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Savi Technology, a leading provider of RFID-based supply chain solutions for defense and commercial organizations, today unveiled a new "tag and ship" offering enhanced with components from Symbol Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:SBL), The Enterprise Mobility Company(TM), and Zebra Technologies (Nasdaq:ZBRA), which enables suppliers to quickly and cost-effectively meet new EPC-compliant, passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) shipment requirements from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
Called Savi RFID-ACT (Assured Compliance Today), the multi-package offering, demonstrated here at the DoD RFID Industry Summit (Booth #514), builds on the real-world expertise of the three companies in designing a flexible "tag and ship" solution for passive RFID that's simple, quick and reliable to implement. Value-added components can be integrated to help suppliers go beyond compliance and realize investment returns within their own supply chains.
Savi RFID-ACT with Symbol and Zebra components can be implemented and integrated into the customer's information system within a matter of hours, enabling users to almost immediately begin complying with the DoD's new RFID policy, which requires about 40,000 suppliers to affix EPC-compliant passive RFID labels to all outbound shipments at the pallet and carton levels. RFID-ACT also meets DoD's requirements to automatically transmit a corresponding advance ship notice (ASN) to help military logistics personnel better prepare for incoming goods, whether they're repair parts, jet engines, clothing, equipment, tentage, food, toothpaste or bullets.
RFID ACT automates and synchronizes the flow of information with physical shipments. The combined solution enables suppliers to instantly translate product data into EPC-compliant passive RFID data with DoD UID requirements, print the appropriate EPC passive RFID labels, validate that the shipment matches the purchase order, and then immediately transmit an ASN to the recipient in the required format. Designed to be flexible, open and forward-looking, Savi RFID-ACT with Symbol and Zebra components assures rapid compliance with current and future government mandates; minimal costs for initial early-entry requirements; ease of purchase, implementation and integration; and expandable and extensible configurations to meet the user's growing needs.
First announced last September, the Savi RFID-ACT solution builds on the strengths of three core industry-leading products - Savi SmartChain(R) Site Manager middleware platform; Symbol's EPC-compliant passive RFID labels and readers; and, Zebra's EPC-compliant smart label printer/encoders. This powerful combination offers a number of enhanced features, including creation of new shipment records, Web-based user interface to support multiple shipping stations and for identifying the status of shipments, dynamic administrator functions, and, both visual and auditory alerts for shipment validations or errors ("RFID Verification Portal"), and support tools for manual key entry, among others.
"The seamless integration of Symbol's, Zebra's and Savi's proven products into this plug-and-play solution justifies the statement that, 'the sum of the parts is greater than the whole,'" said David Stephens, Savi's Senior Vice President - Public Sector. "For DoD suppliers, this is the simplest, most reliable and cost-effective solution on the market to meet and go beyond minimum compliance requirements for passive RFID. Because the solution is built on an open technology platform that can capture data from any automatic identification and data collection device, it can be configured with other components to maximize investment returns for users now and going forward."
"We have worked closely with Savi and Zebra on a number of projects over the years, and we believe that this offering is a useful tool for suppliers to comply with new RFID mandates from the U.S. Department of Defense," said Piyush Sodha, vice president and general manager of Symbol's RFID Division.
"As a leading provider of on-demand printing solutions, including for EPC-compliant labels, we're excited to be an integral part of this multi-tiered offering with two companies - Savi and Symbol - that have deep RFID-related background with both military and commercial projects," said Bob Cornick, vice president and general manager of RFID for Zebra Technologies.
The RFID-ACT solution is flexible and modular in architecture, and comes in four different solution packages, depending on the level of software and hardware functionality desired. The solutions include services for implementation, testing and training.
The DoD RFID policy requires the deployment of passive RFID for shipments involving cases and pallets, and active RFID (battery-powered) for air pallets, containers and certain large equipment that is transported. Savi is a recognized leader in active RFID solutions, and also has had nearly a decade of experience working with passive RFID implementations. RFID-ACT is aimed primarily at passive RFID requirements for suppliers of products the DoD classifies as packaged operational rations (Class I); clothing, individual equipment and tools (Class II); personal demand items (Class VI); and, weapon system repair parts and components (Class IX).
The centerpiece of this unique solution is the Savi SmartChain(R) Site Manager, a proven middleware platform that automatically collects data feeds from RFID readers, validates outgoing shipments with purchase orders and electronically generates an ASN to the recipient in the EDI 856 format required by the DoD. The Savi SmartChain Site Manager is RFID-agnostic, capable of capturing and translating data from all types of passive (including EPC Gen 2 when available) and active RFID devices, in addition to other AIDC technologies. Site Manager can link with the Savi SmartChain platform to provide a wider network for real-time, in-transit visibility within and between supply chains.
Savi RFID-ACT with Symbol and Zebra components includes several innovative value-added features, including: -- The Savi SmartChain Shipping Application, which eases
integration of data from existing systems and managing,
printing, and translating bar code or manually input data into
passive RFID labels with DoD-compliant ASNs using the 856
format.
-- SmartChain Shipping Application User Interface, which controls
the "nesting" of items to carton, to pallets, to shipment
containers, the latter of which may have an active RFID tag
for tracking. This module ensures that the right products and
conveyances transporting them are properly "nested" with each
other.
-- RFID Verification Portal, which includes passive RFID readers
from Symbol and motion sensors mounted on stands about the
size of dock doors to stimulate reads. When linked with the
Savi SmartChain Site Manager Shipping Module, the RFID
Verification Portal can immediately verify that the right
products are associated with the right shipment. When
shipments pass through the Portal, sound or light alarms can
be triggered, either verifying the correct shipment or
alerting that an error has been detected.
The solution partners draw on a number of years working independently and together with military and commercial customers. As the primary RFID solution provider to the DoD for nearly a decade, Savi has extensive experience working with all types of AIDC vendors, including providers of passive RFID, and provides its own active RFID hardware technologies and support software. Savi also helped DoD build the In-Transit Visibility (ITV) network, the world's largest active RFID cargo tracking network, which has managed more than one million tagged, multi-modal shipments in times of peace and conflict.