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www.itrportal.com2 ITReseller | April 2008 |

automaticdatacapturepointofsale

analysis

Many industry commentators refer toRFID as a transformationaltechnology in automated data

capture, something that is going to have amajor impacton all our lives, both at aconsumerand business level. And it isthoughtby some that as vendors strivetodevelop more ‘out of the box’ hardware,volumes will increase and prices will eventuallyfall. Also, it is believed that consulting andintegration opportunities will be plentiful.However, some say there has been a slowtakeup of RFID over the past few years, butbecause it is such a major paradigm shift themarket cannot expect mass adoption overnight.Ongoing work on standards is undoubtedly oneof the key issues. However Ard Jan Vethman,RFID leader, global sector manufacturing retail& distribution, Capgemini, points out that overthe past three or four years, greaterconsolidation of standards for capturing datafrom RFID tags on objects has made positiveand rapid progress. “We’ve really made a jumpsince this process began around 2002,” hesaid. “Back then, the ideal of having a worldwide standard for identifying practically allobjects was some way away, but we’ve come along way since then in terms of capturing datarelated to allkinds of objects by usingessentially the same technology within RFID.This covers everything from individualgarments, boxes and books to higher-levelpackaging such as pallets and roll cages. Andthe means of capturing all this data is nowreally starting to come under one umbrella. Wehave standards for passive tags and we arebeginning to also consolidate on active tags. In

the near future we should be able to have a veryopen standards-based platform to captureevents and identify objects – big and small –throughout the supply chain; and alsoextending into other industries as well.”

Absolutely essential

Tim Payne, research director, SCMEMEA,Gartner, picks up the theme of standards,believing that it is absolutely essential forstandards work to continue if the market is goingto see more widespread adoption of RFID. Healso highlights the fact that the market iscurrently seeing the combination of different

types of technologies, such as GPS with RFID.“This is being used on some asset trackingsolutions and solutions that are feeding intothings such as yard management,” he said.Interpretation of data is another hot topic in theworld of data capture, as Payne explained:“We’re seeing demand signal repositoriescoming through as a means of filtering andinterpreting RFID reads. In some of the moredense RFID tagged environments, how readsrelate to the underlying process can require a fair

amount of interpretation. So the development isto be able to feed the data into a more RFID-centric business application that can cope withthat. The real value will come from being able tore-architect business applications to be able toreally interrogate those reads and to interpretthem. Then that starts to open up moresignificant opportunities interms of where RFIDcan be used and in the types of businessprocesses that it can support. We’re just seeingthe beginnings of this level of interpretation.”Mark Blowers, enterprise architectures practicedirector, Butler Group, believes developments inRFID are revolutionising the way the supplychain is managedand controlled, in the same

RFID – where are we at, where are we headed, and what are thebenefits and opportunities to be had for resellers?IT Reseller spoke to some of theleading names from the analyst,tradeassociation and standards community.

Many RFID projects are not particularly visible tothe consumer; instead tending to involve thelogisticsbetween manufacturers and retailers and often notending up on the shop floor.

“”

India sees huge potential because theirinfrastructure oftenisn’t as good as in theWest, and so they see technology suchasRFID as a means of circumventing thisproblem and gainingbetter control andvisibility. And India has a huge pool of

resourceand talent that can leverage this.” –Tim Payne, Gartner.

RFID – raising

www.itrportal.com | April 2008 | ITReseller 3

automaticdatacapturepointofsale

analysis

way that the development of naturalvoiceinterfaces has also been a majorstepforward – enabling the move away fromstructured questions and menu-type interfaces.Ian Byfield, communications manager, EuropeanCentre of Excellence for AIDC,comments thatover the past few years AIDC technologies ingeneral have at last understood the requirementto integrate more closely with othertechnologies; so that wide-area wirelesscommunications are now an element of asignificant proportion of AIDC installations. Withspecific regardto RFID, Byfield points out thatthe allying of RFID tags with sensors and locationsystems has also been a significant move. GaryLynch, chief executive for GS1UK, highlights thefact that EPC global has facilitated the creation ofGen 2 – a global RFID standard that has reducedcosts and improved performance. “Thisstandard defines the physicaland logicalrequirements for a RFIDsystem,” he said. On thesubject of AIDC in general, Lynch points out thatanother technological development has beenthe introduction of a new barcode – the GS1DataBar. “GS1 DataBar offers the ability tobarcode difficult-to-mark products, includingitems that have a size or shape notsuited totraditional bar codes,” he explained. “It will alsooffer the abilityto include extra information suchasserial numbers and expiry dates, alongsidethe GTIN (product identifier). ”The globaladoption date for the newbarcode will be 1January, 2010. Channel focus From a channelperspective, Blowers emphasises that it isimportant for resellers to gain knowledge andexpertise of new and upcoming technologiessuch as RFID, so that they are able to provide thenecessary support and added value required bythe end customer; therefore further cementingtheir business relationship/partnership. Also,adds Blowers, customers much prefer a solutionrather than just point products. “From a userperspective there is a need tolook beyond thetechnology/productand focus on businessprocessimprovement,” he said.“Prototyping –particularly from anRFIDperspective – is a reallybigwant from the users’ side,”Payne

emphasised. “Users want to understand thelevel of ability of the vendors or resellers they’redealing with and to feelconfidentthat they areable tohelp developa solution thatmeets theirneeds; they want thepeople they’re dealing withtobe able to prove their abilities. Part of thisprocess involvesthe provider helping in thedevelopment of a business case. Some endusers have an ideaas to where and how theycoulduse technology such as RFID. What theysometimes struggle with is turning their plansinto atangible and believable ROI. So they needthevendor’s orreseller’s experience and help tomake it work.” Byfield points out that, ingeneral,AIDC technology principles are about 20 yearsold. “It is too easy to believe that both the

reseller and user communities aremature in theirknowledge of the subject,” he said. “In fact,there is a large and increasing need for realknowledge and under-standing among bothcommunities.” Byfield maintains that trainingmust be taken seriously by resellers, and thatthe user community needs to be given a meansof discovering the broader possibilities of awidening AIDC church so that it can be betterequipped to make effective and worthwhiledecisions about AIDC installation projects,including those related to RFID. “Thus thestature of the industry isenhanced,” said Byfield.

“We’re seeing demand signal repositories comingthrough as a means of filtering and interpretingRFID reads.In some of the more dense RFIDtagged environments, how reads relate to theunderlying process can require afair amount ofinterpretation.” – Tim Payne, Gartner.

the standard


automaticdatacapture/pointofsale





Tim Payne, research director, SCMEMEA,Gartner, picks up the theme of standards,believing that it is absolutely essential forstandards work to continue if the market is goingto see more widespread adoption of RFID. Healso highlights the fact that the market iscurrently seeing the combination of differenttypes of technologies, such as GPS with RFID.

“This is being used on some asset trackingsolutions and solutions that are feeding intothings such as yard management,” he said.Interpretation of data is another hot topic in theworld of data capture, as Payne explained:“We’re seeing demand signal repositoriescoming through as a means of filtering andinterpreting RFID reads. In some of the moredense RFID tagged environments, how readsrelate to the underlying process can require a fairamount of interpretation. So the development is

to be able to feed the data into a more RFID-centric business application that can cope withthat. The real value will come from being able tore-architect business applications to be able toreally interrogate those reads and to interpretthem. Then that starts to open up moresignificant opportunities interms of where RFIDcan be used and in the types of businessprocesses that it can support. We’re just seeingthe beginnings of this level of interpretation.”Mark Blowers, enterprise architectures practicedirector, Butler Group, believes developments inRFID are revolutionising the way the supplychain is managedand controlled, in the same



“”



RFID – raising


way that the development of naturalvoiceinterfaces has also been a majorstepforward – enabling the move away fromstructured questions and menu-type interfaces.Ian Byfield, communications manager, EuropeanCentre of Excellence for AIDC,comments thatover the past few years AIDC technologies ingeneral have at last understood the requirementto integrate more closely with othertechnologies; so that wide-area wirelesscommunications are now an element of asignificant proportion of AIDC installations. Withspecific regardto RFID, Byfield points out thatthe allying of RFID tags with sensors and locationsystems has also been a significant move. GaryLynch, chief executive for GS1UK, highlights thefact that EPC global has facilitated the creation ofGen 2 – a global RFID standard that has reducedcosts and improved performance. “Thisstandard defines the physicaland logicalrequirements for a RFIDsystem,” he said. On thesubject of AIDC in general, Lynch points out thatanother technological development has beenthe introduction of a new barcode – the GS1DataBar. “GS1 DataBar offers the ability tobarcode difficult-to-mark products, includingitems that have a size or shape notsuited totraditional bar codes,” he explained. “It will alsooffer the abilityto include extra information suchasserial numbers and expiry dates, alongsidethe GTIN (product identifier). ”The globaladoption date for the newbarcode will be 1January, 2010. Channel focus From a channelperspective, Blowers emphasises that it isimportant for resellers to gain knowledge andexpertise of new and upcoming technologiessuch as RFID, so that they are able to provide thenecessary support and added value required bythe end customer; therefore further cementingtheir business relationship/partnership. Also,adds Blowers, customers much prefer a solutionrather than just point products. “From a userperspective there is a need tolook beyond thetechnology/productand focus on businessprocessimprovement,” he said.“Prototyping –particularly from anRFIDperspective – is a really

bigwant from the users’ side,”Payneemphasised. “Users want to understand thelevel of ability of the vendors or resellers they’redealing with and to feelconfidentthat they areable tohelp developa solution thatmeets theirneeds; they want thepeople they’re dealing withtobe able to prove their abilities. Part of thisprocess involvesthe provider helping in thedevelopment of a business case. Some endusers have an ideaas to where and how theycoulduse technology such as RFID. What theysometimes struggle with is turning their plansinto atangible and believable ROI. So they needthevendor’s orreseller’s experience and help tomake it work.” Byfield points out that, ingeneral,AIDC technology principles are about 20 years

old. “It is too easy to believe that both thereseller and user communities aremature in theirknowledge of the subject,” he said. “In fact,there is a large and increasing need for realknowledge and under-standing among bothcommunities.” Byfield maintains that trainingmust be taken seriously by resellers, and thatthe user community needs to be given a meansof discovering the broader possibilities of awidening AIDC church so that it can be betterequipped to make effective and worthwhiledecisions about AIDC installation projects,including those related to RFID. “Thus thestature of the industry isenhanced,” said Byfield.


the standard






Tim Payne, research director, SCMEMEA,Gartner, picks up the theme of standards,believing that it is absolutely essential forstandards work to continue if the market is goingto see more widespread adoption of RFID. Healso highlights the fact that the market iscurrently seeing the combination of differenttypes of technologies, such as GPS with RFID.

“This is being used on some asset trackingsolutions and solutions that are feeding intothings such as yard management,” he said.Interpretation of data is another hot topic in theworld of data capture, as Payne explained:“We’re seeing demand signal repositoriescoming through as a means of filtering andinterpreting RFID reads. In some of the moredense RFID tagged environments, how readsrelate to the underlying process can require a fairamount of interpretation. So the development is

to be able to feed the data into a more RFID-centric business application that can cope withthat. The real value will come from being able tore-architect business applications to be able toreally interrogate those reads and to interpretthem. Then that starts to open up moresignificant opportunities interms of where RFIDcan be used and in the types of businessprocesses that it can support. We’re just seeingthe beginnings of this level of interpretation.”Mark Blowers, enterprise architectures practicedirector, Butler Group, believes developments inRFID are revolutionising the way the supplychain is managedand controlled, in the sameway that the development of natural



“”



RFID – raising


printingandlabelling

voiceinterfaces has also been a majorstepforward – enabling the move away fromstructured questions and menu-type interfaces.Ian Byfield, communications manager, EuropeanCentre of Excellence for AIDC,comments thatover the past few years AIDC technologies ingeneral have at last understood the requirementto integrate more closely with othertechnologies; so that wide-area wirelesscommunications are now an element of asignificant proportion of AIDC installations. Withspecific regardto RFID, Byfield points out thatthe allying of RFID tags with sensors and locationsystems has also been a significant move. GaryLynch, chief executive for GS1UK, highlights thefact that EPC global has facilitated the creation ofGen 2 – a global RFID standard that has reducedcosts and improved performance. “Thisstandard defines the physicaland logicalrequirements for a RFIDsystem,” he said. On thesubject of AIDC in general, Lynch points out thatanother technological development has beenthe introduction of a new barcode – the GS1DataBar. “GS1 DataBar offers the ability tobarcode difficult-to-mark products, includingitems that have a size or shape notsuited totraditional bar codes,” he explained. “It will alsooffer the abilityto include extra information suchasserial numbers and expiry dates, alongsidethe GTIN (product identifier). ”The globaladoption date for the newbarcode will be 1January, 2010. Channel focus From a channelperspective, Blowers emphasises that it isimportant for resellers to gain knowledge andexpertise of new and upcoming technologiessuch as RFID, so that they are able to provide thenecessary support and added value required bythe end customer; therefore further cementingtheir business relationship/partnership. Also,adds Blowers, customers much prefer a solutionrather than just point products. “From a userperspective there is a need tolook beyond thetechnology/productand focus on businessprocessimprovement,” he said.“Prototyping –particularly from anRFIDperspective – is a reallybigwant from the users’ side,”Payne

emphasised. “Users want to understand thelevel of ability of the vendors or resellers they’redealing with and to feelconfidentthat they areable tohelp developa solution thatmeets theirneeds; they want thepeople they’re dealing withtobe able to prove their abilities. Part of thisprocess involvesthe provider helping in thedevelopment of a business case. Some endusers have an ideaas to where and how theycoulduse technology such as RFID. What theysometimes struggle with is turning their plansinto atangible and believable ROI. So they needthevendor’s orreseller’s experience and help tomake it work.” Byfield points out that, ingeneral,AIDC technology principles are about 20 yearsold. “It is too easy to believe that both the

reseller and user communities aremature in theirknowledge of the subject,” he said. “In fact,there is a large and increasing need for realknowledge and under-standing among bothcommunities.” Byfield maintains that trainingmust be taken seriously by resellers, and thatthe user community needs to be given a meansof discovering the broader possibilities of awidening AIDC church so that it can be betterequipped to make effective and worthwhiledecisions about AIDC installation projects,including those related to RFID. “Thus thestature of the industry isenhanced,” said Byfield.


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