rfid: the future of records management compliance arma-piedmont chapter november 15, 2007

RFID: The Future of Records Management Compliance

ARMA-Piedmont Chapter

November 15, 2007

2© 2007 Recall. All Rights Reserved.

Quick Overview

Introduction• Recall• The need that drove our first RFID application• What it takes to implement RFID

RFID 101• Technical overview• Components – Tag, Interrogator, Supporting computer

systems• Design considerations

Perfect Audit Process• Results• Value to Records Managers• A look to the future


Brambles – Our Parent Company

• 130 year Global Support Services legacy

• $3.5 billion in revenues / $6.6 billion in assets

• Number 885 on the Forbes Global 2000

• 6 Continents, 45 Countries

• 12,000 Employees

• Traded on the Sydney Stock Exchange


• CHEP is the world leader in pallet and container pooling services

• $3.0 billion revenue

• Manages daily movement of over 280 million pallets / containers

• 44 countries, 440 locations

CHEP – Our Sister Company


• Document and information management solutions

• 5 continents, 23 countries, 270+ locations

• Over $600MM in annual revenues

• 78,000+ customers

• 4,000+ employees

• Global best practices, processes, systems and people

• World headquarters – Atlanta, Georgia

Recall – Who We Are

Your Information. Securely Managed.


The Need For Change

What inspired Recall to embrace RFID?• It sounds high-tech?• We needed more toys?• Lower labor cost?

No, none of the above.

The primary driver was to address our customer’s need fora substantive and robust inventory audit process.

New and expanded regulatory and compliance requirements,as well as internal audit and business needs put increasedpressure on Records Managers to be accountable for theintegrity of their holdings.

John Poole, Recall Quality and Standards Manager


Inventory Audit

Most Records Managers (and their vendors) have no capabilityto complete a periodic inventory audit.

Manual inventory audits:• Very costly (labor intensive)• Time consuming• Disruptive (Cartons and files must

be moved or relocated)• Error prone

Recall realized that the breakthrough RFID technology wouldprovide the means to deliver to our customers an annual 100%inventory audit of RFID tagged cartons in each of our locations.

We call this our “Perfect Audit Process”.


Not As Easy As It Looks

Despite a clear vision, it took Recall several years to move fromconcept to rollout.

• Recall was able to leverage the knowledge of its sister company CHEP– A founding member of the Auto-ID Center at MIT– A key supply chain provider tracking hundreds of million of items

• RFID remains a new technology, still developing and improving• Competing protocols and standards, open systems and

proprietary solutions abound• Radio signals are regulated, many differences across the world• Tag cost reduction based on production volume lags behind

estimates


A Long Road To Travel

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

CHEP invests $20 million over 5

years to perfect RFID solution

Auto-ID Center at MIT is formed.

CHEP is a founding member.

Recall joins CHEP

Innovation Center to

develop RFID solution

Recall RFID field testing and evaluation

Official Recall RFID rollout in

Boston Feb 2007

RFID technology will transform our

industry- Russell Skinner,

Recall


RFID 101

• Radio frequency identification, or RFID, is a generic term for technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify individual items

• The most common RFID application is to store a serial number and perhaps other information on a microchip that is attached to an antenna (the tag)

• A radio device controlled by a computer communicates with the tag via radio waves (the interrogator) and exchanges information


Active/Passive, Other Variants

• Active RFID tags have a battery to power the microchip's circuitry and to broadcast a signal to a reader. Active tags are large, expensive, hold lots of data, and can transmit over long distances.

• Passive RFID tags draw power from RF energy transmitted by the interrogator. Passive tags are small, low cost, hold limited data, and work over limited distances.

• Hybrid devices have been developed that– Provide some energy storage on the tag– Have computational and cryptographic capabilities– Mix modes or forms with other technologies

• RFID products use various radio frequencies (LF, HF, and UHF) and a variety of open and proprietary communication protocols

Recall’s solution uses an industry standard UHF passive tag


Basic RFID Components

The RFID tag consists of:• Microchip – provides signaling and

control logic and access to the device memory

• Antenna – a pattern of foil or wire connected to the microchip that facilitates the transmission and receipt of data

• Substrate – a paper, plastic, or surface that provides protection and holds the antenna and microchip assembly


Basic RFID Components

The RFID interrogator consists of:

• A computer control unit – provides program logic to control the transceiver and algorithms to decode the data transmitted by the tags

• Radio transceiver – provides RF carrier wave to power the tags and detects back-scatter from the tags

• Antenna – radiates and receives the RF energy


Some RFID Design Considerations

High Level• Understand your requirements• Understand the technology• Rank the importance of

– Cost– Interoperability/Standards– Supplier/Technology stability

Unique to RFID• Tag readability depends both

on the material they are attached to and the surrounding environment

• Any and all tags within range will respond to the interrogator

• Failure or damage can prevent an RFID tag from responding

The Details• Permanent/temporary tags• Temperature/humidity• Distance/coverage• RF opacity• Interference• Amount of data• Computation/Cryptography• # tags required• Tag programming• # tags to read at the same

time• Cost• International regulation• Vendor/integrator viability


The Results

Recall’s RFID innovation – an industry first, our Perfect Audit Process

• Years of development and testing– Initial planning and development started in 2004– Proof of concept at our Innovation Center in Orlando– Field tests in multiple Recall facilities

• Official rollout in Boston on 21-Feb-2007• 15 Additional Information Centers since February• Continued investment to extend

and enhance our RFID offering

Michael Tanguay, Manager, Recall Boston IC


1004

• Scan one carton at a time• Very labor intensive• Disruptive, requires cartons be moved or

relocated• Prone to human error

Audit Using Barcode Tags

What was once nearly an impossible task


Audit Using RFID Tags

1001

1002

1003

1004

1005

1006

1007

1008

1009

Is now a consistent, accurate, reliable, efficient process

• RFID tag is interrogated and decoded multiple times

• Tags can be read through other cartons• Fast, efficient, low cost• Very accurate, little manual intervention

required


Nu

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er o

f C

arto

ns

Read Count

More than 80% of all cartons seen 10+ times in a given passing

Note: 1) Results from stock-picker testing 2) Scale not linear

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2 4 6 8 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 75 100 125 150 200 250 More

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

No. of Cartons Cumulative %

Barcode is a single read; RFID is a multiple read.


The Recall RFID Tag

The Recall RFID tag consists ofthese critically matched

components

1. Large, high efficiency antenna

2. Industry standard microchip

3. Adhesive and color label selected for our environment

4. Human readable text and barcode


Sherlock & Dr. Watson

Recall developed twounique devices:• Sherlock – a mobile

inventory audit collector, used to interrogate RFID tags and record inventory information

• Dr. Watson – a fixed location high speed RFID interrogator used to process RFID tagged cartons

Sherlock Dr. Watson


What Is The Value?

What is the value to have an annual 100% audit ofyour holdings?• How satisfied are you with your current

inventory?• Would there be value in a one-time audit?• What about an annual audit?• How would you work to quantify that value?• Do you feel you achieve an accurate inventory

audit by manually scanning barcodes?

From what you have seen so far, are RFID tags the

key to inventory audit integrity?

But what about the cost?


Innovation And Passion For Perfection

Judge for yourself. Is the Recall Perfect Audit Processtruly transformational?

At Recall we understand:• The customer demand for certifiable inventory integrity is

high• Compliance, regulatory, and business demands are

forcing many Records Managers to look for new solutions

Recall listened to our customers needs and applied advancedRFID technology to deliver a solution.

Would your Records Management program benefit from anannual audited inventory?


It’s Not Just For Cartons Of Paper

RFID from Recall Data Protection Services

Available today, provides RFID tracking ofindividual computer tapes, including thosestored in sealed cases. Integrates with

Recall’sMedia Manager software application.

Cases and RFID labels provided by Imation,

and software from B&L Associates.

Coming soon, integrated GPS shipment tracking


What’s Next?

While Recall has not made its RFID plans forthe future known, our customers and othersin the industry have been asking about:• Using RFID to improve transactional

processing• Enhancing facility perimeter and vehicle

security using RFID• Automated RFID and GPS shipment

tracking• File and Document tracking with RFID• Extending our technology to our

customer’s locations• Interoperability with customer and 3rd

party systems


Frequently Asked Questions

• Could someone use a wireless reader to identify my cartons?

• What is the lifetime of the tag? Will it ever expire?

• Can you put a specific carton ID# in the system and find it, if necessary?

• Is there a minimum quantity of cartons or RFID Tags required to get started?

• I only need this for some of my cartons going forward, is that possible?

• How much does this cost?


Q&A

Chris PageGeneral Manager, Mid-

Atlantic(919) [email protected]

Rob SaksaAccount Executive,

Charlotte(704) [email protected]

rfid: the future of records management compliance arma-piedmont chapter november 15, 2007

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