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The magazine for resellers, distributors, system integrators and OEMs

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automaticdatacapture pointofsale

analysis

RFID – raising RFID – where are we at, where are we headed, and what are the benefits and opportunities to be had for resellers?

IT Reseller spoke to some of theleading names from the analyst, tradeassociation and standards community. any industry commentators refer to RFID as a transformational technology in automated data capture, something that is going to have a major impacton all our lives, both at a consumerand business level. And it is thoughtby some that as vendors strive todevelop more ‘out of the box’ hardware, volumes will increase and prices will eventually fall. Also, it is believed that consulting and integration opportunities will be plentiful.

However, some say there has been a slow takeup of RFID over the past few years, but because it is such a major paradigm shift the market cannot expect mass adoption overnight.

Ongoing work on standards is undoubtedly one of the key issues. However Ard Jan Vethman, RFID leader, global sector manufacturing retail & distribution, Capgemini, points out that over the past three or four years, greater consolidation of standards for capturing data from RFID tags on objects has made positive and rapid progress. “We’ve really made a jump since this process began around 2002,” he said. “Back then, the ideal of having a world wide standard for identifying practically all objects was some way away, but we’ve come a long way since then in terms of capturing data related to allkinds of objects by using essentially the same technology within RFID. This covers everything from individual garments, boxes and books to higher-level packaging such as pallets and roll cages. And the means of capturing all this data is now really starting to come under one umbrella. We have standards for passive tags and we are beginning to also consolidate on active tags. In

M

2 ITReseller | April 2008 |

the near future we should be able to have a very open standards-based platform to capture events and identify objects – big and small – throughout the supply chain; and also extending into other industries as well.”

Absolutely essential Tim Payne, research director, SCMEMEA, Gartner, picks up the theme of standards, believing that it is absolutely essential for standards work to continue if the market is going to see more widespread adoption of RFID. He also highlights the fact that the market is currently seeing the combination of different

“

India sees huge potential because their infrastructure oftenisn’t as good as in the West, and so they see technology suchas RFID as a means of circumventing this problem and gainingbetter control and visibility. And India has a huge pool of resourceand talent that can leverage this.” – Tim Payne, Gartner.

”

types of technologies, such as GPS with RFID. “This is being used on some asset tracking solutions and solutions that are feeding into things such as yard management,” he said.

Interpretation of data is another hot topic in the world of data capture, as Payne explained: “We’re seeing demand signal repositories coming through as a means of filtering and interpreting RFID reads. In some of the more dense RFID tagged environments, how reads relate to the underlying process can require a fair

Many RFID projects are not particularly visible to the consumer; instead tending to involve thelogistics between manufacturers and retailers and often not ending up on the shop floor.

amount of interpretation. So the development is to be able to feed the data into a more RFIDcentric business application that can cope with that. The real value will come from being able to re-architect business applications to be able to really interrogate those reads and to interpret them. Then that starts to open up more significant opportunities interms of where RFID can be used and in the types of business processes that it can support. We’re just seeing the beginnings of this level of interpretation.”

Mark Blowers, enterprise architectures practice director, Butler Group, believes developments in RFID are revolutionising the way the supply chain is managedand controlled, in the same

www.itrportal.com

automaticdatacapture pointofsale

analysis

the standard way that the development of natural voiceinterfaces has also been a majorstep forward – enabling the move away from structured questions and menu-type interfaces.

Ian Byfield, communications manager, European Centre of Excellence for AIDC,comments that over the past few years AIDC technologies in general have at last understood the requirement to integrate more closely with other technologies; so that wide-area wireless communications are now an element of a significant proportion of AIDC installations. With specific regardto RFID, Byfield points out that the allying of RFID tags with sensors and location systems has also been a significant move. Gary Lynch, chief executive for GS1UK, highlights the fact that EPC global has facilitated the creation of Gen 2 – a global RFID standard that has reduced costs and improved performance. “This standard defines the physicaland logical requirements for a RFIDsystem,” he said. On the subject of AIDC in general, Lynch points out that another technological development has been the introduction of a new barcode – the GS1 DataBar. “GS1 DataBar offers the ability to barcode difficult-to-mark products, including items that have a size or shape notsuited to traditional bar codes,” he explained. “It will also offer the abilityto include extra information such asserial numbers and expiry dates, alongside the GTIN (product identifier). ”The global adoption date for the newbarcode will be 1 January, 2010. Channel focus From a channel perspective, Blowers emphasises that it is important for resellers to gain knowledge and expertise of new and upcoming technologies such as RFID, so that they are able to provide the necessary support and added value required by the end customer; therefore further cementing their business relationship/partnership. Also, adds Blowers, customers much prefer a solution rather than just point products. “From a user perspective there is a need tolook beyond the technology/productand focus on business processimprovement,” he said.“Prototyping – particularly from anRFIDperspective – is a really bigwant from the users’ side,”Payne

www.itrportal.com

“We’re seeing demand signal repositories comingthrough as a means of filtering and interpretingRFID reads.

In some of the more dense RFIDtagged environments, how reads relate to theunderlying process can require a fair amount ofinterpretation.” – Tim Payne, Gartner.

emphasised. “Users want to understand the level of ability of the vendors or resellers they’re dealing with and to feelconfidentthat they are able tohelp developa solution thatmeets their needs; they want thepeople they’re dealing with tobe able to prove their abilities. Part of this process involvesthe provider helping in the development of a business case. Some end users have an ideaas to where and how they coulduse technology such as RFID. What they sometimes struggle with is turning their plans into atangible and believable ROI. So they need thevendor’s orreseller’s experience and help to make it work.” Byfield points out that, ingeneral, AIDC technology principles are about 20 years old. “It is too easy to believe that both the

reseller and user communities aremature in their knowledge of the subject,” he said. “In fact, there is a large and increasing need for real knowledge and under-standing among both communities.” Byfield maintains that training must be taken seriously by resellers, and that the user community needs to be given a means of discovering the broader possibilities of a widening AIDC church so that it can be better equipped to make effective and worthwhile decisions about AIDC installation projects, including those related to RFID. “Thus the stature of the industry isenhanced,” said Byfield.

| April 2008 | ITReseller 3

automaticdatacapture/pointofsale

RFID – raising RFID – where are we at, where are we headed, and what are the benefits and opportunities to be had for resellers?

IT Reseller spoke to some of theleading names from the analyst, tradeassociation and standards community. any industry commentators refer to RFID as a transformational technology in automated data capture, something that is going to have a major impacton all our lives, both at a consumerand business level. And it is thoughtby some that as vendors strive todevelop more ‘out of the box’ hardware, volumes will increase and prices will eventually fall. Also, it is believed that consulting and integration opportunities will be plentiful.

However, some say there has been a slow takeup of RFID over the past few years, but because it is such a major paradigm shift the market cannot expect mass adoption overnight.

Ongoing work on standards is undoubtedly one of the key issues. However Ard Jan Vethman, RFID leader, global sector manufacturing retail & distribution, Capgemini, points out that over the past three or four years, greater consolidation of standards for capturing data from RFID tags on objects has made positive and rapid progress. “We’ve really made a jump since this process began around 2002,” he said. “Back then, the ideal of having a world wide standard for identifying practically all objects was some way away, but we’ve come a long way since then in terms of capturing data related to allkinds of objects by using essentially the same technology within RFID. This covers everything from individual garments, boxes and books to higher-level packaging such as pallets and roll cages. And the means of capturing all this data is now really starting to come under one umbrella. We have standards for passive tags and we are beginning to also consolidate on active tags. In

M

4 ITReseller | April 2008 |

the near future we should be able to have a very open standards-based platform to capture events and identify objects – big and small – throughout the supply chain; and also extending into other industries as well.”

Absolutely essential Tim Payne, research director, SCMEMEA, Gartner, picks up the theme of standards, believing that it is absolutely essential for standards work to continue if the market is going to see more widespread adoption of RFID. He also highlights the fact that the market is currently seeing the combination of different types of technologies, such as GPS with RFID.

“

India sees huge potential because their infrastructure oftenisn’t as good as in the West, and so they see technology suchas RFID as a means of circumventing this problem and gainingbetter control and visibility. And India has a huge pool of resourceand talent that can leverage this.” – Tim Payne, Gartner.

”

“This is being used on some asset tracking solutions and solutions that are feeding into things such as yard management,” he said.

Interpretation of data is another hot topic in the world of data capture, as Payne explained: “We’re seeing demand signal repositories coming through as a means of filtering and interpreting RFID reads. In some of the more dense RFID tagged environments, how reads relate to the underlying process can require a fair amount of interpretation. So the development is

Many RFID projects are not particularly visible to the consumer; instead tending to involve thelogistics between manufacturers and retailers and often not ending up on the shop floor.

to be able to feed the data into a more RFIDcentric business application that can cope with that. The real value will come from being able to re-architect business applications to be able to really interrogate those reads and to interpret them. Then that starts to open up more significant opportunities interms of where RFID can be used and in the types of business processes that it can support. We’re just seeing the beginnings of this level of interpretation.”

Mark Blowers, enterprise architectures practice director, Butler Group, believes developments in RFID are revolutionising the way the supply chain is managedand controlled, in the same

www.itrportal.com

the standard way that the development of natural voiceinterfaces has also been a majorstep forward – enabling the move away from structured questions and menu-type interfaces.

Ian Byfield, communications manager, European Centre of Excellence for AIDC,comments that over the past few years AIDC technologies in general have at last understood the requirement to integrate more closely with other technologies; so that wide-area wireless communications are now an element of a significant proportion of AIDC installations. With specific regardto RFID, Byfield points out that the allying of RFID tags with sensors and location systems has also been a significant move. Gary Lynch, chief executive for GS1UK, highlights the fact that EPC global has facilitated the creation of Gen 2 – a global RFID standard that has reduced costs and improved performance. “This standard defines the physicaland logical requirements for a RFIDsystem,” he said. On the subject of AIDC in general, Lynch points out that another technological development has been the introduction of a new barcode – the GS1 DataBar. “GS1 DataBar offers the ability to barcode difficult-to-mark products, including items that have a size or shape notsuited to traditional bar codes,” he explained. “It will also offer the abilityto include extra information such asserial numbers and expiry dates, alongside the GTIN (product identifier). ”The global adoption date for the newbarcode will be 1 January, 2010. Channel focus From a channel perspective, Blowers emphasises that it is important for resellers to gain knowledge and expertise of new and upcoming technologies such as RFID, so that they are able to provide the necessary support and added value required by the end customer; therefore further cementing their business relationship/partnership. Also, adds Blowers, customers much prefer a solution rather than just point products. “From a user perspective there is a need tolook beyond the technology/productand focus on business processimprovement,” he said.“Prototyping – particularly from anRFIDperspective – is a really

www.itrportal.com

“We’re seeing demand signal repositories comingthrough as a means of filtering and interpretingRFID reads.

In some of the more dense RFIDtagged environments, how reads relate to theunderlying process can require a fair amount ofinterpretation.” – Tim Payne, Gartner.

bigwant from the users’ side,”Payne emphasised. “Users want to understand the level of ability of the vendors or resellers they’re dealing with and to feelconfidentthat they are able tohelp developa solution thatmeets their needs; they want thepeople they’re dealing with tobe able to prove their abilities. Part of this process involvesthe provider helping in the development of a business case. Some end users have an ideaas to where and how they coulduse technology such as RFID. What they sometimes struggle with is turning their plans into atangible and believable ROI. So they need thevendor’s orreseller’s experience and help to make it work.” Byfield points out that, ingeneral, AIDC technology principles are about 20 years

old. “It is too easy to believe that both the reseller and user communities aremature in their knowledge of the subject,” he said. “In fact, there is a large and increasing need for real knowledge and under-standing among both communities.” Byfield maintains that training must be taken seriously by resellers, and that the user community needs to be given a means of discovering the broader possibilities of a widening AIDC church so that it can be better equipped to make effective and worthwhile decisions about AIDC installation projects, including those related to RFID. “Thus the stature of the industry isenhanced,” said Byfield.

| April 2008 | ITReseller 5

RFID – raising RFID – where are we at, where are we headed, and what are the benefits and opportunities to be had for resellers?

IT Reseller spoke to some of theleading names from the analyst, tradeassociation and standards community. any industry commentators refer to RFID as a transformational technology in automated data capture, something that is going to have a major impacton all our lives, both at a consumerand business level. And it is thoughtby some that as vendors strive todevelop more ‘out of the box’ hardware, volumes will increase and prices will eventually fall. Also, it is believed that consulting and integration opportunities will be plentiful.

However, some say there has been a slow takeup of RFID over the past few years, but because it is such a major paradigm shift the market cannot expect mass adoption overnight.

Ongoing work on standards is undoubtedly one of the key issues. However Ard Jan Vethman, RFID leader, global sector manufacturing retail & distribution, Capgemini, points out that over the past three or four years, greater consolidation of standards for capturing data from RFID tags on objects has made positive and rapid progress. “We’ve really made a jump since this process began around 2002,” he said. “Back then, the ideal of having a world wide standard for identifying practically all objects was some way away, but we’ve come a long way since then in terms of capturing data related to allkinds of objects by using essentially the same technology within RFID. This covers everything from individual garments, boxes and books to higher-level packaging such as pallets and roll cages. And the means of capturing all this data is now really starting to come under one umbrella. We have standards for passive tags and we are beginning to also consolidate on active tags. In

M

6 ITReseller | April 2008 |

the near future we should be able to have a very open standards-based platform to capture events and identify objects – big and small – throughout the supply chain; and also extending into other industries as well.”

Absolutely essential Tim Payne, research director, SCMEMEA, Gartner, picks up the theme of standards, believing that it is absolutely essential for standards work to continue if the market is going to see more widespread adoption of RFID. He also highlights the fact that the market is currently seeing the combination of different types of technologies, such as GPS with RFID.

“

India sees huge potential because their infrastructure oftenisn’t as good as in the West, and so they see technology suchas RFID as a means of circumventing this problem and gainingbetter control and visibility. And India has a huge pool of resourceand talent that can leverage this.” – Tim Payne, Gartner.

”

“This is being used on some asset tracking solutions and solutions that are feeding into things such as yard management,” he said.

Interpretation of data is another hot topic in the world of data capture, as Payne explained: “We’re seeing demand signal repositories coming through as a means of filtering and interpreting RFID reads. In some of the more dense RFID tagged environments, how reads relate to the underlying process can require a fair amount of interpretation. So the development is

Many RFID projects are not particularly visible to the consumer; instead tending to involve thelogistics between manufacturers and retailers and often not ending up on the shop floor.

to be able to feed the data into a more RFIDcentric business application that can cope with that. The real value will come from being able to re-architect business applications to be able to really interrogate those reads and to interpret them. Then that starts to open up more significant opportunities interms of where RFID can be used and in the types of business processes that it can support. We’re just seeing the beginnings of this level of interpretation.”

Mark Blowers, enterprise architectures practice director, Butler Group, believes developments in RFID are revolutionising the way the supply chain is managedand controlled, in the same way that the development of natural

www.itrportal.com

printingandlabelling

the standard voiceinterfaces has also been a majorstep forward – enabling the move away from structured questions and menu-type interfaces.

Ian Byfield, communications manager, European Centre of Excellence for AIDC,comments that over the past few years AIDC technologies in general have at last understood the requirement to integrate more closely with other technologies; so that wide-area wireless communications are now an element of a significant proportion of AIDC installations. With specific regardto RFID, Byfield points out that the allying of RFID tags with sensors and location systems has also been a significant move. Gary Lynch, chief executive for GS1UK, highlights the fact that EPC global has facilitated the creation of Gen 2 – a global RFID standard that has reduced costs and improved performance. “This standard defines the physicaland logical requirements for a RFIDsystem,” he said. On the subject of AIDC in general, Lynch points out that another technological development has been the introduction of a new barcode – the GS1 DataBar. “GS1 DataBar offers the ability to barcode difficult-to-mark products, including items that have a size or shape notsuited to traditional bar codes,” he explained. “It will also offer the abilityto include extra information such asserial numbers and expiry dates, alongside the GTIN (product identifier). ”The global adoption date for the newbarcode will be 1 January, 2010. Channel focus From a channel perspective, Blowers emphasises that it is important for resellers to gain knowledge and expertise of new and upcoming technologies such as RFID, so that they are able to provide the necessary support and added value required by the end customer; therefore further cementing their business relationship/partnership. Also, adds Blowers, customers much prefer a solution rather than just point products. “From a user perspective there is a need tolook beyond the technology/productand focus on business processimprovement,” he said.“Prototyping – particularly from anRFIDperspective – is a really bigwant from the users’ side,”Payne

www.itrportal.com

“We’re seeing demand signal repositories comingthrough as a means of filtering and interpretingRFID reads.

In some of the more dense RFIDtagged environments, how reads relate to theunderlying process can require a fair amount ofinterpretation.” – Tim Payne, Gartner.

emphasised. “Users want to understand the level of ability of the vendors or resellers they’re dealing with and to feelconfidentthat they are able tohelp developa solution thatmeets their needs; they want thepeople they’re dealing with tobe able to prove their abilities. Part of this process involvesthe provider helping in the development of a business case. Some end users have an ideaas to where and how they coulduse technology such as RFID. What they sometimes struggle with is turning their plans into atangible and believable ROI. So they need thevendor’s orreseller’s experience and help to make it work.” Byfield points out that, ingeneral, AIDC technology principles are about 20 years old. “It is too easy to believe that both the

reseller and user communities aremature in their knowledge of the subject,” he said. “In fact, there is a large and increasing need for real knowledge and under-standing among both communities.” Byfield maintains that training must be taken seriously by resellers, and that the user community needs to be given a means of discovering the broader possibilities of a widening AIDC church so that it can be better equipped to make effective and worthwhile decisions about AIDC installation projects, including those related to RFID. “Thus the stature of the industry isenhanced,” said Byfield.

| April 2008 | ITReseller 7

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