Supply chain execution specialist offers software, services to help suppliers comply with emerging RFID standards
Milwaukee — November 7, 2003 — Supply chain execution (SCE) specialist Catalyst International has rolled out a solution set intended to help customers meet newly mandated radio frequency identification (RFID) requirements without compromising the performance of their SCE applications.
CatalystCommand iRFID is a technology for integrating RFID technology with the supply chain environment, said Catalyst, which has also established a new consulting practice, CatalystCompass RFID, and an RFID educational facility to help companies plan, install and deploy these solutions.
Retail giant Wal-Mart and the Department of Defense are both standardizing on electronic product code (EPC) RFID and have recently mandated that their suppliers comply with these standards by January 2005.
Catalyst said its RFID solution not only ensures compliance with EPC over the long term but also will facilitate RFID management across the extended supply chain, helping companies to gain optimal benefits from RFID while at the same time protecting their current investment in SCE applications.
"RFID is too important and transforming a technology to simply implement as a quick-fix solution for compliance," asserted Jim Treleaven, Catalyst's president and CEO. "By working with our customers to understand their needs, it's clear that companies must address the long term process and system implications of implementing RFID. The goal is to ensure a positive ROI on these investments while meeting the short-term compliancy requirements."
The solution provider says that CatalystCommand iRFID offers an embedded business process rules engine to ensure that RFID business logic is applied at the most appropriate decision level in the solution architecture. For example, it makes certain that SCE applications, such as warehouse and transportation management systems, are only given RFID information relevant to that application's business processes.
The solution also enables users to modify business processes relating to RFID without having to modify the application. Users can integrate iRFID with various types of devices and standards, including active or passive, in a mixed use environment, Catalyst said.
CatalystCommand iRFID can be implemented independently or in conjunction with a warehouse management or logistics system.
