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Trend
Back-end push for RFID
As organisations pilot RFID, database vendors have jumped
into the fray providing solutions to enable this technology, says Sushma
Naik.
Like most technologies, RFID has its share of good news and bad news. The sunny
side is that RFID tags can collect lots of data. The challenge is to manage
and utilise this data. RFID goes beyond substituting for bar codes. A company
planning to deploy RFID will need definitely more than tags and readers. Back-end
support at the database level is required to complete the cycle. Database vendors
and system integrators have realised this and are gearing up to meet the challenge.
Data challenges
 There
are significant differences in the volume of data recorded using an RFID system
vis-a-vis those captured by a barcode reader. “With RFID, floods of data
are captured at the same time as against one event per item in the case of a
barcode reader. RFID places greater emphasis on the need to filter, clean and
check data,” says Will Duckworth, Associate Partner, IBM Global Services
and Business Consulting Services.
Organisations must configure data networks and filtering equipment to manage
and make sense of the high volumes of data generated by RFID systems. The volume
of data generated by an RFID reader is enormous. Imagine tracking every item
moved to and from the warehouse of a large retailer or manufacturer. “The
need to have real-time visibility into tracking items with RFID implies low
latency with regard to response times from both the RFID subsystem and the database,”
says B Sriram, Product Unit Manager, RFID, Microsoft India Development Centre.
At the back-end
Vendors are integrating sensors, solutions to automate RFID-based business processes
(and much more) to woo RFID users. Oracle’s Sensor-Based Services captures,
manages, analyses, accesses and responds to data from sensors such as location
and temperature. The trick to ensuring an optimal return on RFID expenditure,
Oracle feels, is grid computing combined with RFID. By using many small servers
acting as one large computer, spikes in demand and the high cost of maintaining
excess capacity are done away with.
“Our Sensor-Based Services offer a transparent method of integrating RFID
and sensor data into a business software infrastructure. Oracle has also partnered
with Intel to address the business value of sensor-based computing,” says
Arunava Dutta, Director, Technology, Oracle India.
IBM’s RFID-enabled WebSphere-based middleware includes DB2 licencing. In
September 2004, IBM announced a quarter-billion dollar investment in sensor
and actuator solutions.
The WebSphere offerings are designed to help enterprises automate business processes
using RFID technology as well as middleware for retail store operations. The
software enables sensor-based devices at the edge of the network—RFID readers
and controllers, kiosks and self-checkouts— to be integrated with enterprise
business processes. IBM also plans to introduce an RFID Device Infrastructure
for RFID device manufacturers who need an embedded standards-based software
platform to integrate RFID data collection and reporting at the edge of the
network.
Vendor offerings are designed to enable businesses to integrate applications
and devices such as self-checkouts, mobile shopping devices, and smart shopping
carts to enhance the shopping experience. Such devices are compatible with increasingly
popular technologies like digital media displays and wireless devices.
Microsoft’s RFID infrastructure, which will work with the company’s
SQL Server database, is being built to address these needs. Integration with
a variety of RFID sensor devices will help applications connect to, receive
events from and manage devices uniformly. A set of tools that will help the
design, development, maintenance and management of RFID applications to be integrated
with SQL Server database technology is also on the cards.
RFID-database combo
RFID can help streamline kanban (just-in-time), Six Sigma and lean manufacturing
strategies by tracking information at a granular level. It can ensure verification
and validation of processes as well as compliance with standards and regulations
in manufacturing. The technology helps improve visibility and control over raw
material and critical components, leading to better synchronisation between
demand and supply.
RFID’s potential in logistics is huge. It can help improve asset tracking,
leading to optimum asset inventory levels, and in turn reduce waiting time.
It can beef up security and authentication procedures for containers and help
generate audit trails of efficient shipment routes.
IBM is embedding data analytics into databases to help identify trends in demand
that prompt a response depending on the nature of the business and the information
in question. This may include preventing access to data, non-disclosure of information
due to privacy issues, disclosure of data among supply chain partners, or a
product tracing response as in the case of stock recall activities.
Similarly, SSA Global has plans to add RFID-related features to its ERP and
other software. Explains Kaushal Vyas, Senior Business Consultant at the company:
“We have added process logic to Version 2.0 of our RFID product, and provide
capabilities to take back-end integration to a finer level to track individual
items.”
| RFID and Indian players |
| Tata Consultancy Services has
established a development centre to explore and support RFID projects undertaken
by its customers. TCS established a dedicated RFID practice in 2003, including
a lab in India, that offers services covering the full spectrum of RFID
deployment including business consulting, architecture design, RF equipment
selection and installation, software development and implementation, and
systems integration and maintenance.
Wipro Infotech, another
Indian player to pilot RFID (in this case, with Pantaloon), also provides
services that involve everything from defining an RFID roadmap and integration
with enterprise (or legacy) systems to providing RFID enterprise architecture
and infrastructure support services.
Not to be left out, Infosys
has a solution that addresses both the business and technology aspects
of RFID. The company has helped plan, evaluate and implement RFID solutions
for US and European clients in various industries.
Similarly, Patni Computer
Systems has joined EAN India to gain access to the services of EPCglobal
Inc, a joint venture between EAN International and Uniform Code Council
Inc, US. Incorporating the Patni Modelled-To-Measure framework, SmartVision
helps RFID adopters to implement and measure the solutions, enabling optimal
utilisation of resources.
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Keeping chemicals safe
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With RFID, floods of data are captured at the same time
as against one event per item in the case of a barcode reader. RFID places
greater emphasis on the need to filter, clean and check data
Will Duckworth
Associate Partner
IBM Global Services &
Business Consulting Services
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ChemSecure, a pilot test by NASA Dryden with Oracle, places
RFID tags on hazardous material containers and uses Oracle Sensor-Based Services
to capture, manage, analyse and respond to any movement or other changes in
the chemicals. NASA Dryden applies the real-time information in the database
to make informed decisions about the transportation and storage of hazardous
materials, and provides automatic alerts—text messaging, voice alerts and
e-mail—to professionals in security, safety, health and environment to
warn them of any changes in the chemicals.
ChemSecure utilises data captured by Intermec 750 mobile computers, IP3 RFID
mobile readers, fixed RFID readers, temperature sensors, and Patlite visual
response devices to ensure that managers can always access critical chemical
information. For example, security professionals are notified if unauthorised
attempts are made to obtain highly hazardous material, and environmental professionals
are alerted when the storage limit of a hazardous chemical locker is nearing
capacity.
The new version of Oracle Warehouse Management will provide
compatibility with RFID tags along with the reading and printing devices produced
by Alien Technology, Internet Technologies and Zebra Technologies. It will also
support the RFID tagging of entire pallets of goods as well as individual cases.
In addition, warehouse operators can track in-bound and out-bound shipments.
The automated tagging and reading process cuts the time it takes to track inventory,
reduces costs, and improves the accuracy of inventory reports.
The technology will also improve warehouse security because with RFID readers
installed at the warehouse doors, an RFID application can check if out-bound
or even in-bound shipments are authorised.
The Metro Group is automating its goods receiving process with the aim of eliminating
stock counting errors and improving customer satisfaction by avoiding out-of-
stock and product expiration situations.
Adds Duckworth, “IBM will move into the RFID tag printer business with
an RFID-capable printer designed to help customers reduce costs and improve
operational efficiencies. The RFID printer can produce both traditional
bar codes and RFID tags, helping customers—including smaller and mid-sized
companies—make the transition from bar codes to RFID.”
Interest in its usage is picking up across the globe thanks to falling prices
of RFID tags, mandates from retailers and some government agencies, and adoption
of the technology by larger enterprises. Along the way, vendors are doing their
bit to push the technology.
sushma@expresscomputeronline.com
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