RFID Gazette

Several RFID conferences are coming up for 2007 (in approximate chronological order):

• RFID World and related:
  
  • RFID World, Mar 26-29, Dallas, Texas.
  • RFID Excellence in Business Awards, Mar 26-28, Dallas.
    
  • NFC Planet at CTIA, Mar 26, Orlando, Florida.
  • NFC Europe + RFID Germany, Oct 1-2, Frankfurt, Germany.
    
• DoD RFID Summit, Apr 3-4, Washington, D.C.
  
• RFID Journal Live, Apr 30-May 2, Orlando, Florida.
• 2007 Canadian RFID Conference, May 8-9, Markham (~Toronto), Canada.
  
• RFID Eurasia, Sep 5-7, Istanbul, Turkey.
• EPC Connection, Oct 2-4, Chicago, Illinois.
   

Maybe it's because I've only been writing regularly about RFID since last July but it seems to me that the number of events in North America alone have almost doubled. And to go along with the conferences, a number of training companies have started to schedule workshops and certification sessions to coincide. This is a good sign, of course, and suggests that the industry is maturing enough for such niche events to succeed.

While RFID is expected to create many jobs and opportunities, this isn't the first time that people have predicted that the use of RFID in the enterprise may affect jobs, namely the loss of them. There are other concerns, such as employees will be affected by process. Amid concerns about how RFID and employees in the retail sector, the ILO (International Labour Organization) met in Geneva earlier this year to discuss the issues. Two reports resulted, one entitled (PDF, 60 pgs). [via The RFID Weblog]

The latter report is split up into 7 main sections:

1. Retail trade: Characteristics, trends and prospects
2. Retail trade: Regional overview
3. Technology and supply chain management
4. Radio frequency identification
5. RFID and commerce
6. Social and labour implications
7. Social dialogue

Regions analyzed include the US and North America, the European Union and other parts of Europe, Japan and other Asian countries, and Africa and the Middle East. Included in the report is a discussion of the benefits of RFID, both in pallet-level and case-level tagging, as well as how RFID affects workflow processes.

While the report says that some jobs may be lost, employees could be trained for customer service work. I find this hard to accept, as not everyone is cut out for customer service. Since RFID will make business process workflow more efficient, it's likely that labor needs will be reduced. There will be a shortage of skilled workers in relation to RFID, so employers considering a switch to RFID should consider in advance where they may want to reposition to-be-affected employees, if at all. Retraining may have to be part of the process, which will potentially cut into any profits gained from the use of radio frequency technology - something to be considered.

CMP Technology RFID Applications Event: Hospital and Healthcare
Washington, D.C., will be hosting a CMP Technology event for RFID in hospitals and healthcare. The event runs Sep 21-22 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City just outside Washington. Areas of application focus include inventory control, identification, supply chain management, and more. Event details and registration instructions are available at RFID World. Other RFID events are listed at RFID World, including RFID Germany (October) and RFID World 2007 Dallas (March 27-29, 2007).

Fast Food, Fast Contactless Payment
It appears that more fast food businesses are accepting payments via RFID-enabled contactless key fobs. My observation is that such key fobs first started being used for payments at gas pumps. Later - or possibly simultaneously - consumers could pay for items in the convenience stores you find at gas stations. Now contactless payment has spread out to other businesses including select Smoothie King and McDonalds stores. Some of these businesses will also be accepting payment with Wells Fargo contactless payment cards.

RFID Industry Acquisitions: Acuity ID and Organic ID
  There have been a number of acquisitions in the RFID industry lately, with more to follow. Barcoding Inc recently purchased Acuity LLC, and forestry products giant Weyerhaeuser bought Organic ID. RFID Ltd is up to four radio frequency technology companies, none of which have been named yet. Other companies in the industry, such as BEA, are focusing on software acquisitions.

RFID Journal and EPCglobal Canada has formed a multiyear partnership to organize an annual RFID conference and exhibition for the Canadian market: The RFID Journal-EPCglobal Canadian RFID Summit. The two days conference will commence on November 8 at the Toronto Congress Centre.

Both the companies assume that the alliance will serve end users, potential end users and providers of RFID hardware, software and services in Canada.

Mark Roberti, founder and editor of RFID Journal stated,   

EPCglobal Canada brings the knowledge of issues unique to Canada and its Canadian members, along with a deep understanding of Electronic Product Code (EPC) standards and the work being done to implement them. RFID Journal brings a broad Canadian audience and the ability to provide top-notch education through face-to-face events.

EPCglobal Canada would educate Canadian companies regarding the potential benefits of RFID technology in retail, manufacturing and supply chain management.

Via: [RFid Journal]

RFID technology is not a science but an art, the former head of RFID trials at Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F), Neco Can said at the RFID Networking Forum in London.

The RFID visionary expressed that the latest RFID technology is some how ready for deployment; it requires utmost creativity, support and integration to implement. RFID is a dynamic technology. Nobody can know everything of it but learn gradually by working with it, he adds.

He was the director of Gap’s project management office in 2001. Under his supervision, Gap conducted an RFID pilot that provided an inventory accuracy of up to 99.6 per cent. After involving many RFID projects Can has concluded that RFID projects within a company needs full support at the highest levels of management.

Via rfidjournal

BlueBean, LLC will organize a free seminar on 'RFID in Healthcare' on 27 June. The seminar will teach medical workers about the use of RFID technology for tracking mobile assets and staff. RFID is a reliable technology applied in the healthcare industry to reduce costs and save time. It can be integrated into a hospital's wireless infrastructure. By this integration, healthcare units track mobile assets as well as staff and patients. Gregg Maggioli who is the president of BlueBean said that the healthcare companies are saving millions of dollars per year by adopting this latest technology. The seminar, which is scheduled on 27 June, will highlight all these things vividly.   

BlueBean has joined hands with PanGo and Cisco to organize the mega event.

via: [RFid News]

Middlesex Community College is ready to script a history on 8th of this month when it will host a RFID session at its Federal Assembly Room on the Lowell campus, 50 Kearney Square. It is going to start the RFID program for the first time.

The College will enroll students in the RFID certificate program. The certificate program is a better platform for the students to get first hand information about the latest RFID technology, which is being, used in all most all the fields.

Via: [Town Online]

The sixth bi-annual RFD Networking Forum concluded recently covering a wide range of topics on RFID technology. More than four hundred delegates from different industries participated in the Forum held at the Olympia 2 Conference Centre in London. The delegates led discussions on the implementation of RFID on various industrial purposes.

The May RFID Networking Forum was successful as the European companies got valuable information about the technological implications of RFID, says Nigel Montgomery, head of European Research. The next RFID networking Forum will be held on ninth, November 2006.

Via: [More RFid]

The latest RFID technology has an edge in the safety, security, sales and inventory management of BP, Ford Motor and other businesses. Curt Smith, the director of application technology of British Petroleum BP views that the RFID technology can track the location of 3,000 workers at BP's Cherry Point oil refinery in Washington. The Active RFID tags are highly essential in oil refinery as it informs whether the workers are in the safe zone or not.

Smith recalls last year's disaster which took 15 lives and injured many more. Smith empathetically tells that tracking technology would have saved the lives in such cases. Smith explained about the Location Aware Safety System (LASS) in Orlando at Mobile and Wireless World (MWW). During the initial stage of the project, around fifty laborers are being tracked. The RFID technology is adopted at four U.S manufacturing plants at Ford Motor. It is used to track parts inventory and vehicles.

Via: [RFID Blog]

The two days RFID Global Partnering Symposium scheduled to commence on May 24 will focus on all the important issues relating to RFID technology. The global RFID trade community taking part in the Symposium at the Olympia 2 Conference Centre in London will discuss on new market opportunity for RFID technology.

The forth coming RFID Global Partnering Symposium is assumed much vital in wake of changing technologies and market condition around the globe. RFID vendors, resellers, consultants, integrators from across Europe, USA, Asia, Africa and Australia are participating to discuss challenges and prospects of RFID technology.

Via rfidresellers