IBM recently unveiled technology to give clients the ability to securely share and analyse real-time data generated by sensors like Radio Frequency ID (RFID) tags, enabling such consumer and business applications as drug authentication and e-customs. Called WebSphere RFID Information Centre, the technology is based on the latest EPCglobal standard EPCIS. This provides a standard way to securely communicate the data created by sensors and RFID tags and tie it to existing business information and trading partners.

The growing trend of item-level tagging is expected to create exponential growth in sensor data well beyond that generated from conventional barcode technology, says IBM. This creates a need for a new way to manage this explosion of data in a manner that doesn’t overwhelm a business and its supply chain partners. As well as managing the massive amount of data RFID creates, two other barriers to widespread RFID adoption to date have been the lack of standards and data sharing capabilities. RFID Information Centre is claimed to solve these issues.

The WebSphere RFID product has already been successfully deployed for a number of early-adopter IBM clients across several industries including Unilever and the e-customs project ITAIDE in Europe (IT for Administration and Intelligent Design of E-government). ITAIDE is a €7m EU project that aims to cut costs and enhance data security for customs declarations.

IBM’s technology is said to allow clients to get business insight from a wave of granular data coming in from remote locations, which ‘they can use to identify business opportunities, help protect consumers and transform industries.’ The latest WebSphere RFID Premises Server V6.0 aggregates and analyses massive amounts of RFID and other sensor information. It applies built-in business logic and, utilising a services-oriented architecture, integrates raw data with enterprise applications such as ERP or billing systems. This open architecture means data can be linked to business processes, allowing companies to use and capitalise on RFID.  

It is all looking good then. But what of System i?

An IBM spokesperson comments: ‘The market for RFID systems has been made up mostly with our clients implementing solutions for proof-of-concept and pilot implementations where they have desired a stand-alone server dedicated to the RFID solution. Standard xSeries servers have been sufficient to address that task and we have not seen customer requirements for implementation on System i. As customers move through to deployment, we believe they will continue to keep the RFID data collection function separate from their business application servers, running the data collection at the store, warehouse or factory and the business application integration on their System i boxes.’

Professional Software Solutions Ltd (PSSL) offers CYBRA Corp’s MarkMagic bar code labels, RFID tags and electronic forms software and EdgeMagic software, which is designed to manage edge devices, read and verify RFID tags and – crucially – is integrated with System i ERP/WMS applications.

Lack of interest

Says PSSL’s John Ross: ‘None of our MarkMagic users have expressed interest in the software's RFID capabilities although I’ve publicised it to them. There’s not much UK interest as far as I can see within the iSeries community. A Google search on “RFID software iSeries” lists us in third place and we have an entry in the IBM software directory – so we're not hiding our light under a bushel.

‘We now have many UK users and offer first-level support from our office on a model 170 on V5R2. Clients include Royal Doulton, BOC Gist for Marks & Spencer frozen food distribution, McCormick, Bowman Distribution, Bibby Sterilin, Parker Hannifin, BOC Edwards, AB Automotive, ArvinMeritor, Russell & Bromley, Eagle Global Logistics, Sleepeezee and Securicor Omega. We also have MarkMagic clients in Ireland, France, Holland, Spain, Finland and Sweden.’

There is more promise at AIDC Solutions. NCR's TranslationWorks is the company’s flagship product. Deployed in hundreds of sites worldwide since 1997, the TranslationWorks platform connects users to business processes, user data to business applications, and marries material flow to data flow for RFID and other Auto-ID technologies.

Company director David Myers says: ‘BPCS and MAPICS run on iSeries and we have adapters for both. More importantly, the application integration enabler which manages database triggers on the iSeries and message handling between iSeries and TranslationWorks means we can integrate to practically any iSeries-based application. To date, TranslationWorks has been recognising bar code numbers and feeding them through to ERP systems. Now it’s enabled to support RFID, utilising most manufacturers’ hardware readers and tags.

‘There’s activity in the US, but not Europe where there’s much talk but little action. The retail sector is seriously looking. It’s leading the way. Marks & Spencer is by far the furthest advanced looking at tagging clothing and shop-floor stock taking. But we are 12 months off active RFID implementations.’

An AutoID and mobile centre is being set up in Halifax as an AIDC (Automatic Identification and Data Capture) centre of excellence with RFID demonstration models – TranslationWorks has been selected to do the software, essentially the ‘glue’ to stick the 30 live technology demonstrations together. A ‘street’ in the centre (an old mill) will feature a bank, GP, supermarket, manufacturing plant, hospital, library and local government office (see www.aimuk.org).

Similarly, Bracknell RFID centre (www.rfidc.com) has been running for a few years and is a permanent, independent venue touted as relevant to UK and European organisations across public and private sectors. Information is provided in a neutral environment to those who wish to learn more about RFID technology including those from any organisation involved in the production, packaging, movement or sale of goods – or anyone involved in tracking or management of physical assets.

‘Interest in RFID here was polarised across access control, tracking, healthcare and local authorities,’ says Chelford Group marketing director Neville Merritt. ‘The bandwagon that was expected to be the retail supply chain just has not happened.’

Included in Chelford Group is Agility Systems which has been specialising in supply chain execution and ERP systems integration since 1995, and also has expertise in and around warehouse efficiency, logistics and information management. Using iLink middleware, Agility can optimise the integration of these applications to J.D. Edwards, Infor System21, BPCS and Movex. This includes offering package functionality for business process automation, Auto-ID, data capture and process documentation. Its focus is System i.

Specialist support

Auto-ID covers several identification and data capture technologies including bar-coding, RFID and smart cards. These technologies require specialist support from specialist consultants. Agility is backed by one of the RFID innovation leaders, Intermec, and is the first authorised UK RFID partner of this global leader.

Agility’s general manager, Simon Storey, in mirroring Merritt’s comment, says: ‘Two years on, the bottom line with RFID is “it hasn’t happened”. Indeed, many trailblazers have started to slow down. Yet RFID has made some successes, for example where assets are of value to a company and serviceability is key, in service industries and field service. But the expected “slap and ship” of labels on pallets in the supply chain has not happened.

‘System i has a place in distribution, ie high value asset distribution and re-usable assets. There has been a lot of interest in data capture which complements traceability and shows a 70% ROI. With RFID, the cost of the necessary infrastructure remains problematical. There are ergonomic and logistical problems with low-cost supply chain data tracking. Hitherto, the problem was people started with technology when they should have looked at business process and associated problems, moved to data capture and delivered ROI. Yet a lot of people remain interested in RFID.’

Merritt adds: ‘Everything has its place – coloured bar codes, 2/3-D bar codes, microdots, RFID, etcetera – but the dust hasn’t settled on where RFID sits. In some industries RFID is happening – access control for buildings; personal ID; tracking, for example with pet chips; fraud prevention; and the Forestry Commission is inserting chips into trees.’

Mark Cockings, president IBS Central Europe, says: ‘Our customer base comprises global distributors and wholesalers, many of whom have more traditional RF solutions that we have delivered within their warehouses. These solutions provide real-time visibility into their supply chain operations, as well as reducing delivery times and increasing order accuracy to virtually 100%.

 
‘While some customers have talked to us about developing to a full RFID solution, there’s an issue of business value which they continue to find very hard to justify. We can provide a solution that allows them to place RFID tags onto a pallet in Singapore and pass that through a wand in London. It will let the system know the details of the pallet, time that has passed, exactly where it has been and what is contained in that pallet, but what additional value is that information to our customer?’

There still needs to be considerable development of the collaborative business environment and the use of information across supply chain networks to fully utilise the benefits of integrated RFID solutions and the effective use of information they can provide.

Industry-specific needs

Cockings continues: ‘For specific industries in which we work, eg pharmaceuticals and automotive, the level of interest has been higher due to specific industry needs for traceability and validation of product. However, these initiatives have been driven typically across the whole industry supply chain where the benefits and investments are seen as more relevant to the business activities.

‘The investment required to provide a full RFID solution continues to be relatively high when considering both the physical and technical infrastructure required to provide efficient operational systems. Taking this into account means that justifying a sustainable ROI is still difficult for a large number of our customers.

‘For some time, IBS has invested in investigating RFID and we still believe it will have its place in the market. However, companies will not be forced down a technology route that doesn’t have a clear ROI and a clear value proposition and we support that view. In addition to RFID, we have put research investment in other forms of RF, such as 3D barcodes – solutions where the customer can see a clearer and more immediate business benefit and profitability gains within their current business operations.’

Andrew Kinder, director, product marketing, supply chain management, Infor, adds to the debate: ‘The last five years have seen a great deal of hype around RFID. Early promises of greater visibility and traceability were overshadowed by concerns around cost, standards and ROI. Manufacturers in particular expressed concerns that the cost of RFID would squeeze already tight margins even further and many looked to retailers to subsidise the cost of implementation.

‘However, the RFID debate has now reached a turning point. Concerns around cost and ROI have been allayed as the cost of RFID has come down. As supply chains have become increasingly complex, solutions which can enable complete visibility and support traceability requirements have become all the more compelling. Although other barcode-related solutions are available, RFID is likely to deliver on its promises in the next five years and become the de facto solution for tracking goods across the supply chain.’

As Intermec will state, RFID is part of an AIDC solution, but those who swallowed the hype two years ago and jumped into the market may not only have got burned but will also have seen no ROI. Companies were considering the technology on offer and not the business process – RFID was fitted to a process that did not need it. The result? RFID has seen low percentage penetration of active data collection markets.

The focus on RFID has shifted. It is one of many solutions on offer today but the questions are open as to whether it will ever make it to the shortlist in a solutions profile. But where it suits the business process and ROI can be demonstrated, RFID and System i still can make a powerful case.

Sidebar: RFID privacy and the European Commission

The European Commission will make changes to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive to take account of the exploding market in RFID chips, it has said. The Commission has published a Communication, intended as ‘a step towards a policy framework’, for dealing with RFID chips, whose usefulness is seen by some to be at odds with privacy and data protection.

It is the application of the chips to people and the things people do with the chipped goods, though, that has always worried privacy activists. Information society and media commissioner Viviane Reding said the advisory group she was forming to monitor RFID would work with the Article 29 Data Protection Working Group, an existing, independent EU advisory body.

Changes to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive (also known as the ePrivacy Directive) would be proposed by summer to take account of RFID applications, as part of the EU Telecom Rules' review.

Reding also promised that recommendations on how to handle data protection and privacy in relation to RFID would be published by the end of the year, and that an assessment of what other law changes would be necessary would be produced by the end of 2008.

‘RFID is of policy concern because of its potential to become a new motor of growth and jobs if the barriers to innovation can be overcome,’ said the Commission's report. Reding said the technology could have major benefits to Europe: ‘From fighting counterfeits to better healthcare, smart RFID chips offer tremendous opportunities for business and society.’