Kits designed to allow companies to comply with Wal-Mart, other RFID mandates
Baltimore, MD — July 13, 2005 — Baltimore-based Barcoding Inc. has released several radio frequency identification (RFID) kits designed to allow companies to comply with Wal-Mart mandates as well as investigate the technology for future use in their own supply chain.
According to the firm, there are currently three main reasons why companies are purchasing RFID technology: to comply with customer mandates, to evaluate the technology for use, or preparation for future use. In response, Barcoding Inc. said it has created three kits, each addressing one of these reasons.
The RFID Mandate Kit allows companies to comply with customer mandates by creating electronic product code (EPC)-compliant Global Trade Identification Numbers (GTIN). The software will then extract data from their enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, which is then included in an RFID tag that is placed on each carton and pallet that is shipped.
The kits allow companies to continue selling to Wal-Mart, the Department of Defense, and other customers that are requiring RFID tags on shipments.
Barcoding's RFID Evaluation/Lab Kit allows companies to experiment with RFID technology by using it in a controlled environment to better understand how the technology can be used in their supply chain. It includes an RFID printer/encoder, a portable RFID reader, a fixed-mount RFID reader, RFID tags and RFID encoding software.
The RFID Readiness Kits are designed for companies that anticipate the future use of RFID, yet don not want to lose any of the investments they are currently making in automated data collection technology. Therefore, all items in the readiness kits are firmware-upgradeable to RFID. Printers from Zebra Technologies along with Intermec mobile computers make up this kit.
RFID is here to stay, commented David Shapiro, director of Marketing for Barcoding Inc. Implementing a new technology, especially RFID, will always pose its challenges. Shapiro added that Barcoding Inc. put together the series of RFID kits to make the leap into the world of RFID an easy one, especially since the RFID market is still young and many companies are remaining cautious.
The Barcoding RFID kits can range between $3,000 and $15,000 while implementing a full-RFID system can easily exceed $1 million dollars, depending on the size and scope of the project.
Barcoding Inc. is releasing the three kits as a result of the customer reaction received at the company's recent end-user conferences held in Baltimore, Richmond and Philadelphia.
