G2 standard seen as vital to RFID advances
Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 8/1/2004 6:00:00 AM
RFID applications run the gamut from helping service a retail behemoth like Wal-Mart, to bringing more visibility to the build-to-order manufacturing process. But vendors and prospective users alike say spending on the technology is inhibited by the lack of an interchange standard.
What everyone's waiting for is approval and adoption of Generation 2 (G2), a single standard for data exchange between RFID tags, tag readers, and the computer systems that aggregate the information.
"RFID still is a closed-loop operation within the four walls," observes Daniel Arroyo, a senior manager with data reader supplier Intermec, "but it needs to be open on all continents. Most manufacturers we see are in the pilot phase. No one is spending a lot of money until the G2 standards are here."
Princeton, N.J.-based EPCglobal, the RFID standards group working with the Uniform Code Council (UCC), expects a G2 standard next year.
Robert Klimko, industry manager for plastic pallet maker TriEnda, Portage, Wis., says the company is ready to integrate RFID tags into the pallets it makes—for finding assets in the supply chain, or in a large plant area—but, like others, TriEnda is waiting for the new standard to be adopted.
The curse of Babel extends beyond the interchange standard. Symbol Technologies has unveiled a prototype RFID reader. However, through fourth-quarter 2004, this reader only works with what are called Class 1 tags from vendor Alien Technologies, according to Allan Melling, senior director of EPC Solutions for Symbol. Class 1 tags can be programmed at any time. The alternative Class 0 tags from vendor Matrics are preprogrammed with information.
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