Alien announces new RFID wins

Deals in Europe aren't just business for the tag and reader provider. They represent new directions for RFID in the supply chain.

By Bob Trebilcock, Editor at Large -- Modern Materials Handling, 7/30/2007

Normally, Modern doesn’t track customer wins. Still, several recent announcements from Alien Technology caught our eye because they seemed to represent something different: The adoption of passive RFID technology in supply chain applications beyond tagging cases and pallets to meet a mandate by a big box retailer.

Today for instance, Alien, a provider of passive RFID readers and tags, is announcing the results of what it says is the world’s first EPC-compliant fabric roll tracking application at Griva S.p.A, a textile manufacturer in Torino, Italy.

Developed in conjunction with RFID integrator Simet and implemented 10 months ago, Griva is using the solution to track rolls of fabric throughout the manufacturing process. Griva says it has already realized a 30% return on investment in the form of time management savings and increased traceability of the fabric rolls.

Today’s news follows other recent wins by Alien for

• a vehicle-tracking system using EPC-compliant technology in Istanbul, Turkey, and
• an automated validation systems using EPC-compliant RFID tags by a door and window manufacturer in Portugal.

Stephen Crocker, Alien’s director of Europe, the Middle East and Asia, agrees that these are not the usual applications for EPC-compliant RFID technology. “We’re starting to see a strong trend toward RFID being deployed in non-mandate areas,” says Crocker. “That means end users are taking RFID solutions into areas of their operations where we have not previously been focused.”

According to Crocker, the fact that the recent announcements have come out of Europe and Asia is coincidental. In the coming months, Alien expects to make similar announcements, and provide similar details about successful implementations in North America. 

The real news, he says, is that manufacturers and distributors that were initially drawn to RFID because of Wal-Mart or the Department of Defense are now looking for other ways to make use of the technology.

“I think an argument can be made that we’re at the cusp of RFID becoming mainstream,” says Crocker. “It still think we’re three to five years before the man in the street is as familiar with RFID as with bar codes, but business is moving out of the pilot mode and into the deployment mode. We’re seeing larger orders along with requests for specialized applications.”

To learn more about the latest developments in RFID in the supply chain, check out “ROI in RFID,” an on-demand Webcast from Modern Materials Handling.