DALLAS -- For manufacturers using radio frequency identification (RFID), the focus on physics and compliance that has driven the market for the past few years is shifting to demand for easy to use, turnkey solutions, as well as better data utilization and return on investment.
There's also rising interest in item-level tagging and track and trace capability, especially for apparel and pharmaceuticals, if last week's RFID World conference is any indication. (Click here to read about the flurry of new products unveiled at the show.)
"We are seeing a number of applications that have nothing to do with compliance, like manufacturing asset tracking, automated retailing, and cold chain management," said Scot Stelter, director of product marketing & battery solutions at Alien Technology Corp. (Morgan Hill, CA) in an interview at the show.
A HighJump Software (Eden Prairie, MN) official, for example, told Managing Automation in an interview that one of HighJump's aerospace customers, Nordam Group Inc. (Wichita, KS), is using active radio frequency tags to track molds for large parts to ensure they arrive at the production line in a timely manner. The RFID tags not only expedite locating hard-to-find molds needed for production, but they also enable collection of data about mold movement.
With this information in hand, Nordam will be able to rearrange its storage area so that frequently used molds are positioned in the most accessible locations, further enhancing efficiency.
"There's a huge market beyond Wal-Mart compliance," noted Andres Botero, director, RFID program management & business development at SAP Labs, LLC (Palo Alto, CA), part of SAP AG (Walldorf, Germany), in an interview.
SAP's RFID customers used to be primarily consumer packaged goods manufacturers, he said, but they are now found in 14 other industries. "The fear of the unknown is diminishing," Botero said. In addition, technical expertise is quickly spreading, he said.
SAP's strategy of investing and building a platform, which includes preconfigured processes, enables quick adoption of RFID in a variety of closed and open loop settings, and is making it easier for users to expand deployment to new areas, according to Krish Mantripragada, Ph.D., director, global solution strategy RFID, SCM solutions management for SAP Labs.
"There's been a change in attitude," Botero added. "Last year everyone was concerned about physics and read rate. Today it's, 'How do we integrate RFID data with other applications? How does it map with what we have?'"
Rather than stand-alone deployments, manufacturers are assuming "RFID will be integrated with existing applications," Mantripragada maintained. "Even the Wal-Mart second 200 that just started to ship RFID-tagged products to the retailer at the beginning of 2006 are thinking beyond compliance to integration."
To reap returns from their investment in RFID, manufacturers need to do something with the data RFID generates. That calls for "integration with another enterprise application like stock replenishment," said Phil Calderbank, vice president RFID for Seeburger (Atlanta), which offers a hosted solution. "Integration of RFID events with other applications make it possible to automate processes," he explained in an interview. This, in turn, generates ROI.
Other vendors focused on data integration include Teradata (Cumming, GA), a division of NCR Corp. (Dayton, OH). Its Supply Chain Intelligence solution provides event monitoring and near-real-time alerts of problems. The company also is working with T3Ci (Mountain View, CA), an RFID analytics and applications company, to deliver stronger data analysis tools to pinpoint trends, record product genealogy, and identify problems that can lead to business process improvements and improved supply chain security.
Meanwhile, a new product unveiled at the show by Sybase, Inc. (Dublin, CA), RFID Enterprise 2.0, provides advanced device and network management and also enables users to manage, parse, integrate, and analyze RFID data. RFID Enterprise 2.0 also provides an integrated development environment and core runtime engine for event routing, message transformation, service design, business process orchestration, and business activity monitoring.
Manufacturers not only need to make use of the data RFID generates, but also simplify implementation. To that end, vendors that don't already possess the hardware, software, and services capability in-house to provide turnkey systems are adding expertise through acquisitions, new product development, or partnerships that provide one-stop shopping for customers.
"Implementing RFID is too complex," suggested Tom Dziersk, the new president and CEO of SAMSys (Durham, NC), a provider of RFID readers that will introduce a new generation of products this spring. "We have been spending time on things that have no relevance to why readers are purchased."
For example, experts in RFID technology are in short supply and are expensive. "We can't spend 16 times the cost of a reader to implement a reader. We want to make the reader irrelevant by building in transparency so operators don't have to give it any more thought than they do to the key fob for their car," he explained.
Once implementation becomes plug-and-play, attention can shift from making the system work to return on investment-generating activities like process improvement, shorter cycle times, and lower safety stock and inventory levels.
Taking the partnership route, Alien Technology, a supplier of tags, readers, and batteries, has signed a reseller agreement with Hewlett-Packard Services (Palo Alto, CA), which offers an array of services to a wide range of manufacturers worldwide. Together, the two companies said, they will deliver a complete system.
"Arrangements like this take the complexity out of an implementation," said Frank Lanza, worldwide director, RFID Services at HP, which ships 10 million tagged cases per year and plans to leverage the knowledge gained. "As an RFID solutions provider, HP is already familiar with the challenges, trials, compliance, and full-scale RFID implementations in our own supply chain, and with Alien we have an expanded offering to bring to our customers."
The agreement calls for Alien to provide high-performance RFID tags and readers, as well as professional services, which include RFID training and services, while HP brings to the agreement HP OpenView management software, HP Services, and infrastructure technology -- including industry-standard HP ProLiant servers, high-end HP Integrity Superdome servers, HP StorageWorks technology, and printing devices.
Another new partnership pairs inlays and readers from Omron RFID (Schaumburg, IL) with scalable, platform-agnostic TagNet RFID software from Stratum Global (Littleton, CO). The TagNet suite provides a scalable way to deploy fixed portals and/or mobile read points, filter and collect tag data, establish application level events, and integrate with other enterprise systems.
"Our clients require RFID completeness," said Jim LaPalermo, vice president, business development, at Stratum Global. "By working with Omron, we can provide our clients with full visibility, traceability, and movement of objects or assets within even the most hostile environments."