15 Sep RedPrairie to use RFID in collaborative products
RedPrairie Corporation, a supply-chain technology dealer, has initiated several partnerships with RFID-focused firms to expand its inventory and monitoring systems, the company announced Tuesday and Wednesday at the Chicago Frontline Solutions conference.
These partnerships include combining the products of communications-tracking firm RF Code and self-adhesive company Avery Dennison to create a unified system for tracking goods. RedPrairie also revealed plans to integrate RFID compliance applications with Weber Marking Systems’ new RFID Printer-Applicator.
RedPrairie will combine its LENS global visibility solution with RF Code’s TAVIS DataRouter to locate the tracked goods, and Avery Dennison’s RFID Secure Strap to monitor the goods’ integrity.
RedPrairie’s RFID Igniter compliance application, which provides the EPC product code and relevant product information, will be integrated with the Weber Model 5200rfid Printer-Applicator, a unit that prints, encodes, verifies and applies pressure-sensitive RFID smart labels to cartons and pallet loads in one operation. In addition, the system automatically senses improperly encoded smart labels and rejects them prior to application.
The integrated solution is designed to automate and increase the execution speed of two operations — production line application and “slap and ship” in distribution centers. In a production line, RedPrairie’s RFID Igniter or RFID Accelerator compliance systems provide EPC codes and product information to the Zebra OEM print engine for encoding on the RFID chip and printing on the smart label. The encoded smart labels are then applied to the appropriate carton as it travels down the production line.
For smart labels applied at distribution centers, RedPrairie’s RFID compliance applications direct the case-pallet de-aggregation and re-aggregation needed to apply the smart labels prior to shipping.
RedPrairie Company Leader John Jazwiec said that this installation is designed to eliminate the labor-intensive aspects of dealing with retailers’ RFID mandates. “The fact that labels are automatically checked and bad ones are never applied to products removes a major headache in this process.”