RFID integrators or companies experimenting with RFID in-house both need solutions to make projects a success, a fixed reader and demonstration software seldom provide value. ODIN has been supplying integrators, VARs and in-house IT shops with RFID solutions since 2002. Take a look at some of our solutions on this page and contact the channel sales team at ODIN to find out more about the partner program that might be right for you.
CASE STUDY
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solution for Airbus. We have 16 active RFID projects creating efficiencies and cost savings across the globe for Airbus.
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EasyMonitor™The Challenge: While CIO’s have been centralizing IT infrastructure to remove the cost of device maintenance at the edge, along comes RFID populating remote distribution centers and office locations. While deploying the technology includes its share of challenges, maintaining and supporting it without local technical resources at each location becomes an unwieldy proposition. Every time a reader goes down, the help desk is forced to send a technician to reset the readers, change configurations or swap them out. If all of the readers are in a data center that may be okay given the centralization of technical talent. If not, then the cost of van roles and onsite tech visits is exceeded only by the frustration by end users of extended system down time. As RFID is employed as a real-time operational capability, up-time and quick issue resolution becomes a paramount requirement that traditional NMS cannot address. The Solution: EasyMonitor™ automates the monitoring, management and maintenance of RFID infrastructure in a user-friendly and scalable manner from an offsite location. With EasyMonitor™, problem root causes are quickly identified and addressed remotely, dramatically reducing on-site troubleshooting needs. It presents all of these capabilities in an easy to navigate, to-scale, visual topology of the RFID infrastructure deployment. Users can see and reconfigure RFID performance in real-time from a command dashboard that is topologically accurate. EasyMonitor™ enables RFID use cases to operate that demand accurate and sustained RFID performance. The solution can typically be installed and configured in about one day so going from no support to fully automated is a rapid process. Solution Components: EasyMonitor™ is a hosted RFID monitoring and support solutions and includes numerous features such as:
Results: EasyMonitor™ typically can save tens of thousands of dollars annually in avoided on-site maintenance costs and provide robust and resilient performance required by many RFID production environments. EasyEdge™The Challenge: Most RFID implementations at some point face common challenges. They cannot have local servers at every reader site, but still need to manage simple device workflows and pass data to enterprise systems. They need to make the reader network resilient to broader network outages. They require robust read rationalization that eliminates cross-talk and confuses the system on the actual location of tag reads. These problems are typically solved by placing expensive servers and software near every reader, but in many cases that approach is cost prohibitive and unnecessarily complex to maintain. The Solution: EasyEdge™ automates RFID read rate performance optimization while providing additional features that reduce maintenance, management and support costs. It can obviate the need for servers at remote locations and can enable reader data to integrate directly into existing enterprise systems. The EasyEdge™ agent runs directly on RFID readers eliminating the need for costly server infrastructure and integrates easily into RFID middleware and custom applications. The peer-to-peer EasyEdge™ architecture adds both scalability and reliability to RFID deployments. Solution Components: EasyEdge™ is a software agent that resides directly on the reader, can control local component accessories and connect to enterprise applications. Results: EasyEdge™ is the only solution that enhances read rates, creates resiliency in the network and enables local workflow and rules processing right on the reader. Its scalable architecture does not require servers or infrastructure reducing cost and maintenance burden. EasyEdge™ has been proven to speed deployment time and maintain peak performance regardless of environmental conditions. It can augment the capabilities of traditional middleware or enable end users to connect readers directly to enterprise systems. EasyReader™The Challenge: ODIN’s EasyReader™ was designed to accelerate and improve one of the biggest challenges faced by most initial RFID installations: configuring the RFID reader interrogation zones so that they will work in your environment and not interfere with each other. This is a challenge for all installations, but becomes an even greater problem as RFID systems scale and create more interference and cross-talk between readers. Add to this the hundreds and often thousands of parts that must be tracked in the implementation bill of material and you can see the mounting challenge. The state of the art had been to use a combination of spreadsheets, MS Word documents and proprietary reader software to record the solution configurations and bill of material and conduct trial-and-error testing. To make matters worse, all of the readers deployed have different specifications and manage data and testing in different methods creating inconsistencies and need for additional staff training. The Solution: EasyReader™ enables RFID system configuration designers to lay-out a to-scale RFID solution complete with a facility diagram and bill of material record. It will also link bill of material items to specific installation locations and to testing data that can auto-generate an as-built or as-maintained specification into an easy to use PDF file. You can utilize the software to see how RF will propagate and then adjust settings and reader station locations to ensure proper system performance. While the tool is geared toward automating key design and testing activities, it has the added benefit of centralizing documentation and is a robust trouble-shooting and maintenance application. And, it is a common interface used across reader types so you can use a single common view of your implementation even if multiple reader manufacturers are deployed in your environment. Solution Components: EasyReader™ is an installed software solution that can run on a standard laptop or other Windows or Java device. Results: The solution has successfully reduced design and documentation time by more than 20-50% and acceptance testing time for an RFID solution implementation by 50%. EasyReader enables implementations to graduate beyond trial-and-error exercises to become scientifically designed, synchronized RFID networks viewable in to-scale facility layout topology. Intelligent Asset Management (I AM) for IT assetsWhether you are integrating RFID into Maximo, Sunflower, Remedy, or Oracle or require a quickly installed stand-alone system that moves you beyond Excel and Access Databases, ODIN’s IAM™ solution will help you easily track your IT assets with RFID.IAM™ to radically improve IT asset tracking efficiency and security based on With RFID users can inventory entire server racks or cubicles in a few seconds. This improves accountability and efficiency for annual inventory, property responsibility transfers and SOX compliance. Studies have shown that using RFID speeds inventory processes by 5-10 times.Reduce Cost A study involving a large financial services institution showed that many organizations could save nearly $300 per asset by leveraging RFID to automate key receiving, provisioning and inventory processes. Man-power to conduct full IT asset inventories alone can be cut by more than 80% and make them more accurate in the process. Reduce Risk While IAM™ can operate stand-alone as an easy-to-use IT asset management solution, customers using Remedy, Maximo, HP Asset Manager, Sunflower or Oracle also benefit from easy integration that extends the capabilities of the core systems. Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) solutions such as these avoid cumbersome custom coding and inaccurate read rates and become easily adapted to RFID by leveraging IAM™ features and device integration. Users who don’t have EAM benefit from the ability to adopt basic asset management software that can be installed in just a few hours and enables the power of RFID. RFID that is Accurate None of the benefits will be realized without RFID read rates. The key to RFID accuracy is physics. ODIN built its RFID IT Asset tracking solution on scientific research such as the RFID IT Asset Tracking Benchmark and real-world customer installations. This knowledge base is critical to ensure high accuracy and a solution that delivers benefits from day one. EasyTable™The Challenge: Many end users want to use RFID to automate parcel receiving or security check points, to track tools or manufacturing processes but they face a common problem. RFID is sold as piece parts. To build this solution they would need to acquire readers, antennas, cabling, I/O devices, software, the physical table and housing. They also need to configure the solution and tune the RF field so that it only reads items place on the table and doesn’t accidentally track items nearby. There is also a risk that you will choose the wrong readers or antennas and develop a system that doesn’t meet the requirements. This do-it-yourself approach is time consuming and takes specialized RF engineering knowledge to be successful. The alternative has typically been to hire an outside contractor to build a custom solution and learn on the job.The Solution: The ODIN EasyTable™ ships as a complete solution that automates item receiving, processing, shipping and tracking by combining RFID, barcode and touch screen computing technologies. The table has several unique features such as touch screen computing, a table surface that illuminates to provide immediate feedback to table operators of successful RFID reads, a reset switch, easy connection to network and LAN, and rugged construction. It is fully tested and utilized in the field today in rugged environments. Most important it is easy to buy, use and integrate into existing systems. Solution Components: The EasyTable™ solution is configured based on customer requirements and includes the following features:
The Result: Faster and more accurate receiving, shipping, security processing or manufacturing process and tool tracking. EasyTunnel™The Challenge: End users often want to use RFID to singulate a specific item or to read kits of items while ensuring no stray tags or items are read; and they want to do this without stopping existing processes. Today organizations stop and scan 2-D bar codes to ensure serialized items are tracked properly (or use 1-D barcodes for non-serialized items). This process is time consuming and stops the efficient flow of goods due to the need for data accuracy. Whether you are receiving kits, building or replenishing or shipping them (or single items) being able to accurately record the data is essential; making the process faster and less labor intensive is vital. The Solution: The ODIN EasyTunnel™ ships as a complete solution that automates kit or item receiving, building, replenishing or shipping. The solution ensures that only the contents of the specific kit in the tunnel are tracked, recorded and associated allowing for serialization at the kit and item level as well as delta reporting on shortages, overages or changes to the bill of material. Just as important, the solution operates at up to 12 times faster than traditional barcode solutions and can be configured to auto-generate pick lists or check against expiration dates. Plus the throughput improvement enables a single operator to process as many as 80 kits per hour. Solution Components: The EasyTunnel™ solution is configured based on customer requirements and includes the following features:
The Result: Faster and more accurate kit receiving, building, replenishment, and shipping process – up to a 12 times improvement with added alerting and delta reporting capabilities. The solution reduces labor cost and increases supply chain velocity for kit tracking, distribution and receipt. Self-Inventorying SMART ContainerWinner of the prestigious Best in Show Award from RFID Journal in 2009, ODIN’s Self-Inventorying SMART Container can retrofit a standard ISO shipping container with passive RFID is under a minute. It can then pass that read data directly to an active RFID tag, over satellite communications, WiFi or through a direction connection. The Self-Inventorying SMART Container is battery powered and can operate in austere environments for months between recharges. A video overview can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG3cOVZ4Ggg. The Challenge: Over the past few years, supply managers and logisticians have gained the ability to track shipping containers in transit, but they remain virtually blind to what’s inside the container itself. When the contents of the containers change and systems are not manually updated to reflect these changes, inventory control and tracking accuracy degrade. Key supply chain and operations stakeholders lack visibility to critical asset movement. In fact, the two most common methods of inventory tracking remain manual cycle counting and barcode scanning, both time intensive and highly error prone. The growing complexities of logistics management coupled with the trend toward reducing labor costs impair the asset manager’s ability to manually track inventory levels accurately and efficiently. Diminishing personnel combined with increasing requirements has created a growing visibility gap that is increasingly error prone, costing billions of dollars in shrinkage, inefficiency and shipping delays. ODIN’s self-inventorying SMART Container technology eliminates those problems. The Solution: The Self-Inventorying SMART Container is a fully contained solution easily deployed in under a minute, yet is designed to withstand the most demanding and rigorous field conditions. More importantly, the Self-Inventorying SMART Container solution provides real-time access to detailed inventory information within shipping containers anywhere around the world with just the click of a mouse. Take a look at the results from a recent Trans Pacific shipment by a high tech electronics manufacturer (http://smartweb.odintechnologies.com/SmartWeb/index.action). The Self-Inventorying SMART Container finally closes the visibility gap, providing detailing inventory tracking from the factory to the front door. Solution Components: The Self-Inventorying SMART Container is a fully contained portable unit ready to provide passive RFID data on a moments notice without the need for a local power source. Key component features include:
Results: the Self-Inventorying SMART Container enables greater operations and supply chain efficiency, visibility and accuracy. A recent shipment by a high tech electronics manufacturer showed a full container being loaded and recorded with a SMART Container in 1/3 the time of traditional method capturing the load data with barcode technology. A video of the live load process can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56_9p7tp3mI. That same shipment provided twice daily updates on the container position and the full container contents during a three week journey from Taipei, Taiwan to Denver, Colorado. You can view the transmissions at: http://smartweb.odintechnologies.com/SmartWeb/index.action. The solution has also been tested in rugged military environments for tracking tools and repair supplies reducing time to inventory and locate critical items in the field. Item Level RFIDThe Challenge: Out of stock items are the curse of retailers everywhere. If the item isn’t available at the moment of purchase or in the right size or style, a sale is often lost. Most stores struggle with two types of out of stocks:
The selling floor out of stock is insidious because the item is actually in the store. It is in the backroom. The sales associate just needs to know that restocking is needed and that the item is on hand. Unfortunately, today they don’t. So they search for it only after a shopper asks and then they leave the sales floor and the customer to search. When the shopper doesn’t ask, the sale is lost. The store out of stock is also a challenge today because point of sale (POS) systems are often inaccurate and provide delayed information to store associates and inventory managers. Most stores cannot afford to take inventory each day. The manpower and time required with traditional barcode technology is too costly. This results in lower inventory accuracy and higher out of stock incidents than desired. The Solution: Because RFID can be employed to validate inventory up to 12 times faster than barcode and can automatically read items as they move throughout the store, the technology is the top choice for combating out of stocks. Using RFID to improve inventory accuracy and restocking cycle time leads to reduced out of stocks of both types and can drive higher store sales. This is especially important before items go through mark-downs or during new product launches or promotions. An RFID solution for a retailer can leverage a portfolio of Event Based and Continuous monitoring options that can be strategically deployed depending upon the physical environment and the requirements. For example, the receiving dock is a prime environment for an event based fixed reader; a single truck arrives three to seven times per week, delivering new inventory items. The fixed reader records these events and provides alerts of the presence of high priority items requiring immediate processing. On the other hand, the sales floor is an excellent location for a continuous monitoring solution where a complete inventory can be quickly taken at pre-determined intervals or on demand. This continuous inventory will provide near real time visibility into out of stocks and inventory availability, giving the associates and store management valuable data that will enable faster throughput and higher sales. Other associate driven activities can leverage handheld devices to validate store floor inventory in 80% faster than traditional count or barcode procedures. Solution Components: The solution is configured based on customer requirements and includes some or all of the following components:
The Result: Faster and more accurate receiving, replenishment, and item location; more accurate inventory; lower out-of-stock Pipe TrackingThe Challenge: Oil and Gas pipe producers and end users need accurate and timely item level traceability of steel pipes. However, they have no way to individually track pipes other than un-stacking them and manually recording the heat stencil on the side of each pipe. When a pipeline or down-hole application is created, the purchaser of the pipe must measure the pipe to ensure it meets the length requirements. Each pipe is a different length and it endures eight measurements or tallies during its lifetime. The tallyprocess is extremely time consuming, taking up to one man hour per pipe. Pipe manufacturers and end users need a way to accelerate the tally process and enhance supply chain efficiency by quickly identifying the correct pipes at the correct time. ODIN created a durable pipe tracking system that allowed them to achieve item level traceability. The Solution: Oil and Gas pipe producers ship pipes all over the world through extremely harsh conditions. Temperatures range from arctic freezes to desert sun. As the steel pipes are transported across the globe, they are subjected to extreme amounts of shock, vibration and impact. Each pipe can easily weigh more than 1 ton. Because of the harsh conditions barcodes are simply not successful. They get damaged, rubbed off or covered in grease and are not readily accessible when the pipes are stacked in a yard, shipping container or truck. To complicate matters, the pipes have caps on the end and their sizes can range from only a couple of inches in diameter up to several feet in diameter. The end caps cannot be tagged because the caps frequently fall off or are swapped and all of the pipes have different characteristics and lengths. A removable tag must be placed inside the pipe that can be easily taken out before going down hole or into a pipeline. The tag must be relatively low cost, operate in extreme conditions, be readable when mounted on metal and resist movement into the pipe. Solution Components: The ODIN pipe tracking RFID solution includes high durability, removable tags that can be placed in any steel oil and gas pipe. They are tuned to read two to three feet from the end of the steel pipes and endure the harsh weather conditions. The tags are simply placed into the pipes at the time of manufacturing and then they can be removed before the pipes are driven down hole. Information including pipe ID, pipe length and heat number can all be encoded onto the tag. Pipe tallies are transformed into an almost instantaneous operation. With a handheld reader, you simply read whole stacks of pipes at a time to get an aggregate tally or individual pipes to get information about a particular pipe. There’s no longer any need to un-stack and manually measure dozens of two ton pipes. The solution is configured based on customer requirements and includes some or all of the following components:
The Result: Tally time is dramatically reduced leveraging RFID. On average, full stacks of 60 pipes can be tallied by one person in 13 seconds instead of four people over several man hours. Staff can be deployed to more productive supply chain oriented tasks. In addition, item level pipe tracking can be accomplished by reading and tracking individual pipes throughout the supply chain providing greater operational visibility. |
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