Checkpoint Systems acquires RFID software pioneer OATSystems

RFID expertise from OATSystems will help Checkpoint’s customers identify and track retail merchandise.

By Corinne Kator, Associate Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 6/23/2008

RFID software supplier OATSystems announced today it is being acquired by Checkpoint Systems, a provider of shrink management technology designed to help retailers reduce theft. (Some of Checkpoint’s best known products are anti-theft tags that set off alarms when shoplifters try to leave a store with stolen merchandise.)

The acquisition of OATSystems is the realization of a longtime dream for Checkpoint Systems executives, says Farrokh Abadi, Checkpoint’s senior vice president of worldwide operations.

Checkpoint’s goal, he says, is to help customers lose less and sell more. And while the company has been a leader in “losing less” for decades, he says, Checkpoint has only recently begun to focus on helping customers “sell more.”

Selling more, Abadi says, involves increasing inventory visibility in the supply chain and decreasing out-of-stocks on retail shelves. RFID is the perfect technology for the job, he says, and software from OATSystems has the power to make sense of the terabytes of data that RFID systems produce.

According to OATSystems vice president of marketing Paul Cataldo, OATSystems is also enthusiastic about the acquisition. “From our perspective, this is a very good thing,” he says, “a good thing for our customers, for our partners and for our employees.” The new ownership, he says, will provide OATSystems with global reach and with greater “financial horsepower.”

“This looks like a strong move for Checkpoint,” says Pete Poorman, an RFID industry analyst with ABI Research. “I think this will position them well as retailers transition over to using more RFID technology.”

OATSystems’ management will remain in place, operating the company as a business division of Checkpoint. The division will retain the OATSystems brand name, Cataldo says, and will continue to focus on all its current markets, even those not directly related to retail.