 | Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Issue 849 | | Will Smith, Editor |  |
|
Editor's Note: Today's top story is a deployment by Europe's leading sock manufacturer Gelal of Istanbul. The company attributes a 40 percent improvement in factory productivity to the Gen2 system that replaced bar code scanning to track work-in-process. Gelal may now expand RFID tracking to its packages to support warehouse and distribution operations.
Biopharmaceutical company Cephalon has selected a solution from RFID software firm OATSystems for serialized shipment container tracking, the companies announced today. Cephalon has been testing RFID for the last three years to improve supply chain efficiency and fight counterfeiting.
Lastly, digital security manufacturer Gemalto announced the delivery of RFID cards to the government of Taiwan, which will use them as an upgrade to existing paper-based documents for foreign nationals. The company indicates that they are the first RFID foreigner identification cards in Asia. |
|
|
RFID Helps Manufacturer Sock Away 40% Productivity Gains
By John Burnell
RFID gained a foothold in production tracking for Europe's largest sock maker, and proved so successful that the company plans to put RFID tags on its packaging to get a leg up on competition.
Replacing manual bar code scanning with RFID to track materials at production control points improved productivity by 40 percent at sock maker Gelal's factory in Istanbul, Turkey, according to an announcement released by Alien Technology. Alien provided the RFID system for Gelal, which produces 83 million pairs of socks per year (about 9,500 pairs per hour) and is a contract manufacturer for several leading international sportswear brands. Even though labor costs in Turkey are low, the RFID system has been cost effective because stationary RFID readers eliminate the need for some labor, Stephen Crocker, Alien's director of sales and channel management for the region, told RFID Update.
"The major savings are at control points between work stations," Crocker said. "Before, an employee was responsible for identifying totes containing work-in-process by scanning a bar code with a handheld scanner, which was time consuming. Now Gelal doesn't need to have a dedicated person at each control point."
Gen2 UHF passive RFID tags replaced bar code labels on 25,000 totes that are used to carry materials through the factory. Totes are loaded onto pallets, which are manually wheeled to different production stations. Previously, the bar codes were scanned each time the pallet moved from one station to another. Now the movements are recorded automatically with Alien ALR-8800 fixed-position readers.
RFID data updates Gelal's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, which was developed by STS, the same Turkish system integrator that developed the RFID system. Gelal created its own RFID middleware for the system using Alien's application programming interface (API).
The productivity improvement the system provided has prompted Gelal to seek more ways to use RFID. Crocker expects the company to begin tagging cartons containing dozens of finished pairs of socks in the next 12 to 18 months.
"The expected improvement there is for warehouse operations and shortening delivery times to customers," Crocker said. "We've noticed a trend that many companies start out with a closed-loop system and migrate to item tagging."
Another trend Crocker cited is strong RFID adoption in the Mediterranean region, including Turkey, Portugal, Spain, and Greece. These countries traditionally have low labor costs, but RFID adoption in manufacturing has been strong nonetheless, Crocker said.
"Improved process control seems to be the driving force. RFID is also a marketing point, because it allows companies to provide more accuracy and better shipments for their customers," said Crocker. "Companies in the region are using RFID for competitive differentiation."
A report from market research and strategy firm Aberdeen Group released earlier this year found best-in-class manufacturers tend to use RFID for work-in-process tracking (see Aberdeen Announces "Winning RFID Strategies for 2008").
Southern Europe and the Mediterranean region are also home to some current, large item-level RFID systems. A book store in Portugal reportedly has the world's largest item-level retail RFID deployment (see World's Largest Item-Level RFID Application Launches), which was announced earlier this year. Last year a medical products distributor that serves Portugal, Spain, and Italy announced a high-volume item-level tracking system (see Med Distributor Converts to Gen2 for Item Tracking).
Forward this to a colleague | Request reprints: reprints at rfidupdate dot com |
|
|
|
|
| RTLS & Active RFID | Locate it now. How? Ekahau. That's how!
Ekahau RTLS (Real-Time Location System) automatically tracks assets and people via your existing Wi-Fi network. Control costs and improve asset management with Ekahau. For more information, visit us at www.ekahau.com. | | | Products & Services | PCB Tracking & Visibility Solution from Omnitrol Networks
Off-the-shelf solution provides automated real-time visibility and complete electronic pedigree for traceability on parts and WIP providing real-time dashboards, alerts and reports for shop-floor management. The pedigree information is automatically programmed into Texas Instruments' RFID tag for access to critical data without the need for connection to a back-end database. Learn more. | Employees steal over $1 billion per week from employers
the American Management Association reports. 95% of businesses are victimized by employee theft. Managers are reluctant to ask questions, because trusted employees may feel offended, leaving business owners in a difficult situation. What can you do? Nox: Intelligent Perimeter Defense from Simply RFID provides advanced security and protection for business assets. | | | RFID Tags & Labels | Ferroxtag HF tags: Smart on Metal!
Ferroxtag is a new family of HF RFID tags suitable for operation on metallic surfaces. Ferroxtag's special ferrite antenna was developed using Ferroxcube's years of experience in ferrite technology. The high performance antenna means longer read range with a smaller tag. Visit www.ferroxtag.com | | | Employment | RFID Recruiters - 100% Focused on RFID Recruiting
Whether your company is looking for the best RFID talent or you have the best RFID talent and are looking for the best RFID employer, RFID Recruiters offers the most focused approach to your objective. To learn how the RFID industry and the RFID job market are evolving, visit www.rfidrecruiters.com | | | Upcoming Events | AWA PABS08 N. America Conference, Sept 11-12, Chicago, IL
AWA is organizing the Product Authentication & Brand Security Conference 2008 on September 11-12 in Chicago, IL. The event includes presentations and panel discussions with brand owners, legal authorities, associations, converters and suppliers; also networking sessions, a supplier forum, a social program and more. Find more on the program here. | AWA PABS08 Asia Conference, Dec 4-5 - Hong Kong, China
AWA presents the Asian Product Authentication & Brand Security Conference 2008, to be held on 4 & 5 December in Hong Kong, China. PABS08 Asia focuses on the threats specific to the Asia Pacific region, various elements of IP Theft, and leading-edge solutions. Find more on the program here. | SCAN & RFID CHINA 2008, June 19-21, Guangzhou, China
As one of the earliest, most specialized and authoritative exhibitions in China, approved and supported directly from State Ministry, the 8th SCAN & RFID CHINA 2008 will present you the impressive up-dated development and market of RFID technology in rising China. To know more, please go to www.scan-china.com. | | | Research & Whitepapers | RFID Marketing Strategies Report
Thirty-nine pages of original research on RFID audience perceptions, including 30+ figures of tactics, content & messaging, and recommendations to guide marketing strategy. Also, Top-10 RFID company rankings based on 550+ survey respondents. View the executive summary free, with Top-3 sample rankings. Only $495 Individual License or $795 Corporate License. Available now |
This email was intended for , who subscribed
RFID Update is the RFID industry daily. Launched in early 2004 to provide timely analysis of RFID industry news, RFID Update publishes editorial briefings every weekday for the growing ranks of top level executives involved in the deployment of RFID. Each issue delivers the breaking news and analysis most pertinent to successful RFID implementations, allowing readers to understand global RFID developments as they happen.
RFID Update Editor: Will Smith, editor at rfidupdate dot com
Press releases and public relations inquiries should be directed to Will.
To advertise in RFID Update, email advertising08 at rfidupdate dot com to request a media kit.
RFID Questions? Ask at RFID Talk (www.RFIDtalk.com).
Forward this issue of RFID Update to your colleagues, or tell them to subscribe free at: www.RFIDupdate.com
View all past issues of RFID Update in the archive.
Update your subscription settings: subscriptions08 at rfidupdate dot com
We take your privacy seriously. View our Privacy Policy here.
RFID Update -- The RFID Industry Daily
3213 Duke Street #266
Alexandria, VA 22314
http://www.rfidupdate.com
© 2008, ALX Technologies. All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
