RFID And Logistics Management

Logistics assets that have a circular flow are an essential part of the distribution network of any business. These assets are often reusable such as totes, racks, bins and roll cages, shipping containers, gas containers etc. used to transport goods from one place to another. Procuring, maintaining and managing these assets often forms a significant part of a company?s annual expenses. Since theft, damage and replacement erode asset productivity, these assets have to be managed in such a way as to minimize loss as possible. That is when RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Devices) and logistics management comes into effect.

Using RFID to Manage Assets:

Businesses have resorted to using radio frequency identification devices come in handy. These devices or tags are helpful in locating these reusable assets as well as have control over them. This greatly reduces loss due to theft as well as misplacements. It is also useful in locating particular containers containing specific products etc. Their use has greatly reduced costs such as replacement costs as well as avoiding shrinkage. It has also helped reduce capital costs, increase customer satisfaction, as well as ensuring the assets are in the correct place at the right time. An added advantage is the reusability of these tags, so companies, which want greater control over assets and their management, have opted to use RFID and logistics management techniques. Using RFID and logistics management strategies will serve to improve capital utilization lower the total operational costs as well as improve the availability of assets. The use of these asset management techniques has improved customer retention significantly. This technique will help improve visibility of assets in transit, availability management of much needed assets, transportation management etc. these techniques have to be reviewed periodically to ascertain if they have effected a significant change as also to take necessary action where required.

The use of RFID and logistic management techniques are especially useful for manufacturers, where parts bins feed parts in an automated plant, since the placement of the right part in the right place is critical. The company can use these techniques in areas where they have expertise whereas professional help can be sought for areas where they lack control such as transportation, delivery, pick up etc.

Companies should consider implementing RFID and logistics management techniques, as they will greatly benefit from it. It will reduce cost, increase control and availability, decrease chances of loss of assets due to various factors as well as prove to be very economical. Most of them are currently using manual techniques, which is not as efficient as RFID. They have to understand that asset management will be a key factor in improving customer satisfaction as well as help in customer retention.

Many firms offer professional help as well as products to run a business efficiently and effectively.

Alexander Gordon is a writer for http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com - The Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at $24.95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business.

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RFID Tags

When RFID tags started gaining popularity the general view was that they would revolutionize the world and the industry. However, it did not happen and people were not so fast to accept RFID technology and its advantages. Nonetheless. RFID technology has evolved and new advances in this industry have been made.

The RFID industry is designing better systems and tags while ensuring the cost factor for both active and passive RFID tags reduce. It is a lot cheaper today to take advantage of RFID technology than it was ten years ago. The RFID tags have become smaller in size and have better batteries.

However, RFID technology is still a long way from taking the world by storm. If we take RFID tag use in Wal-Mart, one will realize that this giant uses it minimally. While Gillette?s dream for distribution and robotic factories has not been realized. Still, Gillette and the US military are taking this technology seriously and trying to find ways of using it better and more effectively.

The real challenge for the RFID industry, many say, could be the inability of the industry to produce the tags and readers cheaply and quickly on labels. If this can be done, then it would bring the RFID tags and readers at level with the bar code industry and will enable the retail industry to effectively use this technology. At the moment RFID technology is more popular with shipping and transporting companies to keep a track on consignment.

With companies like Horizon Components who have taken the RFID technology beyond the realms of shipping and transporting companies, the future for RFID technology is bright and optimistic. It will be real soon when we see this technology being a part of our day to day life.

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RFID Pharmaceutical services:

RFID Technology also enters in the world of Pharmaceutical companies, distributors, and hospitals to discourage drug counterfeiting. The report of The World Health Organization shows between 5 to 8 percent of global pharmaceuticals is counterfeit. In some countries, It is higher and between 25 to 40 percent. In the fight against counterfeit drugs RFID have it's own additional benefits. The pharmaceutical industry runs on the data information of throughout the process of drug trials, manufacturing, distribution and retail sale. RFID is known for it's tremendous ability to uniquely identify each item and securely capture date without during whole supply chain. Pharmaceutical industry is blessed by RFID technology:

? Supply Chain: RFID has ability to deep insight, visibility and efficiency during the supply chain. RFID present a good chance to provide 100 percent visibility of inventory, making it easier and quicker to handle goods transaction to the right place in the right channel. The technology improves productivity in shipping and receiving, reduce touch labor, increase the assurance of shipping and providing accuracy, and expanding product availability at the retail store, thus reducing customer complaints and charge backs.

? <b.Pharmaceutical responsibility and Brand Protection: Technology helps to reduce the responsibility at every point of supply chain, reduces the inventory losses. Every year 6-10 percent of retail inventory is stolen and diverted. Benefit of the new technology is presented when returns are properly shipped from right manufacturer, at proper price. RFID also helps to prevent "gray market" distribution, which costs companies and their customers hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

? Pharmaceutical Product: RFID provides Safety, Recalls, and Regulatory Requirements. RFID take care about the expiration dates and improving expiration management. The technology can store preliminary information that satisfying regulatory requirement. RFID reduce the time spent to identifying products targeted for recall and reducing the likelihood of a mass-market recall of branded products by zeroing individual items and capturing manufacturing data.

RFID technology improves the drug usage tracking during whole clinical-phase testing. Technology Improve the reliability and speed of the United States Food and Drug Administration to drug approval process by improved tracking and accountability. So the use of RFID is going to be standard for pharmaceutical companies.

RFID solution implemented for many more different fields: ? Corporate Security ? Fraud Prevention ? Legal & Regulatory Affairs ? Loss Prevention ? RFID Technology ? Security Operations ? Supply Chain ? Transportation & Distribution

RFID made data maintenance easier. Data Capturing, managing, and reviewing data anywhere and anytime affect your business directly or indirectly. Dynamic maintenance of your huge data and any kind of asset provides you better flexibility.

Diana

RFID: Traceless Truth

Life usually seems to me to be a series of Rorschach tests. We each interpret events and patterns through the filter of our personal history, and no two people experience the same stimulus in the exact same way.

RFID means "cutting-edge technology" to one and "the end of personal freedom" to another. "Big Brother" to one and "transportation efficiency" to another. "Professional development opportunity" to an RFID software engineer and "layoff" to a no-longer-necessary inventory clerk.

But now and then the ink blot is so obvious that it transcends individual interpretation. Or in the case of Canadian technology firm Creo, it is the absence of the ink blot that is so clear.

Creo has developed Traceless technology, an RFID tagging system which is described on their website as "visually and chemically undetectable, even by forensic trace methods".

On the same website, Creo details potential applications for Traceless as "Traceless taggant can be applied to the surface of articles during manufacturing. Or, more commonly, it can be mixed in paper or ink during the production of packaging, envelopes, and labels."

What?!

Do you want visually and chemically undetectable track-and-trace technology mixed into paper or ink during production? Paper and ink... that's magazines, personal letterhead, business cards, maps, loan applications, medical information forms, social security cards, coupons, prescriptions... U.S. currency. (Ironically, even Rorschach tests.)

Before you write and tell me that I'm overreacting, integrate the fact that Creo has already signed an agreement with label manufacturer Acucote to incorporate Traceless technology into Acucote labels. This is not a boardroom Development Objective, folks. This is a stealth tracking reality.

EPCglobal's Guidelines on EPC for Consumer Products establish the need for Consumer Notice and Consumer Choice. The guidelines are published on the EPCglobal website, and include:

1. Consumer Notice

Consumers will be given clear notice of the presence of EPC on products or their packaging. This notice will be given through the use of an EPC logo or identifier on the products or packaging.

2. Consumer Choice

Consumers will be informed of the choices that are available to discard or remove or in the future disable EPC tags from the products they acquire."

By design, Creo's Traceless taggant clearly circumvents both consumer notice and consumer choice.

I appreciate our general need for increased security and anti-counterfeiting measures. I am as concerned about the purity of my prescription and the safety of this country as any other reasonable person is. I have consistently supported the strengths of RFID technology in appropriate applications, and I will continue to do so.

But I can not interpret this particular picture with anything but alarm.

Plain, "old-fashioned" RFID tags -- visible and detectable -- offer a more sophisticated level of security than we have ever had before. They are unobtrusive, customizable, incorruptible and virtually impossible to counterfeit.

Creo's Traceless powder is not only unnerving and completely unnecessary, it is decidely counterproductive.

The nature of RFID technology inevitably raises public and personal sensitivity. In order for the collective "us" to gain from RFID, we must be partners in pursuit of transparent truth.

No matter how you look at it, transparent tags and transparent truth are mutually exclusive.

Sally Bacchetta - Freelance Writer/Sales Trainer

Sally Bacchetta is an award-winning freelance writer and sales trainer. She has published articles on a variety of topics, including RFID, selling skills, motivation, and pharmaceutical sales.

Visit her RFID blog for an exploration of the ethical and social considerations of RFID.

Abandoned Anchor Retrieval RFID System

There will be times when an anchored ship in the US Military needs to move fast and go after a rapidly increasing situation and task which must be accomplished immediately. If the anchors are deployed then they need a capacity to drop the rest of the chain and leave the anchor there. With a backup anchor on-board.

The anchor, which is left will be fitted with an RFID homing tracking device and it can be retrieved at a later date by specially fitted UUV underwater unmanned vehicle. The UUV will pick up the chain via a cable it attaches and bring that cable up to the ship which will then hoist the cable and anchor chain up until which time the actual anchor clears the ocean bottom.

Perhaps a study should be to determine how much time could be saved if the anchor system retrieval was not an issue? Could the ship, which was already running, move fast and be gone saving ten minutes or more? If so, ten minutes in a high stress situation could be of major value indeed.

There maybe other uses for this technology for other vessels and uses and an RFID retrieval system makes sense for anyone involved in UUV or ROVs also. In fact there are many ways this technology can be used for other things that can also become a huge concern. So we need to be thinking here and consider all this in 2006

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

Conspiracy Theorists and the Mark of the Beast; RFID Implants

The Radio Frequency Identification Tags are able to help streamline distributions and transportation systems in a way, which was never possible before. They allow products and inventory with complete tracking while on the shelf of the store, warehouse or in route. As a matter of fact they can track just about anything you see. Anything you ask, or anybody? Indeed if implanted they could track anybody or every body from cradle to grave.

Do you really believe that RFID implants will lead to the "Mark of the Beast" scenario? Do you believe in that hokum? In the future small implants will allow the body to talk to medical devices, ask for nutrients it needs and deficiencies, even warn of problems. Implants can also help us track "Child Molesters" or our Soldiers or even volunteer peace workers in places they might be kidnapped? RFID Tags can help us track cargo, trucks, shipments to improve the flows of civilization as well.

Are you worried about your rights as a citizen or being implanted with an RFID Tag? Do you believe this is going to lead to the seven-year tribulations in Revelations? Are you spooked yet? Do you believe in secret societies and conspiracy theories? Boo! Think on this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

RFID Tags Read for 69 Feet

We now have RFID Tags that can be read from 69 feet, not just any RFID Tags or using just any system, no this system and these tags were designed by Hackers at the annual Defcon Conference in Las Vegas Nevada. No matter who designed it, it works and one of the biggest problems with RFID in the passive type tags was range. Having a system, which can read them from afar or thru containers means additional security can be achieved in the transportation industry. This means we can use them in cargo containers, trucks and shipping containers. Imagine a truck driving down the freeway and the SmartHighway reads what is inside. Not just what is inside, but every single package in every box, on every pallet; think of the possibilities?

We can use this knowledge to show where everything is at all times in our massive transportation and distribution network, which serves 300 million people. Imagine FEMA needing something, which just happens to be passing by on the detour route? Re-directing the freight can save lives. Having such instant information about our civilization can help shippers, distributors and system monitoring folks with real-time data, which can help us to streamline our system to the ultimate efficiency. This efficiency will give back to the whole of our civilization in increased profits and lower costs to our citizens.

Think about efficiencies available by the use of the next generation of RFID Tags, the future is here. Think about this, always be thinking efficiency.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

RFID in Rochester

What is the current state of RFID deployment in Rochester?

In general, local companies describe a high degree of interest, but only a modest level of integration.

Why the discrepancy between what local companies want to do with RFID and what they are actually doing? I spoke with some of Rochester’s early adopters to put a local face on track-and-trace.

Leading folding carton manufacturer Diamond Packaging

(Henrietta, NY) is currently evaluating available technologies for in-line applications of RFID tags. “Without question, RFID is one of the hottest topics in packaging”, says Dennis Bacchetta, Marketing Manager at Diamond. “Companies are moving from ‘Does it make sense?’ to ‘How can we implement RFID?’ ”

Indeed, RFID seems to make sense to many of the markets Diamond serves. Interest in item-level RFID tagging has been driven primarily by the pharmaceutical, personal care and cosmetic industries, which are particularly vulnerable to theft and counterfeiting. RFID tags are virtually incorruptible and almost impossible to counterfeit. Other obvious benefits include impeccable accountability from the point of manufacture to the point of sale, and precise, real-time inventory control.

If a company decides that RFID makes sense for them, what are some of the implementation issues they may deal with? According to Bacchetta, “The primary challenge is ensuring compatibility with various vendors in the supply chain.”

RFID technology is so diverse in form and function that what might later be a strength is actually a limitation right now. Rick Howe, VP of Sales and Marketing at Hover-Davis, agrees. “RFID is evolving differently than a lot of people expected. There are dozens of different technologies. There are dozens of different markets, each with different needs.”

Howe is certainly in a position to make that assessment. Hover-Davis is a Rochester-based company that produces world class feeding systems for silicon wafers, including those used in RFID tags.

Although RFID applications currently represent less than 1% of Hover-Davis’s market, Howe sees significant growth potential once RFID integration is purified. “RFID is evolving in a step function like a lot of disruptive technologies do. There needs to be a lot more maturation of technologies before item-level tagging can happen.”

In order to advance business interests in balance with consumer concerns, EPCglobal developed and published their Guidelines on EPC for Consumer Products, designed “to allow EPC to realize its potential for consumers, retailers and suppliers, by addressing privacy concerns prompted by the current state of the technology while establishing principles for dealing with its evolution and implementation.”

Rochester’s own Wegmans Food Markets is well-known for demonstrating strong principles of community involvement. In addition to exploring internal applications for RFID, Wegmans continues to support the larger community by taking an active role in developing RFID standards.

Marianne Timmons is the director of Business to Business at Wegmans. “Wegmans is a member of EPCglobal and is exploring opportunities for a future implementation. Today Wegmans is focused on building a solid foundation for the future of EPC through their Data Synchronization efforts.”

Interroperability may be the primary challenge of wide-scale RFID deployment, but it certainly isn’t the only one. Bacchetta identified two others: “A secondary concern is cost implications and the ability to ensure ROI. Finally, considerable work needs to be done to assess and compare the various tag technologies currently available.”

Howe agrees that cost and technology diversity have caused people to redefine their understanding of RFID, and shift the benefit expectation from an item-level intervention to a middle-market tool, at least for now. “Many people thought that item-level tagging was going to become the utopia of the RFID industry. It’s actually going much more in the direction of middle-market segments—pets, airline and ship cargo—seeping into middle-volume markets. RFID is not going to go from infancy to soup cans overnight.”

Birds Eye Foods, the nation’s leader in frozen vegetables, is a Rochester-based company actively using RFID in their supply chain management. As local market experience continues to grow, we can expect to find more companies following suit.

Rochester is far from the brink of an RFID revolution, but everyone I spoke with for this article are optimistic about the future of RFID. “These are all challenges that are typical of any emerging technology”, Bacchetta remarked. “None are insurmountable, and I expect that all will be resolved within the next few years.”

Sally Bacchetta - Freelance Writer/Sales Trainer

Sally Bacchetta is an award-winning sales trainer and freelance writer. She has published articles on a variety of topics, including RFID, selling skills, motivation, and pharmaceutical topics.

Visit her RFID blog for an exploration of the ethical and social considerations of RFID. Or read her article Informed Consent: Ethical Considerations of RFID.

RFID: Electronic Pharmaceutical Pedigree

A growing number of U.S. states are formalizing electronic pedigree requirements in order to comply with the FDA's anti-counterfeiting initiatives.

A new two-phase RFID authentication platform introduced by Texas Instruments (TI) and VeriSign should make it easier for pharmaceutical manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and pharmacies to meet the FDA drug pedigree requirements. It may also make it easier for consumers to accept RFID technology in their prescription packaging.

Mikael Ahlund, director of RFID healthcare for TI, says that the platform is unique in providing two layers of protection against counterfeiting. The model enhances system security by digitally certifying the authenticity of 13.56 MHz RFID tags via a cryptographic Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) available through VeriSign. "The beauty of this approach is that because the elements for the private key are preprogrammed into the tag and the reader is preprogrammed for the public key, the authentication is actually done off-network," says Ahlund.

"We're using multiple layers of protection," says Graham Gillen, senior product manager for VeriSign. "Ultimately, it's about making the tag, and hence the product, hard to fake or reproduce."

The platform is non-proprietary and can be implemented by any RFID system and PKI provider. That can save drug manufacturers and suppliers the considerable infrastructure costs associated with deploying most RFID systems. The additional security may relieve some consumers' fears that their personal and private information may be intercepted by electronic hackers.

The idea of using RFID in the prescription drug pipeline has had consumers and pharmaceutical manufacturers/suppliers hotly at odds. The TI/Verisign model suggests that when used with care, RFID may indeed be protective without being invasive.

Sally Bacchetta is an award-winning freelance writer and sales trainer. She has published articles on a variety of topics, including RFID, selling skills, motivation, and pharmaceutical sales.

Visit her RFID blog for an exploration of the ethical and social considerations of RFID.