Sun Microsystems delays RFID test centre opening

But the delay means that the sector will be more targeted towards the needs of European companies and will cater for a broader range of projects than originally envisaged.

In the food and beverage sector, RFID is attracting considerable attention as a means of tracking inventory and guarding against diversion and counterfeiting, as well as tracking the integrity of the supply chain.

Sun had planned that the Scottish centre, based in Linlithgow, would be a carbon copy of a centre it set up in May in Dallas, US. The latter is aimed firmly at the retail supply sector, but the new format for the Linlithgow facility will also take in asset management and the tracking of goods, according to UK-based packaging consultancy Pira​.

Notably, the Dallas unit supports all the RFID technologies - tags and readers - that are being deployed by US retailing giant Wal-Mart, currently leading the charge to embrace RFID by demanding that its suppliers implement the technology.

At Sun's Dallas facility, companies submit the tags, readers and other RFID hardware and software they are planning to use, and Sun testers evaluate how well they would function in Wal-Mart facilities. The company is also planning a similar centre in the Asia-Pacific region.

In addition to the test centres, Sun sells a range of hardware and software for RFID applications.

IBM already up and running​

Meanwhile, IBM launched its own test centre venture in Europe with the opening of a facility in La Gaude in France earlier this month.

The new centre complements existing IBM development centres in Gaithersburg in the US and Tokyo, Japan, and will allow European based companies to test RFID solutions in real customer environments, according to the company.

Services offered at the centre include the identification, evaluation and integration of end-to-end industry solution prototypes; supporting information technology and business processes; middleware and applications; and antenna and tag properties.