RFID Research Center at the University of Arkansas “Examining the Business Value of RFID” Note: this document is copyrighted ( 2008) and confidential; do not distribute or cite without explicit permission.
Who are we? Purpose: to investigate the business value and implications of RF technologies ~ 15 faculty and ~100 students Privately funded: more than 50 companies provide funding and equipment for the Center Founding member of GRFLA
Global RF Lab Alliance
RFID Lab 10,000 sq. ft. lab in Hanna’s Candle Co. 4,500 sq. ft. lab in Zero Mountain (cold storage facility) Replicates RFID in supply chain: dock doors, conveyor, impact doors, forklifts, pallet wrappers, item level, etc. Serves as research and teaching facility Provides services to the industry (tag type, tag placement, reader/antenna type) EPCglobal Accredited Test Center
RFID Lab Lab simulates the complete retail supply chain from supplier’s shipping dock to store shelf
RFID Lab “The [University of Arkansas] RFID Lab is the most advanced of any owned by a university …” Mark Roberti, Editor of RFID Journal,
RFID Lab
Student education Dedicated courses in –College of Business –Engineering College Integrated in –Logistics, marketing, management –Computer science –Industrial engineering –Political science –Animal science –Etc.
Public Education In the past year … More than 1200 people from 500+ companies have toured our lab
Demonstrations at major conferences Public Education
Research projects (current) Reducing out of stocks –Wal-Mart, Dillard’s, American Apparel, others Improving inventory accuracy and store execution –Wal-Mart, Dillard’s, American Apparel, others Loss prevention –Dillard’s, American Apparel, others Location with passive UHF –Sam’s Club, others Supply chain optimization –Wal-Mart, Monsanto, Dillard’s, others Environmental sensor tags for cold chain: improving food quality –Deloitte / Chiquita, C.H.Robinson and two retailers, Tyson
Research projects (cont’d) Asset management / WIP tracking –Northrop Grumman, others Data analytics –Various suppliers RFID middleware (open source) –Release of TagCentric Tag security Public policy issues
New Academic Journal International Journal of RF Technologies: Research and Applications In cooperation with GRFLA Now accepting submissions rftechnologies
Bill Hardgrave For copies of white papers, visit Keyword: RFID