RFID is touted as the next advance in supply chain management. However read accuracy has always been a bug bear for industry. Missed readings can reduce the usefullness of applications.
Tagsys said its Medio L400 is designed with digital signal processing (DSP) and radio frequency front end technology to achieve a low signal-to-noise ratio, and thus greater accuracy.
"The result is breakthrough performance in read range and read speed," Tagysys claimed. "The Medio L400 has been specifically designed to operate in noisy environments such as manufacturing plants and distribution facilities while maintaining the highest levels of data integrity for item level tracking and tracing, inventory management and security applications."
The Medio L400 also allows processors and others to monitor nine different functions, including temperature and digital output load.
The Medio L400 can process data up to six times faster and has a 40 per cent greater read range than the currently available Tagysys readers.
When coupled with E-connectware, Tagysys' management and administrative software, managers can remotely monitor, manage and modify 50 separate parameters, the company claimed.
This ability allows the Medio L400 achieve greater data accuracy and integrity in item-level tagging, Tagysys claimed.
The HF RFID reader will be compatible with the EPCglobal RFID standard - HF Version 2 (V2) - via a firmware upgrade, said Elie Simon, Tagysys' president and chief executive.
"The Medio L400 and e-connectware create an intelligent infrastructure that enables customers to treat RFID as part of their network fabric to ensure that the highest quality-of-service levels, data accuracy and data integrity are achieved," Simon stated.
The Medio L400 is a key component of Tagysys' programme as a participant in developing the international EPCglobal standard.
The draft HF V2 specification will come into use pending ratification by the EPCglobal board of directors. Ratification is anticipated in early 2008.
Customers who purchase a Medio L400 today will be able to migrate to HF V2 with the free firmware upgrade.
In HF V2 mode, the Medio L400 will be able to simultaneously support additional protocols, including ICODE 1, ISO 15693 and UID-OTP, making it backward compatible with the current HF tag standards.
"RFID is not about frequencies or components, it's about making it work via a systems approach," stated Drew Nathanson, RFID practice director for Venture Development Corporation.
Designed as a network device, the Medio L400 can help conserve critical network bandwidth by filtering tag data to remove redundancies before sending data to the host.
It is available with two or four antenna ports, supports a wide array of Tagysys' antennas and provides connectivity through Ethernet, USB and serial communication modes.
An integrated LCD screen allows floor operators to configure and maintain the Medio L400 without the use of peripheral equipment such as computers or PDAs.
RFID technology is helping to transform logistics by providing a means of tracking and tracing individual products throughout the supply chain.
Regulations on traceability and mandates from such giant retailers as Wal-Mart and Metro are slowing forcing processors to make investments in the technology.
The pilot will test the GS1's Electronic Product Code Information Service (EPCIS), a standard developed at the international stage for identifying specific products.
EPC is an international trade standard designed to drive RFID use forward in the UHF (ultra high frequency) range. The standard was developed so that manufacturers worldwide are using compatible devices and RFID technologies.
The EPCIS service enables organisations to track the progress of their goods as they move through the supply chain in real time without having to keep a variety of incompatible readers on hand.
The royalty-free standards are the foundations in the continuing construction of a global supply chain information network that combines RFID technology, existing communications network infrastructure and EPC, a number for uniquely identifying an item.
A unified data system would allow changes in information about product sizes, weight, name, price, classification, transport requirements and volumes to be immediately transmitted along the supply chain.
For example it would allow shippers to immediately know if the amount of product stacked on a pallet had changed, or give a retailer time to adjust display space.
The system is being built to help companies save money throughout the supply chain by using the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN).
Nestle, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Hormel Foods, Kraft, Unilever, Wegmans Food Markets and Sara Lee are among the food companies that have signed up to implement the system
The use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology along the food supply chain is set to rise dramatically to $5.8bn (€4.3bn) in 2017, according to a new report by IDTechEx.
The amount includes the money spent on on RFID systems plus the tags in 2017. RFID use in the food sector will become more important than any other application of the technology the analyst firm forecasts.
