For newvehicles, the benefit would be an unprecedented level ofdetailed systems information; for existing vehicles, the ben-efit would be the ability to capture wear-and-tear informa-tion at very low cost and without a lot of crew labor.
But it would be cost-prohibitive to retrofit existing vehi-cles with wired sensors, and it would require too much crewtime. Battery-powered wireless sensors are an option, but itwouldn’t be feasible for busy astronauts to change batteriesin perhaps thousands ofsensors every year or so.
As NASA researchersRaymond Wagner andRichard Barton examinedthe issue, they realized theycould greatly reduce theamount of energy requiredto run wireless sensors—extending battery lifetremendously—by usingRFID. Since passive ultra-high-frequency tags gettheir energy from an RFID reader, communica-tion could be done with no power on the sensor side. But itwould be difficult to ensure the sensors were always gettingpower from a reader without installing lots of readersaround the space vehicle.
To address that issue, the researchers proposed a novelapproach in a paper that will be presented this month to the2014 IEEE International Conference on Wireless for Space andExtreme Environments. “NASA developed delay-tolerant net-work (DTN) principles to make disruption-prone links—say,from an Earth station to the surface of Mars—more stable,”Wagner says. “We’re applying the same principles to RFID todeal with the fact that a reader might not always be present toprovide energy to the sensor for transmitting data.”
The DTN communication protocol, now being standard-ized, involves one node in a network accepting and takingcustody of a bundle of data, then passing it to the next node
when possible. Some mesh networks do this today, but theydon’t always do so reliably unless they’re DTN-enabled, andthey require power to transmit bundles of information fromone node to the next.
In the case of a sensor connected to a standard passiveUHF RFID tag, the idea is that the sensor would use its batterypower only for collecting data. Wagner and Barton say sen-sors could also harvest energy from the Sun or some otherambient source to capture sensory data. Either way, the sen-sor would write the data captured directly into nonvolatileRFID tag user memory. The sensor would also indicate how
much data has been storedon the transponder.
When a reader interro-gates the RFID tag, thetransponder would tell thereader how much data is ina bundle and then transmitthe data. Once the readertakes custody of the data, itwould tell the tag the bun-dle has been received andthe data can be deleted, sothe sensor can write moredata. This way, bundles ofdata can be transferred to
the reader, ensuring data isn’t lost even if the reader isn’talways present when the sensor is collecting data. “We’retrying to create a plug-and-play system for low-power sensors,” Barton says. “The goal is to standardize this delay-tolerant communication system so anyone can develop asensor and plug it into an RFID channel for communication.Innovators could create ‘lick-and-stick’ sensors that ideallyrequire no intervention after they are installed.”
The researchers plan to continue developing hardware toprove DTN communication between tags and readers isviable, and then formalize the protocol so it becomes part ofthe larger DTN standard. “The technology exists to do thistoday,” Wagner says. “It’s a question of getting RFID and sen-sor manufacturers to embrace a standard approach.” Theywould like to use the International Space Station as a test bedto evaluate RFID sensors for vehicle retrofits. —Mark Roberti
RFID Journal • September/October 20146
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Enabling Ubiquitous RFID SensorsTwo NASA researchers have developed a means for low-cost passive UHF RFID-enabled sensors totransmit data when communication with a reader isn’t possible.
NASA researchers Richard Barton (left) and Raymond Wagner
RFID Journal • September/October 2014
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Drones to Capture Data FromRFID Sensors on Bridges
Tufts researchers Usman Khan (left) and BabakMoaveni with the RFID-enabled quadcopter
The average age of the 607,380 bridges in theUnited States is 42 years, according to a recentreport conducted by the Obama Administration.One in nine bridges, or nearly 68,000, is rated asstructurally deficient. Researchers at TuftsUniversity in Massachusetts (a state where halfof all bridges are deficient) are working on a wayto use flying robots and RFID sensors to monitorthe condition of aging spans.
Babak Moaveni, an associate professor ofcivil and environmental engineering at Tufts,attached wired sensors to beams and joints ona bridge on the Tufts campus to continuouslymonitor vibrations. Significant changes invibration levels can indicate damage.
But it is impractical to run data and powercables for sensors across 600,000 bridges, soMoaveni teamed up with Usman Khan, a Tuftsassistant professor of electrical and computerengineering, who has been working on algo-rithms that enable robots to collaborate andnavigate an environment. Khan developed aplatform for controlling and synchronizingunmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The researchers envisioned a system for
reading data from wireless sensors installed onbridges. Khan has demonstrated that a quad-copter can navigate from one location to thenext based on reading a two-dimensional QRcode. He has also shown that a quadcopter canhost an RFID reader and identify a tag within adistance of 4 inches (watch the video).
The computer on the quadcopter is a simplemicrocontroller and cannot do a lot of compu-tations. To overcome this limitation, Khanand Moaveni developed algorithms that allowthe sensors to remove the spatial and temporalredundancy in their data. The next step is tohave the quadcopter capture data from thesensors and perform another action, such astaking a picture, based on the data collected.
“We have done a proof of concept in the labshowing that RFID data can be captured,”Khan says. “We have a vision and all of thepieces. The next step is to deploy the solutionon a real bridge.”
The researchers hope to get funding to purchase wireless sensors to continue theirwork. Commuters who cross the nation’sbridges twice a day will benefit if they do. —M.R.
2014 in Vietnam: 8 dead, 30 injured
2014 in Brazil: 2 dead, 22 injured
2014 in the CzechRepublic: 4 dead, 2 injured
2014 in Bolivia: 4 dead, 60 injured
2013 in Norway: 2 dead
2013 in Egypt: 4 dead, 12 injured
2012 in China: 3 dead, 5 injured
2011 in Indonesia: 20 dead, 40 injured,33 missing
2008 in Georgia: 1 dead, 18 injured
2007 in Minnesota: 13 dead, 145 injured
—Rich Handley
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perspective
RFID Journal • September/October 201410
PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO
T H E S T O R Y B E H I N D T H E N E W Sperspective
when you are a giant—especially a giant with a reputationfor changing entire industries—your mere footsteps caneffect change. On Sept. 9, Apple announced Apple Pay, aNear-Field Communication mobile payment solution thattakes advantage of fingerprint technology in new iPhones.Within three weeks, eBay announced it would spin off itsPayPal unit. PayPal is the leader in online payments and ispushing into mobile payments. But for months, eBay hadbeen rebuffing investor Carl Icahn’s demand that it spin offPayPal. PayPal has also begun to talk about embracing NFCfor payments.
Square, a startup that provides a peripheral device andapplication that lets anyone process credit cards on aniPhone, announced it planned to allow merchants to acceptApple Pay transactions. But two major U.S. store chains—Walmart and Best Buy—announced that they would not sup-port Apple Pay. The two are backing CurrentC, an NFC-basedmobile payment solution being developed by a network ofretail store chains called Merchant Current Exchange (MCX).
Apple certainly has a track record of disrupting industries. Ittransformed the way music is purchased and distributed. Prior
to the launch of iTunes and the iPod, most people purchasedtheir music on CD. But CD sales have been falling steadily, andaccording to Billboard, more people will purchase albums viadownload than on CD for the first time this year.
Apple has also had an impact on the way books are pur-chased, though its influence has not been as great as that ofAmazon, which first disrupted the publishing industry withonline book sales. But is it a given that Apple will transformthe way people pay for goods? Hardly. There are numeroushurdles Apple will need to overcome before Apple Pay iswidely embraced.
1 Europe and Asia are already embracingmobile payments.
Visa and other credit card companies have been working withVodafone, Orange, Telefonica and other telecommunicationscompanies to offer mobile payments across Europe. Several ofthese use NFC solutions, but others do not. In Asia, RFID pay-ment systems are used in mass-transit systems and havespread to convenience stores and other shops. They tend touse older RFID technology that is not compatible with NFC.
Can Apple Disruptthe Global BankingIndustry?The company has changed music foreverand had a big impact on publishing—andnow it’s taking aim at a growing segmentof the financial sector.
F I N A N C E
11RFID Journal • September/October 2014
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2 Retailers want to control their own network.
Retailers proposed the idea of CurrentC (aplay on “currency”), because they would liketo control their own network and avoid having to pay additional fees. While Apple isnot looking to take any cut of transactionsmade via Apple Pay, retailers might still pre-fer to use a network they control. This wouldenable them to ensure the privacy of theircustomers and the security of the network.
The initial founders of CurrentC were 7-Eleven, Alon Brands, Best Buy, CVSPharmacy, Darden Restaurants, HMSHost,Hy-Vee, Lowe’s Home Improvement, PublixSuper Markets, Sears, Shell Oil, Sunoco,Target and Walmart, which together accountfor more than a trillion dollars in sales. Thenetwork has launched in beta mode, andadditional retailers have signed on, includ-ing Bed Bath & Beyond, Circle K, Dick’sSporting Goods, Dunkin’ Brands Group,Dillard’s, Gap, Kohl’s, Old Navy, Sears, Sheetzand ShopRite.
Very few of these retailers have installedNFC point-of-sale readers, so it remains to
be seen whether they will stick withCurrentC or make the switch to Apple Pay, ifit catches on.
3 PayPal could be a major competitor.The goal of spinning off PayPal as a separatecompany is to give it greater flexibility toinnovate and respond to market conditions.As soon as PayPal was spun off, eBayappointed Dan Schulman, former presidentof the payment card network at AmericanExpress, as CEO. Earlier this year, PayPalintroduced One Touch, a mobile paymentfeature that allows a shopper with a PayPalaccount linked to his or her mobile phone tosend money to family or friends or pay forgoods with a single touch.
One Touch does not have an NFC component, but PayPal’s president, DavidMarcus, said earlier this year that NFC was atechnology PayPal was watching carefully.The company could easily create an app thatworks with the NFC devices in both the newiPhones and with Android phones, giving ita crossplatform solution both Apple andAndroid phones lack.
the addition of Near-Field Communication to Apple’slatest devices could mark a profound change inconsumer views on radio frequency identificationtechnologies. Until now, consumers have seenRFID mainly as something used by retailers toget more information on their customers.NFC has been in some phones for severalyears, but its addition to iPhones will greatlyincrease the number of phones with thetechnology. It’s hard to imagine anysmartphone manufacturer will not includeNFC in future models. The use of NFC for payments will give U.S.
consumers their first real experience with the tech-nology. They will see that the read range is short, sotransactions can’t be initiated unless the phone is within afew inches of the payment terminal. That should reduce con-
sumer fears that they can be tracked with RFID technology.The convenience of NFC payments and the securityof Apple Pay should also reassure consumers
about the technology. Apple Pay does not trans-mit a user’s credit card information wirelessly,or even store it on the phone. Instead, ApplePay stores a “token,” a random serial num-ber that the bank associates with the creditcard. Stealing the token will not enablesomeone to make an unauthorized payment. Of course, there is always the danger the
Apple engineers and software designers over-looked some security loopholes that hackers
will exploit. A widespread breach of Apple Pay’ssecurity could cause consumers to abandon NFC as a
viable form of mobile payment. Makers of NFC technologyare praying that doesn’t happen. —M.R.
Apple Pay and Privacy
While Apple is notlooking to takeany cut oftransactions madevia Apple Pay,retailers might stillprefer to use anetwork theycontrol.
RFID Journal • September/October 201412
perspective
ILLU
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4 iPhones with Apple Pay will make up onlya small part of the market.
Consumers will not be able to use Apple Pay with olderiPhones, though they will be able to use it with an AppleWatch in conjunction with an iPhone 5, 5S or 5c. Still, thatwill be only a small fraction of the total number of smart-phone users. Will retailers adopt a solution that requiresnew POS terminals if only a fraction of their shoppers canuse it? Probably not—at least, not right away.
So Apple has the challenge of making Apple Pay commonenough that retailers embrace it. Certainly, users of olderiPhones will upgrade their phones eventually, and becomeeligible to use Apple Pay. But that could take years, and in themeantime, other solutions could take hold.
Google Wallet failed to catch on when it launched in 2011,
because so few mobile phones had NFC payment capabili-ties. That is changing, and Google Wallet could reemerge asa competitor for Apple Pay, further complicating the mobilepayments landscape.
Despite these challenges, Apple Pay has some advantages.Apple has created a whole product, rather than simply a pieceof a product. It signed up banks, credit card companies andretailers to support Apple Pay, which means those who pur-chase an iPhone 6 or 6+ will be able to use Apple Pay immedi-ately at some 210,000 retail and restaurant locations. That’snot many compared with the total number of retail locationsin the United States, but if those stores see customers usingApple Pay, it’s likely other retailers will jump on board.
Bottom line: Apple Pay is no sure thing to catch on, butdon’t bet against Apple. —Mark Roberti
Not maNy years ago, the only RF devices companies hadwere cordless phones and laptops with Wi-Fi. Today, manybusinesses have a plethora of RF devices, including contact-less point-of-sale terminals, passive ultrahigh-frequencytags and readers to manage items or supply-chain ship-ments, active RFID tags to track larger assets, GPS devices totrack vehicles, bar-code scanners and Bluetooth devices.
RF devices have been taken for granted because govern-ment regulators do a good job of apportioning the RF spectrum so cell phones, for example, don’t impede theoperation of wireless systems used by first responders. Butthe wireless explosion has caused some companies to
implement policies regarding how new RF devices can beintroduced. Boeing, for example, wants to prevent new RFtechnologies in its factories from interfering with existingRF devices and, potentially, with the testing of RF equip-ment on planes being built. Hospitals are finding that RFdevices, including many medical devices, occasionallyinterfere with one another.
Boeing hasn’t introduced a chief RF officer, but companiesshould consider creating this executive position. The CRFOwould not just institute rules to prevent problems. His or herjob would be to understand all the RF communication toolsavailable and how they can be leveraged to create businessvalue. Embracing Internet of Things technology means usingmany different types of radios to connect things to the Internet.
This is not to suggest that the CRFO would decidewhether to use RFID to improve the supply chain orBluetooth low-energy beacons to engage customers instores. Those are business decisions. But having input froman RF technology expert could prevent companies frominvesting in duplicative technologies or systems that wouldinterfere with one another. It also would enable businessesto make smarter decisions about how and where to deployRF systems, including RFID technologies. —M.R.
S T R A T E G Y
Why You Need a Chief RF Officer
A D O P T I O N
Brazil Is Poised to Become a Major Player in RFIDto date, the united states has been a leader in the radiofrequency identification industry. The concept of theElectronic Product Code and the original air-interface proto-col standard were developed by the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology. Moreover, American technology companies,including Avery Dennison, Impinj and Motorola Solutions,are among the largest providers of RFID hardware.
There are several European and Asian RFID companies,most notably Smartrac of the Netherlands. Now, Brazil isemerging as a potential player in the RFID industry. CentroNacional de Tecnologia Eletrônica Avançada S.A. (NationalCenter for Advanced Electronic Technology, CEITEC) is agovernment-backed company that has developed a passiveultrahigh-frequency chip based on the EPC standard. The
company has ambitions to be a global player, and govern-ment incentives given to Brazilian companies to use theCEITEC chip in their RFID tags could give it an advantagelocally that would translate into revenue to expandinternationally.Hewlett-Packard Brasil has been a leader in employing
RFID within its own operations. The company is using RFIDon its printer manufacturing line to improve visibility andto manage the recycling of printers (HP Brasil has won twoRFID Journal Awards; see Keeping Tabs on Printers andExtracting New Value From Old Printers). It plans to addRFID transponders to PCs and laptops made in Brazil, givingit more knowledge of RFID than most high-tech companies.
HP Brasil is also developing a cloud-computing platform
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RFID Journal • September/October 201414
perspective
designed specifically to enable RFID data tobe stored in the cloud. The platform, whichis currently in the prototype stage and wasdisplayed at RFID Journal LIVE! 2014 (in theUnited States and Brazil), features drag-and-drop functionality that would allow users toconfigure applications based on their busi-ness processes. It also will have businessintelligence tools that will provide analysisof RFID data.
Acura Global and other Brazilian RFIDcompanies are producing readers and tags.The Brazilian government often providesincentives to help local companies.Retailers, for example, that are tagging andtracking apparel could receive tax breaks.This could give the use of RFID a boost inBrazil.
Brascol, a wholesaler of baby and chil-dren’s apparel, needed no such incentive. It
embraced RFID for the business benefits.The company tagged 35,000 stock-keepingunits, and is currently using 70,000 tags perday, which it purchases from a local manu-facturer. It has achieved significant benefitsand will soon require its suppliers to buy thetags and put them on items. RFID was part ofMemove’s business plan when the Brazilianretail chain launched in 2011 with RFID-enabled stores. The Brazilian military hasbeen using RFID at logistics centers toincrease the efficiency of distributing sup-plies to soldiers. Many other companies,such as Petrobras (the national oil compa-ny), Vale (a global mining company) andVeiling Holambra (a large horticulturalcooperative), are using RFID in a big way.Expect to see Brazil continue to outpacemany other areas of the world in adoptiingthe technology. —M.R. P
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At RFID JournalLIVE! 2014, HPBrasil displayed acloud-computingplatform designedspecifically toenable RFID datato be stored in the cloud.
THE NEW WEBSITE IS DEVOTED TO COVERING INTERNET OF THINGSTECHNOLOGIES, AND WILL FEATURE THE SAME HIGH-QUALITY
EDITORIAL COVERAGE AS RFID JOURNAL.
IoT technologies are being adopted in a wide variety of areas, including:
IOT Journal is the place to turn to understand how Internet of Thingstechnologies are being utilized, and how you can take advantage of themas well. The site’s content includes in-depth feature stories, case studies,
news articles and expert views.
INTRODUCING
TECHNOLOGY:
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Security
Standards
Sensors
CONSUMER:
Smart Home
Devices
Health & Fitness
Smart Vehicles
BUSINESS:
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Supply Chain
www.iotjournal.com
cover story
cover story
RFID Journal • September/October 2014 17
ILLU
STRATIO
N: ISTO
CKPHOTO
t’s no secret that having the rightconnections is critical to personaland professional success. Or thatmany people worldwide are devotedto staying connected with friends,
family and coworkers, and, increasingly,with devices in their homes and work-places. So it’s no surprise that the Internetof Things (IoT)—a network that promises toconnect everything and everyone every-where to everything and everyone else—is
a hot topic in business circles and themedia.
The concept of ubiquitous connectivity—between people, machines or objects via the Internet—is seductive and the hype is growing. While the definition of the Internet of Things is still being debated,many companies claim they offer it andothers want to know how to get it.
“The IoT is just the name we have given towhat you get after 30 years of convergent
HOW TO BENEFIT FROM THEINTERNETOFTHINGS
TODAYRFID lets businesses make smart connections,
to automate processes, improve customer loyaltyand cut costs with remote monitoring.
By Michael Belfiore
I
cover story
RFID Journal • September/October 201418
evolution in Internet, wireless communi-cations, processors, memory, lightweight com-munications protocols, machine learning andsensors,” says Scot Stelter, VP of RFID and Internet of Things Research at ChainLink Research. “The IoT, like the Internet, makes ahuge variety of applications economicallyfeasible and reliable for the first time.”
The IoT is not one network, but many. Someof these networks exist today, some are beingdeveloped and some are yet to be imagined.Researchers in China, for example, are devel-oping a platform to track and monitor foodfrom farm to retailer, and enable consumers toaccess information, such as expiration dates
(see Improving Food Safety and Quality inChina). The city of Nice, France, is creating a“Connected Boulevard” system that will con-tinuously gather data on traffic, parking, streetlighting, waste disposal and environmentalquality, to enhance services for residents (seeThe Future Is Now for Smart Cities).
But all IoT applications have a common ele-ment: To connect the physical and digital
worlds, the person, machine or object must beidentified. And that’s where radio frequencyidentification comes in. While RFID will not bethe only technology to identify “things” andconnect them to the Internet, passive ultra-high-frequency and Near-Field Communica-tion technologies are emerging as the twomost likely standards.
Millions of assets are already being trackedand managed with passive UHF RFID tags, because the tags cost much less than otherwireless technologies and enable automaticprocesses. “There is no doubt that RFID isgoing to be a major part of the Internet ofThings,” says Steve Halliday, president of High
Tech Aid, an RFID consulting firm,and RAIN RFID, an organizationdedicated to promoting adoption ofEPC UHF RFID.
Halliday also acknowledges thatthe IoT is difficult to define, in partbecause it is composed of many different technologies. “I’ve been involved in standards committeesfor the past two years that are stilltrying to define what the IoT is,” hesays. “You have to think about it indifferent layers.” Down at the bot-tom layer, the foundation of the IoT,are RFID tags and other technologiesthat identify things and allow themto communicate. “A key part of theIoT is knowing what you’re talkingto,” he says. “That tag can interfaceto all sorts of sensors—whatever it isyou’re trying to monitor—and cancollect that data. Some of these RFIDtags have real buses to the outsideworld available on them, so you can actually use them to send a
command and control an actuator to turnsomething on or off.”
NFC, which is now in both Apple and An-droid smartphones, extends the IoT’s reach tomillions of people, says Victor Vega, directorof RFID and NFC solutions and marketing forNXP Semiconductors. The potential benefitsfor both consumers and businesses could soonextend far beyond the ability to replace credit
“The IoT, like the Internet, makes a
huge variety of applications
economically feasible and reliable for
the first time.”—scot stelter, chainlink research
cover story
RFID Journal • September/October 2014 19
cards with NFC-enabled mobile phones forpayments, he says.
The IoT can be a powerful way for busi-nesses to communicate and collaborate withsupply-chain partners and customers, im-prove processes and offer new services. A bigbenefit of the IoT is that it enables companiesto collect and act on data in real time, says JohnShoemaker, an executive VP at RFID providerIdentec Solutions. “The Internet of Things isabout capturing data and presenting it in a waythat allows decision-making that can be proactive, effective and a way to predict otheractions,” he says. “Predictive analytics is goingto be huge.”
Businesses that want to developan IoT strategy should start makingthe right connections now. Considerthe following applications.
Automating Processes
RFID enables machines and objectsto identify and authenticate eachother, so they can allow the securetransfer of data between them. Companies can use this capability toautomate replenishment, preventtheft, customize preferences, andmanage maintenance and repairs.
Hospitals, for example, are usingRFID-enabled cabinets, refrigeratorsand freezers from LogiTag or TersoSolutions to manage inventory ofhigh-value medical supplies, suchas stents, pacemakers and drugs. Apassive UHF reader in a cabinettracks when a tagged item is re-moved. Typically, a hospital staffmember must swipe his or herRFID-enabled ID badge to unlock thecabinet and remove an item. Software is usedto generate replenishment orders, maintainoptimal inventory levels and monitor expira-tion dates. It can also trigger the vendor or dis-tributor to bill the hospital for an item (seeTerso Offers EPC-Enabled Medical Cabinetsand New York Hospital Queens Tests RFID Inventory System).
The RFID solution enables the hospital and
the vendor to adopt a consignment businessmodel, which benefits both parties, says Log-iTag’s CEO Shlomo Matityaho. “We think thefuture of this technology is mainly to connectand to eliminate several layers of the supplychain,” he says. “The idea is to connect thepoint of use to the manufacturer or the logistics company. So then we can take severallayers out.” LogiTag also offers the StockBox,which has a small footprint and can be placedin areas where there’s no space for a cabinet. It also enables automatic restocking (seeBnai Zion Medical Center Expands LogiTagRFID Solution for Automatically Tracking, Reordering Stock).
Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores, a retailer that operates truck stops that sell fuel,food and supplies across 39 U.S. states,adopted the Fuel Island Management RFID-enabled antitheft solution provided by QuickQ.An RFID reader in a fuel pump automaticallyidentifies and authenticates a tagged truck,and the pump locks up if the vehicle strays toofar from it. This not only enables a truck driver
“We think the future of this
technology is mainly to connect and
to eliminate several layers of the
supply chain.”—shlomo matityaho, logitag
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RFID Journal • September/October 201420
to fuel up more efficiently, it also prevents fuelfraud (a few unscrupulous truckers have, in the past, sold fuel to another driver on the company’s account and pocketed the cash). Inaddition, the QuickQ solution includes DF-Connect payment software, which is linked toLove’s point-of-sale system, to automatebilling (see Love’s Tries RFID for AutomatingFuel Payments).
Consumer electronics manufacturers thatinstall NXP’s new NTAG I²C NFC chip inhousehold appliances can improve theirbrands by enabling IoT applications for retailers and customers. The chip combinesNFC technology with a built-in I²C interface,
so users can communicate directly with atagged device via a smartphone, and then access related information on the Internet(see Smarter Things).
Vega offers the example of a smart washingmachine. A new owner could use his or hersmartphone to access the machine’s serialnumber and quickly register the device withthe manufacturer over the Internet. Then,
advanced features on the machine could be accessed with a tap of the phone. If there werea problem with the device, an owner could retrieve detailed information about errorcodes and repair videos on the Internet. If necessary, a repair technician on a service callcould tap his or her own phone to the washingmachine to call up detailed customer infor-mation and repair history from the manufac-turer, also via the Internet.
One of the benefits to manufacturers, Vegasays, is that since the owner, technician andeveryone else who interacts with the machinebrings his or her own phone as an interface de-vice, the screen and other potentially expensive
interface elements don’t have to bebuilt into the machine. “I’m not put-ting the cost inside this low-endmass-market device,” he says “Thereare devices out there with touchscreens, and they have Wi-Fi andBluetooth, but they’re expensive. Themajority of users won’t pay for that.”
Building Customer Loyalty
You’re already using RFID to trackand manage parts, products, work-in-process and other “things”within your own facilities and per-haps through your supply chain.You’re gathering a wealth of real-time data that’s helping you im-prove operations, lower costs andboost sales. But why stop there?Agricultural, logistics, manufactur-ing and retail firms are among thoseusing the data to share information,such as the location, condition andorigins of products, with clients andcustomers. That, in turn, engenders
customer loyalty in a product or service. Take, for example, Almacafé, a subsidiary of
the National Federation of Coffee Growers ofColombia, which is using RFID to track spe-cialty coffee beans from farm to warehouse,and during processing and bagging for export.This enables the Federation to compete betterin the global market, because clients want toknow the regions and conditions that pro-
“There are devices out there with
touch screens, and they have Wi-Fi and
Bluetooth, but they’re expensive. The
majority of users won’t pay for that.”—victor vega, nxp semiconductors
cover story
RFID Journal • September/October 2014 21
duced the specialty beans. They also wantquick access to order status, which they can getby logging onto BeanTrack, a Web-based appli-cation. In addition, coffee connoisseurs cancheck the origins of their brew at a Juan ValdezCafé or the coffeehouse chain’s website (seeRFID Helps Ensure That Special Cup of Joe).
Brick-and-mortar retailers are also usingRFID technology to engage customers in storesand compete with online shopping sites. U.S.jewelry company Ritani, for example, is de-ploying an RFID solution that enables retailersthat sell its jewelry to automatically display in-formation about merchandise and let shop-pers share the items’ images and descriptionswith friends or family members be-fore and after making purchases.The UHF passive RFID solution willalso let store managers know howoften a particular item was viewedand whether it was purchased (seeRitani Creates RFID Solution to En-gage Shoppers, Increase Sales).
At 32 of Bon-Ton’s U.S. depart-ment stores, shoppers in the shoedepartment can use their NFCphones to learn more about eachstyle, as well as whether it’s avail-able at the store in a specific sizeand color—and if it’s not, how to getit most efficiently (see Bon-TonBrings NFC to Shoe Displays). Simi-larly, Made, a designer-brand onlinefurniture retailer, is employing anNFC solution that lets shoppers atthe company’s London showroomaccess product information and cre-ate wish lists (see Online FurnitureRetailer Adds RFID to Its Brick-and-Mortar Showroom).
In addition, NFC has become a popular mar-keting tool for myriad companies and organi-zations—including the Coachella Valley Musicand Arts Festival, Vail Resorts and carmakerLexus—that are using NFC phones, socialmedia, and interactive ads and promotions toengage consumers and turn them into cus-tomers (see The New ‘It’ Tool for BrandingProducts and Services).
Remote MonitoringRFID, often coupled with sensors, is enablingcompanies and organizations to monitorbuildings, people and other things remotely.This makes it possible to improve efficiencieswhile reducing labor costs.
The Hong Kong Housing Authority, for ex-ample, has mandated the inclusion of RFIDtags in building materials, including concreteblocks, wooden doors, aluminum windowframes and metal gates, used in the region’spublic housing projects. RFID is employed tocontrol the quality of building materials, trackbuilding processes and make maintenancesystems more efficient. Contractors must col-
lect logistics and manufacturing information;the electronic records are stored on the Inter-net, along with maintenance and repair logs.Housing Authority managers and others involved can access the information quickly toaddress quality-control issues as well as life-cycle management. RFID is also used to moni-tor the collection and proper disposal ofconstruction materials. Here, too, the infor-
cover story
RFID, often coupled with sensors,
is enabling companies and organiza-
tions to monitor buildings, people
and other things remotely.
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cover story
RFID Journal • September/October 2014 23
mation is stored on the Internet, so contractmanagers and government departments canverify that there was no illegal dumping.
Telemedicine, which involves collecting patient data and transmitting it to doctors remotely, can reduce hospital visits, provide away for health professionals to care for anaging population, and allow the elderly to con-tinue living in their own homes. Researchersare developing various RFID devices and solu-tions that wirelessly communicate a patient’sheart rate, temperature and other vital data(see Wearable Sensors for At-Home PatientMonitoring), as well as ensure that an elderlypatient is taking his or her medicine (seeNyack Hospital Tracks Medication Compli-ance) and monitor daily activity to promotesafe practices (see Helping SeniorsStay Independent).
In the United Kingdom, the Bathand North East Somerset branchesof Bluebird Care are using an RFID solution to manage servicessupplied by home health-careproviders. Aides are issued NFC mobile phones, which they tapagainst an RFID tag installed in aclient’s home, to indicate when theyarrive and leave. The phone also allows for calls, text messages andInternet browsing, while the soft-ware collects data regarding visitsand gives workers details about thetasks they must complete at eachsite (see Gentag and AHC Debut NFCRFID Solution for North AmericanHome Health Aides).
These RFID Internet of Things applications are just the beginning.Startup company Proteus Digital Health, forexample, is developing an RFID sensor pill thatis powered by stomach acids. A stick-on patchon a patient’s skin will act as a reader and pairwith a smartphone. The system could track thedosage and time of medications taken, andsend alerts to the patient and caregivers. “Weseek to turn the moment you take your medi-cine into a digital interaction that connectsyou to your family and care team,” says Robin
Suchan, Proteus’ communications manager. Manufacturers could use RFID to enable
machines to recognize humans. In aerospaceplants, for instance, there are many tools workers must be certified to use, and workersmay need to be recertified every year or two. An RFID-tagged tool could recognize a taggedworker and go to the Internet to check whetherhis or her certification were up to date; if not, thetool wouldn’t allow the worker to operate it.
“There’ll be over 20 billion UHF tags outthere by 2020,” Halliday says, noting that anyof these tags could become part of the IoT. Similarly, NFC will become commonplace in myriad devices, enabling innovative IoT applications, Vega says.
There’s no doubt companies can benefit
from the Internet of Things today and in thenot-so-distant future. Thinking about the IoT’slikely impact on business and global industry,Stelter says, “is like trying to say what the business benefits are of the Internet.”
Editor’s Note: In the November/December issue, wewill examine RFID Internet of Things applications thatemploy the Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) standard for sharing data among supply-chain partners.
cover story
“There’ll be over 20 billion UHF tags
out there by 2020”; any of these tags
could become part of the IoT.—steve halliday, high tech aid
vertical focus: business events
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25RFID Journal • September/October 2014
the annual, three-day C2MTL (Commerce + Creativity in Montreal) event takes pride in its novel approach to helping business leaders solve problems. At this year’s conference, in May,the organizers also implemented an innovative RFID solution fromConnect&Go to improve attendees’ experience. The solution dis-creetly monitored access to the event and fostered engagementamong guests. It also tracked where attendees were congregatingwithin the 100,000-square-foot Arsenal complex, to ensure therewere enough food and beverage servers.
The roughly 4,000 attendees, mostly C-level executives, were issued identification badges embedded with an ultrahigh-frequencytag. Fixed RFID gates set up at the complex’s entrance, conferencerooms and main forum rooms facilitated a fully contactless andseamless flow. C2MTL wanted attendees to feel welcome and not
Monitoring attendees can helpconference organizers plan and deliverbetter shows, and provide exhibitors
with more qualified sales leads.
vertical focus: business events
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vertical focus: business events
RFID Journal • September/October 201426
have security agents looming over them tocheck their badges to verify access. “Securitywas not necessarily an issue, but that said,because of the high value of the tickets, wewanted to make sure the right people were getting in at the proper access they paid for,”says Martin Enault, VP, partnerships and technology at C2MTL, who notes a ticket cost$3,600 for a three-day package.
A main focus was reducing queues for ses-sions, Enault adds. The portals were positionedso only the agents could see lights indicatingan invalid badge; they could then approach theindividual discreetly, says Anthony Palermo,co-founder of Connect&Go and director andco-founder of RFID Academia.
RFID antennas were installed in the chan-deliers in networking lounges, where therewasn’t enough traffic en masse to justify settingup portals. The antennas detected who was in the area and transmitted their names and titles to a smartphone application, so attedeescould know instantly of others’ arrivals. They had to sign up to be tracked like this,Enault notes. It was not done without theirknowledge.
“The business case for us was fairly simple,”Enault says. “Using RFID enabled us to facilitate people meeting each other, andC2MTL is about connecting people and busi-ness together. It made networking easier. Forus, that is ROI because the more deals beingmade here leads to more people wanting tocome here and more partners for the event.”
The information gained from having betterinsight into attendee flow at this year’s eventalso will help C2MTL organizers plan for 2015, Enault says. Not all guests, for example,attended every conference session; somewatched on screens outside conference roomsor were otherwise engaged. For all but a fewkey speeches, there were more seats than attendees in the rooms. “So we know we cansell more tickets next year without risking people not getting a seat in the conferencerooms,” Enault says. “The additional tickets we can sell for next year alone can pay for theentire RFID system.”
In addition, the Connect&Go RFID systemgave C2MTL the raw data—including timestamps to know how long individuals spent invarious sessions and zones—to leverage inother ways. It can see, for instance, which sessions drew which types of attendees interms of business function, or which topicsgot more traction, to help craft its next schedule to increase appeal to those demo-graphics and interests. C2MTL also is workingwith a partner to slice and dice the informa-tion it gained from the RFID deployment withother data feeds, to understand things such aswhether weather conditions during the eventaffected attendance at some points. “We wantto use analytics to offer the best experience toour attendees, based on data accumulated atpast events,” Enault says.
RFID technology has been a presence atconcerts, sports events and other consumervenues for several years, helping marketers engage with audiences, shoppers and vaca-tioners (see The New “It” Tool for BrandingProducts and Services). RFID Academia devel-oped the Connect&Go UHF Access & Monitor-ing System as an RFID keychain or bracelet foraccess control and marketing activation atconsumer events. Deploying RFID technologyin the business-to-business conference sectoris still in the early stages, says Keith McKenna,VP of convention operations at Wyndham Jade,which provides convention housing and showregistration services. Before RFID becomescommonplace at B2B events, conference organizers as well as exhibitors need to betterunderstand how they can benefit from RFID-generated data. That, in turn, could overrideany concerns about deployment costs.
IT ’S ALL ABOUT THE DATA
B2B event organizers that have employed RFIDfor attendee tracking value the data RFID candeliver to them about event flow, says DaleBookout, owner of Global Registration Solu-tions, which provides show-management services. “When you’re talking about trackingbig areas like expo halls with 17,000 people
“When you’re talkingabout tracking bigareas like expo hallswith 17,000 peoplegoing in and out, theorganizers want toget a feel for what arethe peak times or ifthey had dead times.” —dale bookout, global
registration solutions
vertical focus: business events
27RFID Journal • September/October 2014
going in and out, the organizers want to get afeel for what are the peak times or if they haddead times,” he says. That data can inform future plans, such as having an icebreakerevent on the floor during down periods todrive traffic.
Some event organizers offer RFID-enabledkiosks, where attendees can scan their badgesand post comments on social-media sites.There are also opportunities to leverage infor-mation collected from RFID technology forfeedback, in conjunction with surveys typi-cally given to attendees, says Lance Burnett,CEO and founder of systems integrator StarkRFID. “Assuming you are delivering the rightcontent, then you look at who went where anddid what at the show, and how they felt aboutit, and you can determine from there if theywere heavily engaged and interested,” he says.At trade shows, this information could beshared with exhibitors to help them better target their follow-up activities.
In fact, conference organizers can use RFIDas a marketing tool to potential exhibitors, offering either to share the data they collect orto install readers at their booths. “You want toknow that [the event] is worth it,” Burnett says,“and the only way to really know that is to havetrue data about who’s coming by and whatthey’re doing.”
In December 2013, Global Registration Solutions worked with an exhibitor to test an in-booth RFID application. With a traditionalhandheld scanner, the exhibitor recorded 12sales leads. The RFID antennas automaticallyread visitors’ ID badges, and its software re-ported on more than 200 prospects. “So therewere over 200 people there that they wouldhave had no idea about if they were just usinga traditional handheld scanner,” Bookoutsays. “Not only did they get the quantity, butthey also knew when they were at the booth,where in the booth they were and how longthey were there.” That can inform everythingP
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In September, HealthPortused in-booth RFID at the AHIMA Convention & Exhibit to collect as manyleads as possible.
vertical focus: business events
RFID Journal • September/October 201428
from how future events are staffed at thebooth to what products and services are res-onating with buyers.
Global Registration Solutions is now mar-keting the RFID solution. In September,HealthPort used in-booth RFID at the AHIMAConvention & Exhibit, held in San Diego. Itsmain goal was to collect as many leads as possible, Bookout says. The show just closed,he adds, so “HealthPort hasn’t had a chance toreview their dashboard that contains all the‘bigger data’—who, how long, where, domesticversus international, trends in regions or reg-istration types, peak hours.”
Palermo agrees that opportunities exist forexhibitors to get value out of RFID-generateddata. Connect&Go’s software can, for example,assess how many times a particular tag wasread by a certain antenna. If it’s read multipletimes in the space of a minute or so by an antenna positioned inside an exhibitor booth,it likely means the person has stopped for acloser look. “If it records someone stayed therefor five minutes,” he says, that could indicatethe person is a good prospect for a follow-upsales call.
There’s also an opportunity to use RFID “toshowcase client products and solutions in away that improves the experience and engage-ment opportunities with attendees,” saysCasey Cote, CEO of Omnience, an event-man-agement company. An exhibitor, for instance,may have 10 or so solutions it wants to push.RFID antennas in booths can recognize atten-dees as they enter a space and match that todata they have previously entered about theirneeds to pull up the three most relevant solutions. “So it pushes their message to theattendee, but with the attendees’ desire inmind,” he says.
“Any conference that employs RFID and‘owns’ the data should be extremely carefulabout what they do,” Palermo says. It’s fine toprovide exhibitors with details regarding whovisited their booths and how long they stayedthere, he says, but sharing that informationwith a competing exhibitor would be “goingtoo far.”
TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS
Other technologies are competing with UHFRFID for a spot in the B2B conference world,including Bluetooth and Apple’s iBeacon,Near-Field Communication and QR codes, all of which require use of a smartphone. AllianceTech, an event technology solutionsprovider, offers UHF RFID, as well as othertechnologies, depending on customer require-ments. RFID is generally the choice today, es-pecially for larger and bigger-budget events,says CEO Art Borrego. It works “when a confer-ence organizer says it has a conference withover 500 attendees and wants to track visitorsto general sessions and multiple breakout sessions that are happening at the same timeunobtrusively,” he says. “That is the key word.”
The general consensus is there can be aplace for NFC, QR code and iBeacon technolo-gies at business events, but more as a supple-ment to UHF RFID rather than a replacementfor it. NFC, which has a short read range, mightbe reliable for tracking small groups at break-out sessions, but “RFID tracking doing long-range is most preferable” for events that drawbig crowds, says C. Russell Brumfield, founderof Wizard Event Technology Partners.
“As popular as smartphones are, everyonedoesn’t really have one yet,” says WyndhamJade’s McKenna. So, regardless of how manyapplications there are that leverage such tech-nologies for things like attendee tracking, hesays, “by relying on those, you’re at risk of notlooking at 100 percent of your attendee base.”
In addition, you can’t count on attendeeswho have smartphones to turn them on anduse one of the technologies. “You hear of track-ing people with Bluetooth and other ways, but you have to rely on people turning on Bluetooth, on attendees downloading the app,”Bookout says. “You don’t have control overthat, and if you can’t control that you can’thave accurate reports.”
Some companies are trying new ways toleverage UHF RFID technology in the B2Bevents space. At the CommunicAsia confer-ence in Singapore in June, organizers deployed
“Any conference thatemploys RFID and‘owns’ the data shouldbe extremely carefulabout what they do.”It’s fine to provideexhibitors withdetails regarding whovisited their boothsand how long theystayed there, butsharing thatinformation with acompeting exhibitorwould be “going too far.”—anthony palermo,
connect&go, rfid academia
vertical focus: business events
29RFID Journal • September/October 2014
a UHF ground mat antenna from Times-7 totrack attendee movements, says CEO AntonyDixon. The mat technology was developed fortrack runners or drivers to record timing at rac-ing events. This approach “means that youdon’t have to erect portals or trussing,” he says.“It’s ease of deployment—faster, more conven-ient and less intrusive visually. And there’s nocompromise on performance.”
The mat also presents a branding opportu-nity, Dixon says. “A company can brand themat with whatever the marketing message is,” he says. “The intention is to develop a wayto make it easy to do that and reusable, too,” for renting to clients for different events. AllianceTech also offers Times-7 ground antennas as an option for customers.
At a recent car show, Stark RFID workedwith a major auto manufacturer to provide vis-itors with tagged mobile phone earbuds. UHFRFID readers were positioned around a rangeof cars on all sides on a giant stage. When con-sumers approached the driver’s side, for in-stance, they heard content about driver-sidefeatures. For dealership representatives, theapplication triggered information in contextof their business relationship with the company. Burnett says this application can beapplied in the business event space as well.
COST VS. VALUE
Conference organizers are wary of the cost ofimplementing an RFID solution. In most cases,they contract with providers to install RFIDequipment and RFID-enable badges for anevent. “RFID is not at the point yet where it can be set up by the customers themselves,”Borrego says.
RFID-enabling badges isn’t a big expense,McKenna says, but configuring multiple readeraccess points to cover general session halls,conference rooms and other areas, so the showorganizer itself sees value from RFID, can getexpensive. “A lot of associations that do showsare nonprofits,” he says, “and that does limittheir amount of spending on certain things. ”
As the RFID B2B events space matures, it
remains to be seen if and how exhibitors willaccess attendee data. Event organizers couldprovide the data as a service or for a fee. Ex-hibitors could work through conference or-ganizers to have RFID installed in their ownbooths, or they could deploy the technology ontheir own. Installing RFID readers in booths isstill a sizeable cost compared with the use oftraditional handheld scanners, McKenna says.
Trade show exhibitors that see the value ofRFID could propel adoption, Borrego says, because they carry enough weight to propelthe introduction of RFID into the experience.“They buy the booth space and they pay theshow producer,” he says. “They can tell theshow producer they need to track their visitorsto their booths, and that they want RFID in thebadges to report and understand unique visitors to the booth, by product, and to betterqualify lead scans.”
There’s also the prospect of shifting muchof the RFID infrastructure burden to the ven-ues themselves. Stark RFID is “working with amajor hotel and conference center to poten-tially outfit their whole facility full-time withRFID hardware, so that when they have anevent or trade show, they have that serviceavailable,” Burnett says. “So they can charge apremium or use it as a distinguishing factor tobring in that conference or trade show.”
RFID is slowly making inroads into the B2Bevent sector, McKenna says. Some organizerswant to differentiate their events, driving moreattendee engagement and exhibitor interest inan age when businesspeople’s travel budgetsmay be restricted and webinars beckon as low-cost alternatives. The good news, he says, “isthat we have yet to have any clients that havegone into RFID that have stopped using it.”
Event organizers should consider the use-ful and innovative ways to leverage RFID forB2B events, rather than focusing primarily onimplementation costs, says C2MTL’s Enault.“RFID opens other doors than simply accesscontrol,” he says. “If you think about thebudget first, you are not usually seeing the bigpicture and the different revenue and othervalue you can create based on RFID.”
“RFID opens otherdoors than simplyaccess control. If youthink about thebudget first, you arenot usually seeingthe big picture andthe different revenueand other value youcan create based onRFID.”
—martin enault, c2mtl
product developments
MOBILERFID READERS
WHATYOU NEEDTO KNOWABOUT
product developments
31RFID Journal • September/October 2014
PHOTO
: NED
AP RETAIL
One of the biggest trends in the business community today is the hugegrowth of mobile devices in the workplace. Many organizations provideemployees who work outside the office or away from their desks withsmartphones or tablets. In addition, a growing number of companieshave launched “bring-your-own-device” programs, which allow em-ployees to use their consumer smartphones or tablets to communicateand collaborate with customers and colleagues and access corporatenetworks and data.
The mobility trend is fueling the growth of radio frequency identifi-cation readers that plug into smartphones and tablets. There are twomain types of these products on the market: small, lightweight devicesthat attach to smartphones and tablets and turn them into RFID readers,and light, low-cost RFID readers that become full-fledged readers whenpartnered with smart devices. They all support the passive ultra-high-frequency EPC Gen 2 protocol, to meet the volume of tags beingdeployed in the field, says Michael Liard, an independent analyst who
When paired withsmartphones or tablets,
these lightweight, low-cost devicescan be used for a variety of
business applications.
by bob violino
facing page
Nedap Retail’s !D Hand reader is a Bluetooth-linked device designed for the retail industry.
product developments
RFID Journal • September/October 201432
PHOTO
: MICROELEC
TRONICS TECHNOLO
GY INC.
focuses on RFID technology. The readers canbe used for a variety of business applications,including access control, asset tracking, au-thentication and verification, food safety andtraceability, inventory management, logisticsand transportation.
“This technology has been in developmentfor quite some time, and we’ve now seen the creation of a marketopportunity with the continuedpenetration of consumer-grade de-vices” in the workplace, Liard says.“We’re seeing more employees,whether it’s [production] lineworkers or shop-floor managers orretail associates, using thesemobile devices as part oftraditional auto-ID capturesolutions.”
A key factor in the risingdemand for RFID readerproducts for mobile de-vices is that many workersare already comfortablewith the form factors andfunctionality of their con-sumer phones or tablets.“These are not typical hand-held readers or bar-codescanners; these are devicesemployees use in theireveryday lives,” Liard says.“So there is a measure ofcomfortability and ease ofuse.”
Also bolstering demand isthe fact that it can be cheaper forcompanies to buy mobile RFID readers for con-sumer devices than to purchase conventionalhandheld RFID readers. “The total cost of own-ership is lower with these types of devices,”Liard says. “And if people bring their own devices into these environments, that also enables cost savings.”
In addition, the devices can provide cus-tomer service benefits for retailers and othercompanies. “Employees in a store may be moreapproachable” than if they’re using traditional
RFID readers, Liard says. “If shoppers see a device that is similar to the device in their ownpockets, there’s a measure of psychologicalcomfort in terms of customer experience andservice.”
When choosing a mobile RFID reader, youneed to consider the devices supported and
form factor. Some readers are de-signed for use in virtually any in-dustry; others are geared to specificverticals, such as aerospace or re-tail stores. See the table on page 33for some leading providers of RFIDreaders for mobile devices.
PLUG-IN READERSSmall, slim, compact, convenient, ergonomic, efficient and affordable—these are some adjectivesRFID providers use to de-scribe plug-in devices thatattach to smartphones and tablets and transformthem into RFID readers.“Handheld RFID readers aretypically expensive, bulky,narrow use-case devices, require battery chargingmanagement, require sig-nificant training and are notflexible for customization ofsoftware applications,” saysDarryn Prince, RFID businesshead at mobile reader
provider MicroelectronicsTechnology Inc. (MTI).
MTI’s Mini Me product allows users to readand write ISO 18000-6C tags with an Androiddevice, Prince says. Commercially availableUSB on-the-go (OTG) extension cables can beused to position a Mini Me away from the hostdevice to extend the read range. “Since MiniMe provides the [interface] between the tagand mobile smartphone or tablet, the tag datauses the wireless networking capabilities ofthe mobile host [for example, cellular, Blue-tooth or Wi-Fi] to communicate the data to the
“These are not typicalhandheld readers or bar-code scanners; theseare devices employees usein their everyday lives.”michael liard, rfid analyst
photo:MTI’s Mini Me product allows users to read andwrite ISO 18000-6C tagswith an Android device.
product developments
33RFID Journal • September/October 2014
Some Leading Providers of RFID Readers for Mobile Devices
Company Product DevicesSupported
Size andWeight
ReadRange
Connectionand Battery
Industries Applications Cost(US $)
Asteriskasreader.com
RFIDAsReader
iPhone andiPod Touch;EPC Gen 2UHFreader/writer
2.5 x 5.6x 0.7 in. (64 x 141 x18 mm)
3.2 oz(90 gms)
3.3 ft(1 m)
iOS and MFiinterface;lithium-ionbattery
Health care,manufacturing,logistics, retail
Access control;trackingproducts
$1,200
MainTagmaintag.com
WaveBoxCube
iPad andAndroid-based tablets;EPC Gen 2UHFreader/writer
4.5 x 1 in.(115 x 25 mm)
16 oz(450 gms)
20 ft(6 m)
Bluetooth;lithium-ionbattery
Aerospace,aviation
Assetmanagement forinventory andmaintenance ofairplane cabinpassenger andsecurityequipment
$1,000
MicroelectronicsTechnology Inc.mtigroup.com
Mini MeRU-827
Android USBOTG host-modepoweredsmartphonesand tablets;EPC Gen 2UHFreader/writer
1.5 x 1.3 x0.6 in.(38 x 33 x15 mm)
0.5 oz(14 gms)
Up to1.6 ft(.5 m)
USB HID; nobatteries tocharge orreplace (usesbattery ofsmartdevice)
Applicable tomany industries
Access control,asset tracking,authenticationand verification;eventmanagement;inventory anddocumentmanagement
$199
Nedap Retail nedap-retail.com
!D Hand Windows CEdevices andiPod, iPhoneand iPad;dual EPC Gen2 UHF andNFC reader
8.8 oz(250 gms)
3.2 ft(1 m)
Bluetooth;rechargeablelithium-ionbattery
Retail Cycle counts,goods receiving,product searchand other storeprocesses thatcan be executedwith RFID
Availableon request
Technology Solutions (UK)tsl.uk.com
1128BluetoothUHF RFIDModularRuggedReader
Laptops,smartphonesand tabletswith Android,iOS orWindows OS;EPC Gen 2UHFreader/writer
13.4 oz(380 gms)
Up to13 ft(4 m)
Bluetooth;rechargeablelithium-ionbattery
Logistics,warehousingand distribution
Assetmanagement(including rollcages andvehicles);storingmaintenanceand inspectionrecords
$1,350
U Grok It ugrokit.com
U Grok ItSmartphoneRFID (theGrokker)
iPhone, iPodTouch, iPad;iOS 4.3 andlater Androidphones andtablets; EPCGen 2 UHFreader
6 x 3.8 x1.5 in.(153 x 95 x38 mm)
6 oz(170 gms)
6-10 ft(2-3 m)
Proprietaryconnectionwithstandardaudio port; rechargeablelithium-ionbattery
Health care,livestock andretail
Asset andinventorymanagement;open softwaredevelopment kitavailable onwebsite
$500
product developments
RFID Journal • September/October 201434
home office or into the cloud,” he explains.“We have customers now using and evalu-
ating Mini Me in nearly all UHF RFID marketsegments and applications, including accesscontrol, interactive experiences, inventorymanagement, document control, event man-agement, authentication and verification,identification and tracking,” Prince says.
MainTag’s WaveBox Cube was designed to enable fast inventory of aircraft cabin pas-senger security equipment using an iPad. It attaches to an iPad’s protective case and com-municates with the tablet via Bluetooth. FlyTagmanager, the inventory software embedded inthe iPad, displays a 3-D view of the cabin and
all tagged assets, and gives accessto each item’s information stored on an RFIDtag (part number, serial number, expirationdate, presence), according to Alexis Beurdeley,VP of MainTag.
The WaveBox Cube can be used for severalother applications in various sectors, Beurde-ley says. The agriculture, food and pharmaceu-tical industries are “highly interested in thisdevice,” she says, noting that the device canmonitor inventory of a large number of RFID-tagged items in a matter of seconds.
The use of a tablet offers a larger, high-defi-nition screen than handhelds, Beurdeley says.“The WaveBox Cube was designed to be at-tached to a smart tablet in a way that itwouldn’t affect the use of the tablet or relatedoperations,” she says. “As the tablet or other
smart device controls the WaveBox Cube, itsends encoding or reading orders and storesthe collected data. This data can then be sentremotely to a back-end database using Blue-tooth, Wi-Fi, Ethernet or cellular data flows.”
Asterisk’s AsReader “connects directly withthe iPhone/iPod Touch to provide a very light-weight solution that fits into a shirt pocket,”says Jim Curry, director of marketing and sales.Read/write buttons are installed on each sideof the product, to enable flexible operation byright- or left-handed users, he says.
The product is suited to either in-facility orfield use. The data it collects can be uploadedto corporate databases via Wi-Fi or cellular
networks. It’s been adopted by severalindustries, Curry says, including automotive, medical production andretail.
U Grok It’s reader, the Grokker, canbe used like a conventional handheldreader in inventory and asset-manage-ment environments, says Carrie Req-uist, CEO and co-founder. But, sheadds, because the product is light andintuitive to use, it expands areas whereRFID can be used, beyond the reach ofconventional handheld readers. Theproduct was designed for natural one-handed operation, since users of
handhelds are most often in environ-ments where they move around. This
leaves the other hand free to open doors, pickup items and move items out of the way, whilestill being able to scan and see and hear theGrokker’s feedback, she says.
The Grokker can scan and buffer if the useris in an area with no connectivity, or it cansend data in real time over Wi-Fi or cellularnetworks, making it suitable for field installers, traveling salespeople and utility workers, Requist says.
Android and iOS app developers “can nowlook at RFID as a feature they can implementin their apps instead of RFID always having tobe the central determining feature of the solu-tion,” Requist says. “For example, legal officeapps can add the ability to track and find files.
Mobile RFIDreaders are relatively new—most ofthe productshave been introducedwithin the pasttwo or threeyears—and it islikely new RFIDproviders willenter the market in thenear future.
photo:The WaveBox Cube wasdesigned to enable fast inventory of aircraft
cabin passenger security equipment using an iPad. P
HOTO
: MAINTA
G
product developments
35RFID Journal • September/October 2014
U Grok It allows companies to benefit fromRFID without having to invest in a majorimplementation and without requir-ing their RFID usage to be full timeto justify the investment.”
LIGHTWEIGHT READERSThese RFID readers may belight to hold, but they areno lightweights when itcomes to doing the job—aslong as they’re paired with asmart device.
Nedap Retail’s !D Hand reader is designed for the retail industry, says DannyHaak, product manager for RFID. He says severalhundred stores in Europe are using the device.
The !Hand does not plug into a smart device.“The fact that it is a Bluetooth-linked device al-lows the store employees to carry a mobile devicearound for payments and customer assistance,and only pick up the RFID reader part when necessary,” he says. Bluetooth is fast enough notto limit the RFID reading performance in anyway, he adds.
“Due to lanyards or other carryingmethods, people don’t feel it as
two separate devices,” Haak says. “When peopledon’t need the !D Hand RFID reader, they don’thave to carry it, but still have access to all thestock data in their mobile device. Only when
they need to do a cycle count, they canpick up the reader.”
Technology Solutions (UK) Ltd.’s1128 Bluetooth UHF RFID modularruggedized reader is unique in themarket in that it’s designed to be used in harsh environments (for example, at operating temperatures
of -4° Fahrenheit to 140° Fahrenheit). The company offers custom wrist- and
belt-mount accessories for easier handling.The 1128 UHF reader supports a
diverse set of applications, including lo-gistics, warehousing and distribution,reading/writing data on pallets and rollcages before loading onto vehicles, andstoring maintenance and inspectionrecords. The device can access the
latest mobile applications and takeadvantage of the smart device userinterface and functionality, says
David Evans, TSL managing director.
Mobile RFIDreaderproviders believe that asRFID adoptiongrows and businesses deploy moresmart devicesin the work-place, theirproducts willbecome an essential tool tohelp companiesget an ROI.
U Grok It’s reader is designed for natural one-handed operation.
TSL’s 1128 BluetoothUHF RFID readerworks in harsh environments.
TOP PHOTO
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product developments
37RFID Journal • September/October 2014
The 1128 Bluetooth RFID reader is capable ofscanning thousands of items at one time, so it’salso suitable for hospital asset tracking and retail inventory management, Evans says. “Wehave seen a huge demand in the retail sector,”he says. “We partner with industry leaders such as Tyco Retail Solutions, Checkpoint andXterprise to market the solution.”
RIDING THE RFID AND MOBILITY WAVEMobile RFID readers are relatively new—mostof the products have been introduced withinthe past two or three years—and it is likely newRFID providers will enter the market in the near future. In 2012, startup Flomio, with funding from Kickstarter, introduced theFloJack, a pocketsize, one-ouncedongle that serves as a
Near-Field Communication reader whenplugged into newer Apple and Android devices.The company recently announced that it is discontinuing that product and replacing itwith the FloBLE, due out in mid-November,which founder Richard Grundy says will pro-vide a better user experience.
Flomio targets the “do-it-yourself market,primarily developers and hackers,” Grundysays. “We sponsor hackathons and other devel-oper events with the intent of evangelizingRFID technology adoption in all applications.We’ve found that the events industry has beenthe first to adopt our products, given their sizeand fast deployment.”
Readers designed for mobile devices haveprovided enhanced antenna performance, saysindustry analyst Liard, but he expects vendors will work on making them even better, including offering different shapes toaccommodate devices of various sizes andusing superior materials to improve perform-ance. “If you look at traditional handheld readers,” he says, “one of the challenges hasbeen around antenna design and perform-ance” and ensuring that users can get suffi-cient read accuracy from various angles. “Asphones get larger, wider, smaller or thinner,you have to accommodate that.”
Mobile RFID reader providers believe thatas RFID adoption grows and businesses deploymore smartphones and tablets in the work-place, their products will become an essentialtool to help companies get a return on invest-ment from an RFID deployment. “Enterprisesuse U Grok It to increase the ROI of their RFIDsolution by being able to have more people in-teract with the RFID tags, such as salespeopleon the showroom floor and maintenance people,” Requist says.
“In the coming years, most retail fashionstores will switch to RFID, followed by all theother retail chains,” says Nedap’s Haak. “Thegrowth potential of the !Hand is enormous.”
The AsReader already has a significant shareof the handheld RFID reader/writer market inJapan, according to Asterisk’s Curry, who notesthat the company is just launching the productin the United States and Canadian markets.“We anticipate significant growth in these twomarkets,” he says.
Antenna designs willhave to come indifferentshapes to accommodatedevices of various sizes.
Asterisk’s AsReader issuited to either in-facilityor field use.
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POTENTIAL MARKET SIZE TODAYAlmost 85 percent of companies won’t invest
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39RFID Journal • September/October 2014
ILLU
STRATION: ISTOCKPHOTO
software savvy
In OctOber, I attended theinaugural meeting of RAINRFID, an organization dedicated to promotingadoption of EPC ultrahigh-frequency RFID. BillMcBeath, chief researchofficer for ChainLinkResearch, reported that
60 percent of new RFID deployments arecloud-based. This is not surprising. Cloudcomputing is a natural fit for RFID applica-tions, given their widely distributed natureand the massive amounts of data they collect.
But these applications are vulnerable to the well-known security risks of cloud com-puting—and more. That’s because they areaccessed by human users and RFID readers. Areader tracking goods on a retail shelf, forexample, might autonomously connect to thecloud via the Internet to deliver its data.
Despite the ongoing reports of databasehacking, there are effective, albeit not guaranteed, ways to secure data in the cloud(just Google “cloud security”). Companiesdeveloping cloud-based RFID applicationsmust implement those countermeasures, andthen take the following steps.
Secure the communication protocolbetween a reader and the cloud. Use asecure protocol like HTTPS and configureeach reader with an access credential, similarto a password. That way, the cloud applicationcan accept data only from an authorized reader. In addition, set each reader to authen-ticate the cloud—for example, by examining adigital certificate presented by the cloudapplication—so it doesn’t send data to a“man-in-the-middle” attacker.
Protect the access credential. Unlike apassword, a reader’s credential must be storedin nonvolatile memory on the device for use
each time it connects to the cloud. To preventan attacker from breaking into the reader’snetwork connection and stealing the creden-tial, encrypt the credential. Examine everyway a network connection could be made to orfrom the device, and make sure it is secured.In addition, ensure that only authorized personnel have physical access to the reader.
Give each reader a different access credential. This limits the damage if a reader is compromised. It also makes it easier to identify and isolate thecompromised reader.
Grant reader creden-tials limited abilities with-in the cloud application. Ifthe reader’s job is to sendtag reads to the application,the reader’s credentialshould allow only thatoperation, not other opera-tions such as reading thedata or generating reports,which may be needed byother system componentsconnecting to the cloud. That way, if a readercredential is compromised, the attacker maybe able to flood the system with bad data, butat least he or she will not be able to read any ofthe good data or do other harm.
Prepare a backup plan. If all these meas-ures fail, you will need a workable procedureto change each reader’s access credentials.Think about how that procedure will workbefore—not after—you deploy hundreds orthousands of readers!
Ken Traub is the founder of Ken Traub Consulting,a Mass.-based firm providing services to com -panies that rely on advanced software technologyto run their businesses. Send your softwarequestions to [email protected].
Security in the CloudHere’s how to protect RFID applications from hackers.
By Ken Traub
RFID Journal • September/October 201440
ILLU
STRATI
ON: I
STO
CKPH
OTO
In my prevIous column,Building on Retail’s RFIDFoundation, I began thediscussion of second-order (SO) use cases ofitem-level RFID. Forward-thinking retailers will use these SO applicationsto create a competitive
advantage. I also identified distributed-ordermanagement, which can help retailers execute an omnichannel strategy, as a key SO application. Here are four more SO appli-cations retailers would be wise to consider.
Enhancing the customer experience. Doyou remember the “magic mirrors” and“smart dressing rooms” introduced 10 yearsago? The concepts were sound, but they wereahead of their time. Without inventory accu-racy, these RFID-enabled interactive devices,designed to help customers shop for clothingand related accessories, don’t work. Now,their time has come, and there are many waysretailers can use them to engage shoppers andboost sales.
Cycle-counting strategies. Before RFID,retailers typically conducted cycle counts justonce or twice per year. With tagged merchan-dise, retailers can cycle count once a day,twice a week or once a month. Or they can usezonal monitoring to take real-time, all-the-time inventory. Retailers can develop cycle-counting strategies—that is, determine howoften to count each category or store—basedon issues such as shrinkage and time of year.An appropriate cycle-counting strategy thatcan, and likely will, vary by category, storeand season will be key to effective, ongoinginventory management and accuracy.
Conversion. Are customers looking at thenew line of dresses hanging near the storeentrance? Are they trying on those dresses?
Buying them? The transition from shelf orhanger to dressing room to purchase is oftenreferred to as “conversion.” Retailers typicallyrely on observation and counts of items takeninto dressing rooms to determine conversion.These manual methods are time-consumingand error-prone. RFID can provide real-time,complete insight into customer traffic flowand shopping habits.
Loss prevention.Originally, the RFIDResearch Center list-ed loss prevention asone of the founda-tional use casesbecause loss issomething all retail-ers face. But we nowrefer to the founda-tional use case asloss detection andthe SO use case asloss prevention.Why? Because it iseasy for retailers touse RFID for lossdetection (see mycolumn Will RFID Kill EAS? to find out how todo that), but it will be the innovative retailerthat uses the data to prevent shrinkage.
These are only a few of the many uniqueand amazing things retailers can do whenthey use item-level RFID. Most likely, the bestand most creative uses of RFID in retail haveyet to be imagined.
Bill Hardgrave is the dean of Auburn University’sHarbert College of Business and the founder of theRFID Research Center. He will address other RFIDadoption and business case issues in this column.Send your questions to [email protected] him on twitter at @bhardgrave.
Second to NoneThese RFID applications can give retailers the upper hand.
By Bill Hardgrave
tuned in
Choosing the proper radio frequency identification systemfor your application can be a daunting task. Now, for the firsttime, RFID Journal provides a guide to choosing the right system for your needs, and explains the pros and cons ofdifferent RFID solutions for different applications.
How to Choosethe Right RFID Technologyfor Your Application
Save yourself hundreds of hours of research timewith this new guide for just $395, or only $199 witha new membership to RFID Journal.
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43RFID Journal • September/October 2014
ILLU
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STOCKPHOTO
The main goal of compa-nies deploying RFID sys-tems in their supplychains is to achieve visi-bility of shipments. Often,the aim is to share datawith partners to achieve“joint visibility”—that is,both the supplier and its
retail or manufacturing partner can track themovement of goods or parts through the sup-ply chain and optimize operations based onthis information.
The Electronic Product Code standardswere developed for precisely this purpose.They include an air-interface protocol thatenables tags and readers to communicate, astandard for the format of data on the tag andother standards that allow companies to shareinformation. Collectively, the data-sharingstandards are called the EPC InformationServices. But EPCIS is not actually a service.Rather, it is a set of protocols that differ slightly for different industries.
There are several other GS1 standards thatcan be leveraged to achieve supply-chain visibility. The Serialized Global Trade ItemNumber (SGTIN), used mainly by the retailand consumer packaged goods industries,identifies the item being shipped.
The Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) identifies pallets and other logisticscontainers. Customers often require that theirown identification format be used on palletsso they can identify the pallets upon receipt,which is a nightmare for suppliers who mustuse multiple formats. An SSCC enables bothsupplier and customer to uniquely identifythe pallet without multiple formats. This canalso simplify systems design.
The Global Returnable Asset Identifier(GRAI) is useful for industries that ship goods
in returnable transport items (RTIs) owned bythe supplier. The GRAI indicates what type ofasset is being transported and the supplier towhom it should be returned. Since the GRAI isserialized, each RFID-tagged RTI can betracked through the supply chain and the datashared via EPCIS. Both trading partners canknow where the asset has been, when itarrived and when it left. The supplier can usethis information to determine cost, based onthe amount of time the asset was with the customer, and to monitor whencleaning and/or maintenance isrequired.
The Global Individual AssetIdentifier (GIAI) is designed forassets rented on a long-termbasis. The GIAI identifies theasset owner through a companyprefix, the type of asset and aserial number.
So how do you know where anasset has been? The GlobalLocation Number (GLN) identi-fies a specific facility, storagesite or trading partner. When atag is read, software systems can be set up toshare, through the EPCIS, not just the time thetag was read but also the location.
This alphabet soup establishes standardsfor identifying items, containers, pallets andlocations, enabling these things to be trackedsystematically and efficiently. In many ways,they are the language businesses speak to one another.
Ian Robertson is CEO and president of SupplyChain RFID Consulting, a Texas-based firmproviding services to companies that want tounderstand how to use and implement RFIDinternally and with partners. Send your supply-chain questions to [email protected].
The Language of BusinessCompanies should leverage standards to achieve supply-chain visibility.
By Ian Robertson
supply chain links
An independent panel of judges will review all entries submitted and choose the winners. Awards will be presented at the 13th annual RFID Journal LIVE! conference and exhibition, being heldon Apr. 15-17, 2015, in San Diego, Calif., and will be featured in RFID Journal’s digital magazine.
For more information about the RFID Journal Awards, or to submit an entry, please visit www.rfidjournalawards.com or e-mail [email protected].
The 9th annual RFID Journal Awardswill recognize companies that have distinguishedthemselves by their successful use of radio frequency identification (RFID).
2015 CATEGORIES:›Best Internet of Things Deployment
› Best RFID Implementation
›Best Use of RFID to Enhance a Product or Service
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› Special Achievement
BE RECOGNIZED FOR YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS AT THE 2015 RFID JOURNAL AWARDS.
DEADLINE:
Submissions for all awards are due no later than midnight on Jan. 30, 2015.
RFID Journal AwardsSHOWCASING THE BEST OF THE RFID INDUSTRY
About RFID Journal LIVE! 2015RFID Journal LIVE! is the world’s largest conference and exhibition, and the premier RFID event worldwide. With more than 150 speakers, 50 case studies and 200 leading RFIDtechnology providers, LIVE! 2015 is the only event where you can get everything you needto put RFID to work today. Visit www.rfidjournalevents.com/live for more information.
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