LXE, Intermec Join Effort on RFID for Temperature-controlled Warehouses

Auto-ID technology providers sign up for Headwater's consortium; looking for compliance with Wal-Mart initiative this summer

Auto-ID technology providers sign up for Headwater's consortium; looking for compliance with Wal-Mart initiative this summer

Toronto — July 25, 2005 — Ruggedized wireless computer company LXE and auto-ID specialist Intermec Technologies have signed onto a research and development consortium initiated in October 2004 by Headwater Technology Solutions Inc.'s Delfour Supply Chain Division to focus on radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions for temperature-controlled warehouse environments.

LXE is a designer and manufacturer of ruggedized wireless computers and data collection solutions used for real-time transaction processing in materials handling operations, while Intermec Technologies is best known as the inventor of a widely used bar code symbology.

LXE's data collection devices are designed to withstand harsh physical and climatic industrial conditions, such as extremely low temperatures. Intermec's bar code solutions are used in the supply chains of companies around the world. Both companies' products are widely deployed in supply chain environments.

A "best of breed" group of manufacturers, operators and system integrators, the RFID consortium's mission is to further the application and effectiveness of the new generation of warehouse tracking and retrieval technology in the controlled temperature third-party logistics (3PL) sector of the supply chain.

Headwater spearheaded the effort as well as provided its SmartEnterprise 2 logistics management software suite for the consortium's two full-sized live production laboratories. The production facility labs are located at Confederation Freezers, Brampton, Ontario, and at Richmond Cold Storage, Richmond, Va.

Logistics operator members include Confederation Freezers, Hopewell Cold Storage, P&O Cold Logistics and Richmond Cold Storage, all having access to the labs at Richmond Cold Storage and Confederation Freezers.

In addition to the recent Intermec and LXE memberships, technology members include End-to-End, an IT infrastructure management company that focuses on end-user support for multi-carrier, multi-platform and multi-protocol networks; CapTech Ventures, a technology consulting and integration firm and the developer of Tagsware RFID software; and bayMountain, a network hosting and collocation firm that hosts the consortium's development activities at the company's Tier 1 data center in Virginia.

The consortium's Phase I goal is to be in full compliance with the Wal-Mart initiative this summer.


Additional Articles of Interest

— RFID technology has the potential to change the way supply chains are managed, but in order to be effective businesses need to take a holistic look at the deployment. Read more in the SDCExec.com article "Time for RFID: Applying RFID in the Supply Chain."

— For a contrary view of the future of the RFID market, see the article "The O'RFID Factor: A 'No Spin' Look at Where Radio Frequency Identification Is Headed," in the October/November 2004 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.

— For more information on trends relating to radio frequency identification (RFID), follow this link for an extensive listing of SDCExec.com articles, featuring the latest research findings on the RFID, including adoption, return on investment and barriers to implementation.


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