Tyco Fire & Security is your single stop for comprehensive RFID tracking solutions. Sensormatic® RFID products are scalable and interoperable, providing maximum flexibility for end users of the technology. SensorID RFID solutions can be integrated into your existing information infrastructures and are easily configurable to adapt to changing business needs. SensorID RFID readers, tags, labels, software and services provide a total RFID solution for automatic tracking of inventory and new levels of supply chain management. Few companies have the global reach and technical breadth of knowledge that Tyco Fire & Security brings to the RFID arena.

It promises to gather and apply real-time intelligence at the pallet, case and item levels along the entire length of nearly all physical supply chains, from source to consumption. In turn, radio-frequency (RF) readers are placed at strategic points in a pallet, case and/or item’s journey from source to shelf. These reader placements include the floors, doors and even forklifts of warehouses, shipping docks, distribution centers, receiving docks, retail back rooms, and so forth, including store shelves. Except in the case of weak RF signals, they do not need “line-ofsight” to be read as bar codes do.

When an RFID tag passes through a verification point, the RF reader will sense the tag’s EPC if it’s an active, battery-powered tag or will emit RF waves to induce a current in the antenna of a passive, non-battery tag. The data is then read and sent to a database containing a larger data record of what’s tagged, plus information like where and when it was manufactured, its current location and status and on and on. The main benefits to using RFID in the supply chain come from improved inventory tracking, especially when the technology’s capabilities are used to collect information and provide visibility in environments where tracking was not done before. Retailers, wholesalers, distributors, logistics providers and manufacturers can all use RFID for inventory applications and in carefully planned systems may share the same tags to reduce implementation costs. Because it can be read through packaging, without concern to orientation, without direct line of sight between object and reader and can withstand exposure to dirt, heat, moisture and contaminants that make bar code unusable, RFID can remove blind spots from inventory and supply chain operations.

By using the highly accurate, real-time and unattended monitoring capability of RFID to track stock, retailers can improve visibility and confidence into their inventory to enable overall inventory levels, labor costs and safety stocks to be reduced. Readers covering dock doors, warehouse racks, shelves and other storage locations could automatically record the removal of items and update inventory records. If an item was misplaced or needed urgently to complete an order, fixed-position readers or a worker with a mobile computer and RFID reader could automatically search for the item by reading for its specific ID number.

For the users who want to try RFID in their enterprises, Tyco Fire & Security announced the release of SensorID™ Works, a radio frequency identification (RFID) software program that gives manufacturers, distributors and retailers the opportunity to more easily evaluate RFID technology using small-scale pilot programs.

Compatible with existing RFID products from Tyco Fire & Security and other technology providers, SensorID Works enables potential end users to discover the benefits of RFID in their own facilities. The software package is designed to support off-line RFID tests, so customers can better visualize the power of RFID before moving forward with full-scale pilot programs. SensorID Works can be run on a standard PC or laptop, further reducing the start-up cost of testing RFID.

http://www.sensormatic.com/RFID/default.asp
(Sensormatic RFID solutions)

http://www.sensormatic.com/RFID/epcSTARS/default.asp
(More info about epcSTARS alliance that provides turnkey integrated RFID solutions.)

http://www.intermec.com/eprise/main/Intermec/content/Products/Products_ListFamily?section=Products&Category=RFID
(RFID solutions for retail)