IBM RFID Solutions Centers: Leveraging IBM business solutions with RFID technology

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1 Providing RFID technology support to help implement your program and succeed IBM RFID Solutions Centers: Leveraging IBM business solutions with RFID technology As business continues to evolve, there are few technological advances that will have as large of an impact as radio frequency identification (RFID). Because it has proven to be an effective tool for businesses, RFID technology is quickly taking center stage in today s marketplace. Highlights Offer guidance and support to Help you focus on industryspecific, business process help define your RFID technology investment roadmap oriented solutions Help seamlessly integrate costs Provide deep industry expertise and improve efficiency returns to help you meet your business through our cumulative and technology goals experience and assessment Offer strategically located global Provide the expertise to help solution centers to help address seamlessly integrate RFID your business needs technology into your operations RFID technology can help businesses reduce labor costs and increase operational efficiency and throughput. RFID technology can reduce overage as well as shortage claims due to improved accuracy for shipping and receiving and inventory movement data. Retailers have cited an increase in sales from extended supply chain visibility and improved replenishment techniques. RFID technology can help reduce shrinkage due to increased inventory control and visibility and lower the cost of stock holding at all points in the supply chain. Businesses have found that employees are better aligned with processes and systems within the supply chain and are able to more effectively meet business objectives.

2 Page 2 Providing the technical expertise to help meet RFID objectives As you consider implementation of RFID you need to define a strategy that will best leverage the technology to deliver the kind of returns on investment that are available. IBM has eight worldwide RFID solutions centers for the purpose of sales and engagement support. The IBM centers offer a combination of RFID technical expertise, practical assessment and implementation services, and industryleading innovative solutions that place IBM among the leaders in RFID technology solutions. Our centers can help enhance your investment, and make usage and growth of RFID technology more efficient and costeffective. We can help your company stay ahead of the RFID evolution, while allowing you to take full advantage of this rapidly changing technology. Helping you lower costs and evaluate technology Understanding RFID is a good place to start. From understanding the physics of this technology through the business value of implementing business process oriented RFID solutions, IBM can help. Our centers help provide the foundation to establish a strategy to help reduce risk, lower cost and speed the time to your successful launch. We ll help you evaluate various technology providers and combinations of tag, fixed reader, handheld reader, printer, middleware and other technology components for performance and compatibility with your product lines. Our centers can help you identify and resolve problems prior to investing in pilots and rollouts. Identifying issues to help protect your revenue stream The IBM centers can help you establish benchmark performance for your products with various individual technology components. They can also help you project full system performance, analyze the effect on your network and IT environment, identify integration issues within both the wired and the wireless domain in the enterprise environment and protect your revenue stream by being compliant to large customer mandates. Offering specific benefits for specific industries RFID technology can provide specific benefits for a wide range of businesses and organizations. In the retail industry, RFID technology can help businesses to automate management of key business processes: product receipt / putaway, product expedition, inventory location / availability, out-of-stock, shrink, shelf-set, check-out and returns management. RFID technology can also provide out-of-stock triggers to prevent customer disappointment, obtain real-time supply/demand data and enhance customer experience. Retailers have seen: Lower labor costs Reduced shrinkage Improved management of inventories (reduced out-of-stock and overage) Improved resiliency Additional complementary functions and features

3 Page 3 The transportation industry can benefit from RFID by helping carriers accurately verify contract pricing and reduce claim costs. It can also help improve: Asset utilization and tracking Volume planning Automated sorting Automated data capture Shipment route tracing Delivery reliability/efficiency Manufacturers can benefit from RFID technology by helping them comply with government regulations, reduce gray markets and theft, control labor and material costs and streamline recall procedures. It can also help improve: Quality control Lot tracking Inventory accuracy and visibility Asset control and utilization Contract manufacturing Supplier management Customer relations Supply chain management Warehouse management Inventory and parts management Shrinkage Shop floor execution Healthcare and pharmaceutical organizations can benefit from RFID technology by helping them enable environmental monitoring of specimens such as blood samples, anti-counterfeit measures and product recall procedures. It can also help: Track hospital equipment Track patient identification Prevent medication errors Track prescriptions Track samples/vials, etc. In the government sector, RFID technology can help implement homeland security objectives by providing real-time access to mission critical information that can currently be viewed in remote regional and field locations. Businesses can use RFID to incorporate business rules and system alerts based on customer order status and dwell time. This hierarchy of rules manages the processing of merchandise in accordance with its assigned status so that critical orders are processed before lower-priority units. Providing RFID solutions centers to help you achieve your goals Each of the eight IBM worldwide RFID solutions centers has a core focus and area of specialization in order to help clients understand everything from the physics of the RFID core technology through the business value of implementing business process oriented RFID-enabled solutions. Markham, Canada (Canadian RFID Centre) This centre specializes in the food traceability of refrigerated and frozen consumer products for retail and distribution clients.

4 Page 4 Co-founded by industry associations and technology partners, including IBM, the centre will: - Help manufacturers, distributors and retailers to understand how RFID technology will enable food traceability - Provide an industry resource centre in Canada that will help drive RFID technology discussions and adoption - Provide education and training, with the centre s testing capabilities expanding as RFID technology enablement and industry requirements evolve - Demonstrate the interoperability of RFID equipment in a multi-vendor environment 5,000 square foot centre that demonstrates business processes in a simulated supply chain, from supplier to distribution centre to retail store Newly renovated executive briefing centre Washington, D.C. (U.S.) (Institute for Electronic Government Briefing Center) This center specializes in global public sector briefings with nearly 80% attendance being government clients. RFID specialists from all areas are available for briefing presentations, consultation and training as needed. Deliver customized executive level briefings and events for public sector clients from government, education and healthcare organizations Provide IBM s thought leadership and expertise to the public sector Demonstrate leading-edge IBM public sector solutions Two executive briefing rooms (one classroom style for large groups) and two informal demo settings for group discussions Large demo area featuring 100+ leading-edge public sector demonstrations, including IBM RFID to print, verify and ship Research Triangle Park, North Carolina (U.S.) (Retail Innovation Center) This center specializes in retail store solutions. Experts are available for all retail store products, including point-of-sale (POS) systems, selfservice solutions, software and more. Customized briefings and demonstrations encompass specific product focus and overall solutions including enablement of technologies such as RFID.

5 Page 5 Executive briefing center Retail innovation center Customized briefings and demonstrations for the retail industry Executive conference room Retail innovation center Video conferencing Research Triangle Park, North Carolina (U.S.) (Wireless Center of Excellence) This center specializes in hands-on RFID testing in cross-sector areas with a focus on distribution. The testing determines recommended RFID tag and reader combinations for optimal tag readability, based on the unique characteristics of products being tagged. RFID technology and technical experts are available to conduct training and consultation. Deliver client engagements - Physical RFID testing (both at the center and at client sites) - Infrastructure and solution design/ installation/testing - Develop and install client site RFID lab environments Sales and delivery support Demo IBM s RFID solution portfolio - IBM print, verify, ship and IBM middleware - Partner technology: hardware and software from RFID technology providers Develop delivery assets and resource training Develop and utilize IBM s thought leadership around RFID/wireless infrastructure and technology 5,000 square feet of operating warehouse space, with 6 dock doors and IEEE a/b/g wireless network Up to 650 feet/minute RFID-enabled loop conveyor RFID-enabled dock doors and warehouse equipment: forklifts and pallet wrapper Wireless technology lab Dallas, Texas (U.S.) (RFID Global Solution Center) This center specializes in complex business solutions, with an RFID focus on retail, consumer products, automotive, electronics and government industries. Certified

6 Page 6 information technology (IT) architects and specialists representing a breadth of specialties are available to conduct briefings and workshops. Build industry business solution prototypes Provide pre-sales technical support for industry solutions Host RFID-oriented briefings, including: - IBM hardware, software and services - Partner technology: hardware and software Demonstrate IBM s RFID solution portfolio - Inventory visibility - Inventory replenishment - Self-checkout Industry solution center Executive briefing center Classrooms Technology gallery 15,000 square foot solution lab Sao Paulo, Brazil (RFID Center) This center specializes in distribution and integration solutions for clients in the following industries: retail, consumer products, automotive, aerospace, electronics, industrial products and chemical and petroleum. Architects and specialists from the IBM Software Group and supply chain consultants from IBM Business Consulting Services are available to conduct training and consultation. Host client briefings for integration solutions IBM software and services Partner technology: hardware and software Demonstrate IBM s RFID technology capabilities Supply chain (pick-pack-ship and three-way match) Identification RFID technology integration room for demonstrations with RFID readers, tags and middleware Shared rooms with the Technical Exploration Center and the IBM Experience demonstration area, providing: - Conference rooms - Classrooms - Catering - Hardware and software for proof of concepts La Gaude, France (RFID and Industry Solution Center) This center specializes in demonstrating the business value

7 Page 7 of multiple industry solutions using end-to-end live solution prototypes, with deep architecture skills on hand to discuss the technical implications. The facility showcases a variety of potential RFID business and technical scenarios, demonstrating the importance of an end-to-end RFID architecture and the critical role of IBM RFID middleware. This flexible approach offers a variety of integration possibilities to include multiple IBM partners and their associated solution capabilities. The La Gaude facility is a multidisciplined, business-focused solution center, designed to help clients understand the value and implications of major technologies on their customers and to demonstrate IBM s deployment capabilities for RFID technology solutions with strategic IBM and non-ibm architectures and components. Capabilities include the ability to provide comprehensive, live RFID solution prototypes for applications in the following industries: consumer products, manufacturing, transportation, retail, healthcare and life sciences/pharmaceutical. Testing capabilities built on IBM Sensors and Actuators software that can demonstrate, test and verify the integration of multiple RFID technology partners for a specific solution. This can also be used to provide RFID asset tracking and authentication in end-to-end asset monitoring solution prototypes. The RFID Center offers the following RFID demonstrations and prototypes: - Comprehensive RFID supply chain prototype - RFID asset tracking prototype (customized by client) - Hospital prototype - End-to-end RFID asset authentication and monitoring prototype - IBM Sensors and Actuators software, showcasing IBM RFID business partner integration - RFID technologies, like RFID Tunnnel (pharmaceutical industry) In addition, the IBM Industry Solution Center@ the Forum supports client events focused on exploring the business value of our industry specific business solutions. It is designed around the consumer and it is built to reflect a typical supply chain from the factory to a consumer s home. Each client visit is custom tailored; a variety of RFID technology demonstrations are featured, including: - Retail store with back-office and sales floor - Distribution including supplier and retail warehouses and transportation - Consumer s home - Manufacturing environment - Doctor s office - Business headquarter office environment and call center - Video conferencing Yamato, Japan (RFID Solution Center) This center provides RFID technology solutions for a wide range of industries. Experts in areas of wireless technologies and sense and actuator released software are available to conduct training and consultation.

8 Page 8 RFID related technical consulting including required client pilot tests Design and development for RFID systems including wireless technologies and software Antenna design and electronic wave simulation to enhance the performance and quality of RFID systems Evaluation of electromagnetic interference by other radio-frequency noise, obstacles of metal, liquid, humidity, etc. Executive conference room RFID solution test lab with a shielded room, an anechoic room and electromagnetic wave scanner facilities Choosing IBM to help you meet your objectives In addition to RFID technology solution capabilities provided by IBM s eight centers: IBM was cited as a leader in RFID technology solutions for effectively demonstrating RFID capability at the item, case and pallet level (AMR, January 2005) IBM has the vertical strength across a broad set of target industries, with particular strength in the financial services, industrial, distribution and public sectors. IBM is able to provide not only the technical expertise, but also the industry and domain knowledge to sell to constituents that influence the buying decisions for RFID (AMR Research, December 2005) IBM has over 1000 RFID practitioners worldwide, has conducted over 150 RFID technology solution engagements. IBM On-Demand Innovation Services brings IBM research together with IBM Business Consulting Services. IBM has invested more than $1 billion in wireless research and development and $250 million in sensor and actuator technology development. IBM has eight worldwide RFID technology and industry demo centers. For more information To learn more about IBM RFID services visit ibm.com/services/index.us Copyright IBM Corporation 2005 IBM Global Services Route 100 Somers, NY USA Produced in the United States of America All Rights Reserved. IBM, the IBM logo and the e-business logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. References in this publication to IBM products and services do not imply that IBM intends to make them available in all countries in which IBM operates. The IBM home page on the Internet can be found at ibm.com G