Meeting Current Bar Code, Future RFID Requirements at Doskocil

CPG manufacturer deploying ClearOrbit solution to ensure compliance with existing, emerging standards and retailer mandates

CPG manufacturer deploying ClearOrbit solution to ensure compliance with existing, emerging standards and retailer mandates

Austin, TX — September 23, 2004 — Consumer products manufacturer Doskocil is looking to maintain compliance with current bar cord labeling standards and get a jump on emerging requirements for radio frequency identification (RFID) by deploying a software solution from ClearOrbit.

Based in Arlington, Texas, Doskocil makes pet carriers and other pet products, as well as gun cases and travel cases for golf equipment. From its beginning in Ben Doskocil's garage in 1961, the company has expanded to 1.3 million square feet of office, manufacturing and distribution facilities.

In selecting ClearOrbit's Compliance Label Manager software, Doskocil will implement a turn-key solution for maintaining compliance with existing bar code labeling standards of national distributors and retailers who ship and market the company's products. Additionally, Compliance Label Manager is a key element in Doskocil's strategy to comply with emerging RFID standards, including those from Wal-Mart and other retailers.

ClearOrbit said that Compliance Label Manager is a rules-based software module that will allow Doskocil to define and manage a variety of label formats and business rules governing the way items are labeled for outbound shipment. In addition to enabling label printing, Doskocil will also use Compliance Label Manager to create embedded smart tags for customers requiring RFID shipments.

With the solution, Doskocil can configure rules to define the content and type of label formats and RFID tags, allowing dynamic selection based on customer, ship-to location, material type and other criteria, according to ClearOrbit. Doskocil will be able to customize labels and RFID tags without any custom coding, the solution provider said.

In conjunction with ClearOrbit's Connect device operating system, which is also used by Doskocil, Compliance Label Manager provides a "hardware independent" approach that leverages bar code, RF and RFID equipment by connecting it directly to Doskocil's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Through its XML interfaces, Compliance Label Manager is also compatible with a variety of supply chain execution systems, such as warehouse management systems (WMS) and transportation management systems (TMS).

"RFID and compliance labeling are areas where we needed rapid implementation of a flexible, trouble-free system that didn't require custom coding," said Roy Gallagher, director of information technology for Doskocil. "ClearOrbit has proven to be the clear choice as our supply chain execution partner."

"Manufacturers and distributors need a carefully thought out strategy for RFID compliance," said Tom Dziersk president and CEO of ClearOrbit. "Yet at the same time, they cannot abandon their current bar code infrastructure investment. For years to come, a 'hybrid' RFID-bar code approach will be required to allow these two technologies to co-exist harmoniously within the supply chain. Our Compliance Label Manager product fits the bill for future-proofing your RFID strategy."
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