Zebra Technologies, Impinj and UPM Raflatac Collaborate to Deliver Item-Level UHF Gen 2 RFID Solution
Package validation solution offers critical efficiency gains while reducing operational cost and improving customer satisfaction.
Seattle, WA April 28, 2009 - Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ: ZBRA), a global leader in on-demand specialty printing and automatic identification solutions, in collaboration with Impinj®, a leading UHF Gen 2 radio frequency identification (RFID) technology solutions provider, and UPM Raflatac, a leading global supplier of pressure sensitive labelstock and manufacturer of RFID tags and inlays, today announces a critical item-level tagging and validation solution for the manufacturing, information technology, retail, and healthcare industries. Based on UHF Gen 2 RFID technology and using components from all three companies, this innovative collaboration introduces a critical process improvement solution concept that will reduce process failures, provide enhanced security, save on mis-shipment costs and provide greater automation and accuracy.
“This joint effort represents the evolution of RFID’s capability of providing efficient, low-cost tracking solutions to businesses,” said Carolyn Ricci, senior product manager, RFID, Zebra Technologies. “The increased efficiency and actionable logistics changes brought by item-level visibility and UHF Gen 2 RFID technology can easily demonstrate ROI within just six months for companies shipping products.”
Designed for backend pick and place operations, this solution augments existing business processes by validating a box’s contents, even when the package is sealed, preventing incorrect or incomplete orders from being shipped and drastically reducing mis-shipments.
“Working in tandem with UPM Raflatac and Zebra Technologies to engineer a package validation solution for contract manufacturers and packers, we were able to incorporate the best skills and products from each company to produce a first-class offering, which delivers savings directly to the bottom line,” said Kerry Krause, vice president of marketing at Impinj.
"Our RFID-enabled package validation solution begins a totally new era of item-level packaging in terms of efficiency and accuracy,” said Mikko Nikkanen, Business Development Director, RFID, UPM Raflatac. “In addition to its benefits for manufacturers and packers, the solution will bring many benefits to consumers including more reliable package content."
Key features and benefits of the package validation solution include:
- Zebra UHF RZ400 printer: combines 4-inch-wide smart label printing/encoding, rugged reliability and the flexibility to meet supply chain and business improvement applications in most manufacturing/warehouse and business environments.
- UPM tags based on Impinj Monza™ 3 tag chips: high-performance tag read and write reliability optimized chips for successful enterprise-wide RFID deployments.
- Impinj Speedway® reader and reader antennas: designed from the ground up to support the EPCglobal UHF Gen 2 standard, providing unmatched reliability, patented RF interference rejection and high throughput.
“Based upon customer feedback received while using these components in the field, companies can realize a rapid return on investment in reverse logistics, shipping accuracy and in customer satisfaction,” remarked Carolyn Ricci. “By instituting the Zebra, Impinj and UPM Raflatac, solution, companies can create a customizable solution for their specific needs to best increase efficiency for their business.”
The investment required to integrate RFID technology in process-intensive environments is steadily decreasing. By incorporating these products with customizable software, companies can realize crucial cost-saving benefits and efficiencies that can lead to a competitive advantage. A whitepaper and interactive demonstration detailing the solution concept is available to customers and partners who stop in each company’s booth at the RFID Journal Live exhibit from April 27 – 29 at Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin in Orlando, FL.
Customers and partners interested in learning more about the item-level UHF Gen 2 RFID solution concept are encouraged to contact Zebra, Impinj and UPM Raflatac directly for more information.
About Zebra Technologies
Zebra Technologies Corporation improves customers’ business performance through products and solutions that identify, track and manage assets, transactions and people. In more than 100 countries around the world, more than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies use innovative and reliable Zebra printers, supplies, RFID products and software to increase productivity, improve quality, lower costs, and deliver better customer service. Information about Zebra and Zebra-brand products can be found at www.zebra.com.
About UPM Raflatac
UPM Raflatac, part of UPM's Engineered Materials business group, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of self-adhesive label materials and the world’s number one producer of HF and UHF radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and inlays. UPM Raflatac has a global service network consisting of 14 factories on five continents and a broad network of sales offices and slitting and distribution terminals worldwide. UPM Raflatac employs 2,600 people and made sales of approximately USD 1.4 billion (EUR 1 billion) in 2008. Further information is available at www.upmraflatac.com.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
About Impinj
Impinj (NASDAQ: PI) helps businesses and people analyze, optimize, and innovate by wirelessly connecting billions of everyday things—such as apparel, automobile parts, luggage, and shipments—to the Internet. The Impinj platform uses RAIN RFID to deliver timely data about these everyday things to business and consumer applications, enabling a boundless Internet of Things. www.impinj.com
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