Allies with IBM, Sun, others to help minimize risk of adoption for radio frequency identification technologies
Dallas — February 3, 2004 — Supply chain solution provider i2 Technologies has launched a new radio frequency identification (RFID) partnership program designed to enable companies to use RFID technology to enable real-time, closed-loop supply chain management.
i2 said it is initiating the partner program to include target solutions, industries and partners such as GlobeRanger, IBM, Informatica, Sun Microsystems and webMethods.
"We believe that this partnership program will help to minimize risk of RFID adoption for our customers by encouraging knowledge sharing among the world's top technology providers," said Pallab Chatterjee, president of solutions operations, i2. "Members of the i2 RFID partnership will include visionaries who realize that competitive and bottom line advantages come to forward thinking companies who use supply chains to their advantage by incorporating real-time event management capabilities with advanced planning solutions. We expect the partnership program to result in developments to help companies achieve significant competitive advantage by leveraging the data that RFID sensors provide to manage their supply chains."
Partners who qualify for this program will work with i2 to define comprehensive hardware and software solutions to integrate RFID technology with i2's supply chain management solutions. Partners will also have the opportunity to enable their RFID sensing middleware to integrate with i2's supply chain operating services (SCOS) and be available as a service to all i2 applications.
Through an implementation of this program by i2 and its partners, the new RFID middleware that a customer purchases could operate with their supply chain management applications to turn volumes of RFID data into meaningful supply chain information, i2 asserted.
"Together with Sun's enterprise class RFID infrastructure and i2 software, we will be providing the industry with an open architecture coupled with business and technology expertise to assist in delivering quality RFID solutions while helping to create an enhanced customer experience," said Julie Sarbacker, director of the Auto-ID Business Unit at Sun Microsystems.
i2 said its RFID partnership program is designed to develop hardware and solutions that provide not only improved real-time visibility of inventory, orders and shipments, but also the intelligence to proactively respond in real time to unplanned circumstances. i2 also plans to embed future developments in RFID technology in its product line.
"The data generated by RFID is important, but it is only the first step in the enablement of real time decision making and the customer closing the loop in a supply chain," said Chatterjee. "i2's Master Data Management and Performance Management modules are set up to process data into meaningful information allowing companies to make proactive decisions and turn their supply chains into a competitive weapon."
Components of i2's solutions include its Supply Chain Operating Services, designed to provide an integrated planning and execution framework. Other solutions include Master Data Management (MDM), which can support RFID by helping to control the introduction of new items, manage data synchronization and integrate product information into existing systems and processes; Transportation and Distribution Management services (TDM), which can help companies efficiently procure, plan, execute and monitor freight movements across modes, borders and enterprises; and Distributed Order Execution (DOE), which can allow companies to read off databases, capture and collect data and respond to changes to better manage and replenish inventory.
