Week of 9/15/08

RFID 24-7: Your source for news and trends from the RFID and auto-ID industry

Lead Story

Walgreens unveils RFID
at its DC in Anderson, S.C.

Last year the new Walgreens distribution center in Anderson, S.C. was lauded for its policy of hiring disabled workers to staff almost half of the 700,000 square foot facility. Now the Anderson facility is making waves again, revealing that RFID technology plays a major role in enabling many of those disabled workers to do their jobs effectively by automating processes throughout the site.

"Walgreens has a long tradition of pioneering break-through technologies in the industry."
Randy Lewis, Sr VP of distribution and logistics

The giant retailer announced on Tuesday that it has enabled 170,000 totes with RFID, greatly reducing paperwork and barcode scanning during shipment loading, as well as increasing shipping accuracy to its stores. The totes are reused, so the cost of the tags is amortized many times. The RFID strategy is being replicated for a second DC that Walgreens is building in Windsor, Conn.

Read full article here

Excellence in Business Awards
presented at RFIDWorld

The U.S. Department of Defense and SAVI Technology earn top honors, as well as Kimberly-Clark, Sensormatic, Alien Technology, SkyeTek, and the Hawaii State Department of Agriculture.

Read the company press release

U.S. Naval Supply Systems
Command expands passive RFID

GlobeRanger has deployed its iMotion Edgeware Platform for the expanded use of passive RFID at the Pearl Harbor Naval shipyard and Marine Corps base in Oahu, Hawaii. RFID portals have been installed at the Pearl Harbor Shipyard and Marine ATAC facility receiving warehouses, inbound storage warehouse doors, bulk storage and maintenance facilities.

Read the company press release

U.S. Customs launches RFID
ad campaign in Canada

Travelers reminded to prepare for upcoming changes to cross-border document requirements, including the use of RFID, which go into effect June 1.

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Blue Vector deployed in Walgreens
next generation RFID-enabled DC

In one of the largest RFID deployments to date with over 170,000 assets tagged, Walgreens’ Anderson DC will ship approximately 80,000 RFID-tagged totes daily to over 700 Walgreens stores across the Southeast.

Read the company press release

Apparel looks like first
big retail RFID success

New report says that RFID usage in the apparel sector is unmatched almost anywhere else in the RFID market, and examines projects underway in 16 countries.

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Seeonic unveils largest deployment
of SmartWatch Solution

Twenty fixtures will be deployed in three retail chains across the U.S., including Tomorrow’s Mother, which will be able to see its inventory in real time.

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TransCore celebrates its 25th
anniversary of RFID technology

The firm’s heritage traces back to the '80s when five scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory developed RFID technology to allow the Department of Energy to track vehicles and nuclear materials, and for the Department of Agriculture to track cattle.

Read the company press release

Issue: 0308

From the Editor

Welcome to RFID 24-7, your source for news and trends from the RFID and auto-ID industry.

Last week’s RFIDWorld show in Las Vegas went a long way toward proving that RFID is reaching maturity. Although the show was short on actual users during the exhibit hall hours, it was long on case studies that validate the technology. Learn all about them in our lead story.

We welcome your feedback. Let us know what you think of the issue, and any topics you'd like to see covered in the future.

About the Editor

John R. Johnson is a veteran business and technology journalist with over 15 years of experience covering RFID technology and supply chain topics, first as editor of Warehousing Management and most recently as editor of DC Velocity.
More info