| Abstract: | OATSystems' new management platform helps manufacturers apply centralized management and business rules to dispersed RFID installments. |
| Keywords: | Multiple plant RFID, multisite RFID |
RFID middleware and application provider OATSystems today announced the availability of a new RFID management offering in its OAT Foundation Suite. The OATenterprise platform provides real-time visibility into distributed RFID deployments, in addition to centralized management across multiple locations, the company said.
With OATenterprise, manufacturing companies can use a dashboard management system accessed via a Web-based interface to deploy, monitor, and optimize RFID data, devices, and workflow rules. Companies can track orders, assets, and equipment in real time, officials said, and address process exceptions regardless of location.
Prior iterations of the OAT Foundation Suite monitored readers across multiple sites, but "OATenterprise adds the ability to deploy business logic and manage enterprise-wide master data — bringing all the pieces of the puzzle into one place," said Paul Cataldo, vice president of marketing at OATSystems, in an interview with Managing Automation.
Specifically, the OATenterprise management platform enables easier implementations across locations by offering dashboard access to manage workflows, reader settings, deployment of synchronized business logic, and allocation of EPC numbers across facilities, Cataldo said. The system aggregates data from disparate sources into a central database and integrates information with business process management and business intelligence applications, in addition to facilitating operational management of RFID devices.
While several RFID technology providers offer device management and other types of middleware or packaged software for specific applications, OATSystems claims to be unique in marketing both a scalable management platform and packaged software for such applications as asset tracking, work in process (WIP), and tagging, Cataldo said.
OATenterprise provides a "huge value-add for this specific type of middleware offering," Venture Development Corp. analyst Andrew Nathanson told Managing Automation. "The main issue companies face when trying to scale up from a pilot installation across multiple facilities is that all facilities need to be aligned correctly, which can be a cumbersome task," he said. Systems like OATenterprise can "enable companies to simplify that process and manage multiple facilities via a centralized location."
OATenterprise is offered as an added capability to existing users of the OAT Foundation Suite. The cost of new installations will be based on the size of the deployment and the number of devices or read points, officials said.
The company is targeting OATenterprise at manufacturing companies that regularly track high-value assets and WIP, Cataldo said, including aerospace and defense and automotive industries, as well electronics and appliance manufacturers.
Retail is another major target sector for OAT. Aside from Wal-Mart, the majority of retail RFID projects have taken place overseas, Cataldo said, but he expects that to change as companies move toward implementation of multi-site projects as opposed to pilots or experimental, single-site deployments.
One of the driving forces behind the development of the OATenterprise system is the fact that manufacturing companies are moving beyond small-scale or pilot projects, a finding other RFID providers have reported recently as well, officials said.
"As we've been working with customers, more and more have been looking at large deployments," Cataldo said. One current user, a large industrial manufacturer of heavy equipment, plans to roll the system out across a network of dealers comprising more than 3,000 sites, he said. Another is a retailer with multiple, geographically dispersed locations.
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