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RFID for supply chains has been slow to take off, so Alien is putting more focus on closed-loop applications.
Alien Technology introduced new RFID tags and readers on Tuesday, along with a new strategy: focus more on the opportunity for "closed-loop" applications.
RFID tags in the supply chain -- the most famous example being Wal-Mart''s request to suppliers to tag pallets and cases -- hasn''t progressed as fast as the RFID industry had hoped it would, notes Ronny Haraldsvik, VP of marketing at Alien.
Yet the company sees growth in using RFID for closed-looped applications such as in-store inventory tracking and asset management. Indeed, the slow uptake of RFID in Wal-Mart''s own supply chain has prompted the retailer to focus on improving inventory levels in its stores with participating suppliers. Issuing supply chain "RFID mandates," as Wal-Mart''s was once called, hasn''t worked so well.
"We''re looking at where the market will be in the next 12 to 18 months, knowing that the mandate market will take a little bit longer than expected," Haraldsvik said. "We''ve seen a dramatic shift from the mandate market to close-looped systems, where [businesses] in many varieties of industries are adopting RFID on their own terms and not necessarily for the supply chain."
For example, law firms, insurance companies, and hospitals could use the new ALR-9650 Smart Antenna to track important files and equipment, says Haraldsvik. The square-shaped Gen 2 reader is nine inches in size and designed for in-building asset and item-level tracking. It''s priced at $1,099, cheaper than industrial-grade readers, and is available in December.
Alien also announced the beefier ALR-9900 Enterprise reader; the ALR-9824 Portal reader for dock doors; the Squiggle-SQ item-level tag that''s the size of a postage stamp and designed for pharmaceuticals and other pricey items; and the Squiggle-SH for case tagging.
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