RFID SEMINAR

AT MERRIMACK COLLEGE

The IEEE Student Section at Merrimack College will present a three part lecture series entitled “RFID Technologies and its Applications” on three separate Tuesday evenings starting 10/26 followed by sessions on 11/9, and 11/16. All sessions are scheduled for 6:30 to 9:00 pm and will be free and open to the public.

The RFID (radio frequency identification) revolution is moving into high gear. Recent mandates by Wal-Mart, Target, the Department of Defense and transportation industry will forever change the way products and materials are to be shipped. The supply chain will undergo radical changes. We now have the potential to store and deliver enormous amounts of information about goods, production, storage and shipping.

Leading businesses and professional service firms realize it is the bedrock of competitive advantage. The supply chain is often sloppy and elastic, very often prone to human error. RFID will correct this by monitoring where goods are moving and who is doing the checking and handling at each point along the route. There are numerous benefits of RFID in national security, business and manufacturing operations, information systems, sales, marketing and finance which promises a timely and stable supply chain.

The real challenge of the RFID revolution is in changing the thinking of senior management that may fail to see the big picture. RFID isn’t simply a technological revolution, it is a business revolution, and those that fail to recognize and embrace it may well be left behind and no longer able to compete in the global marketplace.

Session 1 – RFID Past, Present and Future

Lecturer: Dr Sanjay Sarma - former Chairman of Research and co-founder, Auto-ID Center, Assoc. Professor of Mechanical Engineering, MIT and Chief Technology Officer and Board Member, OATSystems

RFID is an example of a larger class of technology known as wireless sensing. Wireless sensors might one day be used to monitor the environment for pollution, to sense fires in the wilderness, to sense for chemical or biological weapons in urban environments, or to map the activity in a battlefield. RFID tags themselves are a more modest first step into this direction: they permit the computer world to "see" physical items in the real world. This has enormous implications in supply chain management. Dr.Sarma will talk about RFID tags, frame them in the larger context of wireless sensing, and will describe the business and economic benefits of tags in the supply chain and beyond. He will also describe the Auto-ID Center, and the research MIT and other universities did to bring RFID closer to reality.

Session 2

Part 1: Wal-Mart RFID/EPC Compliance for Discrete Manufacturing: Lessons Learned

Lecturer: Abeezar Tyebji, President/CEO of Shipcom Wireless

Shipcom Wireless, INC. has been involved in the implementation of Automatic Data Collection technology for Warehousing and extended supply chain applications since 1997. Shipcom has developed a solution (CATAMARAN) that enables a corporation to integrate a wide variety of automatic data collection devices like RF barcode scanners and RFID readers, into their supply chain. The CATAMARAN solution has been implemented at a number of Wal-Mart suppliers to comply with the RFID/EPC Wal-Mart mandate. Mr. Abeezar Tyebji, the CEO of Shipcom, will present successes and lessons learned of some RFID implementation projects for Wal-Mart suppliers.

Part 2: The Emerging EPC World

Lecturer: Philip Lazo, VP and General Manager , RFID Division, Global Products Group, Symbol Technologies Inc

A discussion of the industry trends, business applications, and real-life lessons from field deployments of EPC solutions. The speaker will discuss EPC solutions with an emphasis on the customer/market needs and how the RFID industry is responding to these needs. Examples of EPC deployments, key learnings and critical success factors from these field deployments.

Session 3

Part 1:

Lecturer: John Pantano, VP of Sales and Marketing and co-founder of Radianse Inc. and former Global Product Marketing Manager and North American Business Manager of Philips/HP Medical.

Radianse, Inc., Lawrence, MA, provides an active-RFID technology that incorporates an indoor positioning system (IPS) for healthcare to reduced asset shrinkage and labor costs and improved utilization, patient flow-times and overall workflow efficiency. A Radianse IPS combines long-range active-RFID with a patent-pending location algorithm for accurate, continuous location and association of people, places and things. The IPS solution is in use at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, The Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania and several other hospitals. John will talk about the market, developments and trends in active-RFID specifically on how it relates to healthcare applications.

Part 2: Supply Chain Applications and Logistics

Lecturer: Rohit Verma Ph.D., Vice President Corporate Development, Savi Technology, Inc.

Dr. Verma will present and discuss the role of RFID in supply chain optimization and transportation logistics and security. He will provide case studies of various applications of RFID from different verticals addressing needs for managing the supply chain, increasing utilization of supply chain assets and improving supply chain security.

Directions: Merrimack College is at the intersection of Routes 114 and 125 in North Andover. From the North take 495 to exit 42a, and follow 114 one mile towards Middleton. From the South or West take Route 93 North to Exit 41, and follow 125 three miles towards North Andover. The 10/26 lecture is in the McQuade Library Auditorium, and the 11/9 and 11/16 lectures are in the Murray Lounge, in the Sakowich Center. Contact person: Jack Adams, jack.adams@merrimack.edu, 978-837-5363.