Purposed for Key Decision Makers at Healthcare Facilities Considering Implementation of a RTLS -- Real-time locating systems (RTLS) are becoming mainstream in healthcare environments. Although currently there is only a 29% adoption rate, this number is expected to grow to nearly 70% by 2011. However, there are many different RTLS offerings as well as remarkable variation in the implementation processes, functionality and long-term success with each system. This White Paper seeks to explore the implementation costs between two popular RTLS solutions: Wi-Fi RFID (radio frequency identification) from CISCO and hardwired Infrared-RFID from Versus, and outline system performance expectations following implementation.

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Mass High Tech: Tego Inc., a maker of smart radio frequency identification (RFID) chips, has landed $1.16 million in a planned $3 million second round of venture capital funding from returning and unnamed new investors, according to regulatory documents.

The Waltham-based startup makes an RFID tag that is able to hold information in a small amount of memory, similar to a powered active RFID tag but requires no battery power and therefore can be made as small as an unpowered passive tag. Tego says its batteryless RFID tags are capable of holding up to 32 kilobytes of memory for up to 20 years without an additional power source.

Timothy Butler, CEO of Tego, said that the new funds, which he characterized as a bridge round to a possible Series B financing, will be used to launch the company’s first product into the marketplace. And more money should be forthcoming in this Bridge, he said.

“We are expecting additional add-on rounds in the near future as well,” Butler said. “We’ve been very careful and very frugal with our money up to now. We are not sure if we need a B round, but we are positioning ourselves to meet those needs.”

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PR Newswire: TORONTO, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Sirit Inc. ("Sirit") (TSX: SI), a global provider of radio frequency identification ("RFID") technology, announces that it has received approval from Autopistas Urbanas S.A. ("AUSA") to install Sirit's electronic toll collection ("ETC") system in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The system will utilize 90 Sirit IDentity 5100 ("ID5100") readers which will support the AUSA legacy tags. This installation demonstrates the increasing use of Sirit's technology which has recently been adopted to improve legacy systems throughout South America.

AUSA is a Buenos Aires City-owned, highway concessionaire responsible for the construction, expansion and administration of the city of Buenos Aires highway network. The total area covered by AUSA's six highways is 41.2 km plus 17.1 km of interconnected roadways.

Approximately 80 lanes will be upgraded with Sirit's RFID passive toll technology over the next several months. The current tolling system through Argentina's largest city is used by more than 300,000 vehicles daily, with only 20% of vehicles taking advantage of electronic tolling. Plans include offering lower electronic toll rates to encourage users to move away from cash payments.

The installation is the direct result of a successful pilot which clearly demonstrated the capabilities of the new Sirit system to AUSA.

"We have experienced firsthand the flexibility and ease of installation of Sirit's technology. Sirit's system has resulted in significant improvement in the dedicated lanes installed on the Illia toll plaza since June. Our testing has demonstrated that this is the best solution to increase electronic toll penetration in the city of Buenos Aires which in turn, will improve travel time and efficiency throughout the system," commented Ing. Gustavo Matta y Trejo, President, AUSA.

"Sirit is privileged to be working with AUSA in Argentina. We understand AUSA's need to improve the efficiency of their current toll road infrastructure and are excited to provide what we believe is the most cost effective and reliable solution. The benefit to AUSA will be significantly improved speed and efficiency for the city of Buenos Aires with minimal interruption to upgrade their current systems," said Wolf Bielas, President Latin America, Sirit.

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Reuters (Business Wire): REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sep 02, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Premier Purchasing Partners, L.P., the group purchasing unit of the Premier healthcare alliance has selected AeroScout's healthcare visibility solutions as the exclusive Wi-Fi-based RFID solutions for Premier's member hospitals. Premier, a quality and cost improvement alliance of more than 2,200 U.S. hospitals and 63,000 other healthcare sites, awarded a three-year contract to AeroScout as a preferred provider for RFID Asset Tracking and Management Solutions. AeroScout solutions provide visibility into the location, status and condition of assets, patients and staff throughout all hospital departments. AeroScout is already the chosen solution for hundreds of hospitals and is exclusively endorsed by the American Hospital Association.
"Premier is proud to offer RFID solutions that drive key benefits for hospital organizations, such as ensuring regulatory compliance, improving patient safety, reducing capital and operational expenditures, increasing staff efficiency and enhancing patient care," said Mike Alkire, President of Premier Purchasing Partners.
AeroScout's healthcare solutions include real-time Asset Management, Equipment Maintenance, Humidity & Temperature Monitoring, Workflow & Resource Management and Patient & Staff Safety. These applications all employ AeroScout's industry-leading technology that leverages clients' existing Wi-Fi infrastructure and integrates with most healthcare IT software systems. AeroScout solutions serve the needs of clinical staff, IT management, clinical engineers, biomedical engineers, materials management, laboratory staff, pharmacy personnel and many other hospital users.

Click here for complete story from Reuters (Business Wire)

Newswise: A new study on the use of radio-frequency identification tags on individual retail items shows that inventory accuracy decreases or diminishes over time with conventional systems that rely on barcodes and/or human counting to track inventory. The research, conducted by the RFID Research Center at the University of Arkansas, also demonstrated that the use of an RFID-enabled system could improve inventory accuracy by more than 27 percent over a 13-week period. “This project was part of a larger research effort to demonstrate and quantify the business value of RFID item-level tagging for day-to-day operations in a retail environment,” said Bill Hardgrave, director of the research center and professor of information systems in the Sam M. Walton College of Business. “The results can guide companies as they investigate whether, and to what extent, to implement RFID. The findings provide insight on how RFID can help retailers increase efficiency and thus significantly reduce expenses, which is always important but even more so in this tight economy.” The investigation included two Bloomingdale’s stores – a test store with an automated, RFID-enabled system and a control store with Bloomingdale’s inventory-management system – in a major northeastern metropolitan area. The 13-week project focused on two departments – men’s denim jeans and women’s denim jeans. To establish baseline information, physical inventory counts were taken three times per week for the first five weeks by workers using both RFID and barcode readers. For the remaining eight weeks, physical counts by workers using both types of readers were conducted two times per week.

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REUTERS: ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Intelligent Global Pooling Systems(iGPS Company LLC), operator of the world's first all-plastic pallet rental service with embedded RFID (radio frequency identification) tags, is pleased to announce that their long-standing logistics provider, Ryder System, Inc., has been named the top logistics provider in the U.S.

Inbound Logistics readers from across the U.S. nominated and rated over 400 of their favorite third-party logistics providers based on superior service, low cost, and innovation in supplying business solutions. Ryder's unmatched capabilities in these areas put the company in the spotlight for this prestigious recognition.

"It is critically important to have a third-party logistics provider that you can count on," said Bob Moore, Chief Executive Officer of iGPS. "Ryder's consistent and reliable logistics and transportation solutions continually exceed our service expectations. Our long-term relationship has helped iGPS achieve the most advanced and efficient logistics operations in pallet rental services."

"Ryder is pleased to develop and manage a complete solution for iGPS that includes reverse logistics and transportation and inventory management to support the movement of up to 175 million, RFID-enabled plastic pallets annually," said John Williford, President of Supply Chain Solutions for Ryder. "We applaud iGPS for their innovation in revolutionizing the way unitized loads are being shipped throughout the U.S. and look forward to supporting their future growth and success."

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Security Park.NET: When IDTechEx first published the report “Apparel RFID 2009-2019”, it was able to profile 60 brand owners and retailers involved as well as detailing many uses throughout the apparel supply chain, including the widespread use of RFID in laundry. In 2009, however, adoption has accelerated, particularly for brands and retail. Avery Dennison has landed most of the tag orders in the past and it is involved in the trial at Harvey Nichols store in London which uses Motorola interrogators and in other UK retail trials.

However, many suppliers are seeing success in 2009 and the phenomenon is now truly global, with local system integrators usually involved. For example, US brand Ralph Lauren is trialling woven RFID tags in its merchandise in China as an anti-counterfeiting measure. Here are some other examples from the USA to Europe, Turkey, The Middle East, India and Japan and including shoes, jewellery, designer wristwatches and other accessories.

Krause outlet

Krause Outlet stores and sells off-season men's and women's brand-name fashions that it buys from retailers. In 2009, an RFID system now displays information regarding each garment in store windows, so shoppers can use mobile phones to reserve the clothes and then purchase them from a vending machine, instead of waiting two weeks as in the past.

Click here for complete story from Security Park.NET

The Journal of Commerce: DENVER — Aug 31, 2009 — Fluensee , a leading provider of RFID-enabled asset management and supply chain solutions, announced today that Penske Logistics has selected Fluensee's Yard solution to provide real-time visibility and management of its trailers and yard assets.

Initially, Penske will implement the Fluensee Yard™ solution with a combination of passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technologies at its Garland, Texas facility. The combination of RFID and GPS will provide Penske with real-time updates about the location, status and condition of company trucks and trailers.

Yard management solutions help reduce inbound and outbound trailer bottlenecks and allow companies to build effective yard plans, enhance their operating procedures and streamline their operations. Not all of them, however, can process the wide array of advanced automatic identification technologies available today. Fluensee Yard combines RFID and GPS technologies with advanced business rules and processes to automate workflow and events across yard operations. Fluensee Yard uses these automatic identification technologies to capture trailer information and automate the process of identifying and locating equipment within the yard and providing an on-demand, real-time inventory of all yard assets.

Click here for complete story from The Journal of Commerce

Globes Online: RFID solutions developer BOS Better Online Solutions Ltd. (Nasdaq: BOSC has secured a $2.4 million convertible loan financing with several lenders including Catalyst Private Equity Partners (Israel) II L.P., Telegraph Hill Capital Fund I, LLC, certain existing shareholders and company executives.
The financing proceeds will be used mainly for working capital.

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Mind Commerce LLC: With research beginning in 2008, this unique report addresses core technology and business aspects of real-time location services (RTLS) and guides the reader through the most important aspects of enabling technologies including RFID. It covers the critical factors and gives the user the views about the different kinds of RFIDs. The report also addresses the advantages and the bottlenecks for deployment of RTLS applications, evaluating available solutions and the methodologies. The report includes an exhaustive study of leading RTLS companies.
Different types of RTLS are evaluated and the standards and protocols related to them. The report has a great focus on the applications and the key areas that can be addressed by RTLS giving special attention to Vehicle Tracking, Port/Yard Management, Inventory Management and Real Time Tracking solutions. The report also provides an analysis of the most widely used RTLS applications today and provides a vision for anticipated future applications

Click here for complete report from Mind Commerce LLC