Intermec Technologies Corp., a pioneer in radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies and global supply chain automatic data collection systems, today announced the availability of RFID products and services that comply with the requirements for the U.S. Department of Defense’s unique identification (UID) initiative, outlined today in Washington, D.C.
The Department of Defense has asked suppliers to include UID identification markings on products supplied to the government by 2005. A UID product marking system can include RFID, bar coding and other types of automatic identification. Adoption of the UID system will allow the Department to increase efficiency and cut costs, even while increasing distribution accuracy and inventory visibility.
Intermec has a 30-year history as a U.S. Government partner, working with many of its many agencies, including the Dept. of Defense, on supply chain efficiency and inventory tracking initiatives. The company has a wide selection of standards-based equipment and services available that meet Dept. of Defense UID requirements.
“Today’s announcement by the Department of Defense underscores the promise and future of RFID technology at the heart of the supply chain,” said Intermec Vice President Mike Wills, who leads Intermec’s RFID initiatives. “From toothpaste to munitions, the Department of Defense arguably has the world’s most diverse supply chain. Now, with RFID and a standards-based approach, the Department and its suppliers will be able to achieve real-time visibility of their products for more efficient and effective delivery when and where they are most needed.”
RFID technologies are a complement to industry’s current bar code-based tracking systems and allow companies to automatically track inventory throughout an entire supply chain. RFID automatic data collection does not require line of sight or manual scanning as do most bar code-based systems. For example, information from RFID-tagged cases on a pallet can be read automatically using fixed, mobile or handheld readers rather than requiring individual case bar code scanning. Intermec’s Intellitag RFID technology adds the capability to change and update the information on each tag as it proceeds, providing new levels of up-to-date information for better decision making.
Intermec RFID products already are being used in a multitude of government and commercial applications around the world from manufacturing, food processing, security and logistics applications in the United States, to retail and logistics applications in Europe, to bio-hazard waste management in Africa and transportation systems in Japan. Intermec has the world's widest range of UHF readers and tags systems, including systems certified for operation in the United States at 915 MHz and 2.45GHz, in Europe at 869MHz (meeting narrow-band requirements) and in Japan meeting 2.45GHz frequency regulations.
Information about today’s meeting and the UID initiative is available at www.dodait.com.
About Intermec
Intermec Technologies Corp., a UNOVA Inc. (NYSE:UNA) company, is a leader in global supply chain solutions and in the development, manufacture and integration of wired and wireless automated data collection, Intellitag RFID (radio frequency identification) and mobile computing systems. The company’s products and services are used by customers in many industries to improve productivity, quality and responsiveness of business operations, from supply chain management and enterprise resource planning to field sales and service.
To learn more about how companies can benefit from Intermec’s supply chain technologies, contact Intermec Technologies Corp., 6001 36th Ave. West, Everett, WA 98203 USA; telephone 800-347-2636; or visit Intermec's web site at www.intermec.com. To learn more about UNOVA, visit www.unova.com.
