Have you considered renting RFID?

By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 10/1/2005

In response to small companies hesitant to make a sizable investment in RFID infrastructure to comply with mandates, one company is offering the service on a month-to-month basis.

German-based technology provided Seeburger is offering equipment, Web-based data gathering and RFID tag printing all for about $500 monthly. That number falls to $300 if a company chooses to purchase a printer.

Based on the company's RFID Workbench, IDnet is a managed RFID system designed exclusively for smaller operations that do not require high tag outputs. The system is deliberately scaled-down and offers only necessary operating components to keep use fairly simple, according to Philip Calderbank, vice president, RFID, Seeburger.

Users upload all of their product codes to IDnet upon which, tags will be generated. Tags can also be outsourced and sent through the mail to the customer. "This system allows for basic compliance," Calderbank explains. "You don't get event management with this solution. It's a very simple solution, that's the point."

The hosted solution can be operational within fours, he mentions, another advantage over lengthy RFID implementations. Calderbank notes that RFID tags can be printed to the proper specifications of Wal-Mart and/or the DoD, and a firmware upgrade to Gen II tags is expected before Jan.1, 2006.