Syscan and Sensor Wireless announce RFID partnership
separate technologies to jointly develop new RFID applications for
the food production industry.
The reasoning behind the initiative is that food producers have become increasingly preoccupied with the task of ensuring the safety and integrity of the food chain. On the other hand, supply chain participants are constantly seeking ways to improve quality, limit spoilage and increase yield.
Syscan's CEO Axel Striefler said that Sensor Wireless' capacity to monitor shock, humidity and chemical reactions dovetails with Syscan's traceability and temperature monitoring solutions. "The combination of our respective technologies goes a long way to resolving many issues for all parties," he said.
Sensor Wireless president Wayd McNally was equally enthusiastic about the strategy. "The added value each technology will bring to customers in materials handling, food and beverage systems will significantly improve the efficiency, reliability and effectiveness of new and existing food safety and traceability systems," he said.
Syscan specialises in delivering RFID-based business efficiency solutions that include asset tracking, temperature monitoring and quality control methodologies for the food industry. Sensor Wireless designs, develops and produces patented real-time wireless technology, proprietary sensors and integrates handheld computers and data management software to produce and display information that monitors production and transportation logistics of the food chain.
Its applications are designed to enable clients to monitor their supply chain processes in order to detect harmful aspects in processing and handling or to receive verification that all systems are running satisfactorily. These include Smart Spud, a system that enables producers to monitor the harvesting, handling and transportation of potatoes and the CrackLess Egg, an acrylic egg that monitors and detects harmful aspects in production.
Both companies say they will market the products throughout the Americas and Europe.
The alliance between Syscan and Sensor Wireless is the latest in a series of joint initiatives in the supply chain technology sector. For example, Sun Microsystems and Capgemini recently launched a jointly-developed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solution that enables packaged goods companies to comply with RFID mandates issued by a growing number of leading retailers.
Both Sun and Capgemini claim that the RFID solution is unique because it has been designed from the ground up to optimise the full supply chain. The solution addresses business justification and supply chain modelling, as well as expertise in the application landscape at both the enterprise and middleware levels.
Sun and Capgemini RFID solutions are based on the Sun Java Enterprise System software, an open and integrated software system, and Sun's RFID infrastructure software that features self-healing and provisioning and works with leading EPC-enabled readers. Sun's EPC-compliant RFID software is supported on a full range of systems available from Sun, including Solaris x86 or Linux -based Operating Systems through high-end SMP environments leveraging UltraSPARC processors and Solaris OS.
"Capgemini and Sun are working together with customers to build collaborative RFID solutions that allow organizations of all shapes and sizes to go 'beyond compliance' to seek competitive advantage in their supply chain," said Mal Postings, global Mobility leader, Capgemini. "We provide companies with an expertise based on first-hand experience and real-world implementations."
