Knowledge is Power. RFID Power
It’s academic.

By Ken Reich, TAGSYS

The think global - act local paradigm is dependant on a complex tapestry of deliverables-driven operations management, trade partner alliances, supply chain matrixes, inventory security measures, profitability and risk reduction models, as well as navigation of turbulent and sometimes treacherous geopolitical waters. The prize is of course gaining and protecting a competitive edge while building brand recognition, thought leadership and expanding and/or capturing the coveted dominant market share.

Those companies whose leadership recalls thinking, “Email, what’s that?”…or, “Our I.T. managers control our computing needs, why would all of our employees ever need a computer?” will once again find themselves caught off guard by falling behind the state-of-the-art curve in conducting business, meeting compliance issues and getting in step with governance parameters relative to the new kid on the block; RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). The ever growing complexities of business’ internal processes taken together with external market forces will require new paradigms driven by RFID technology for assuring tighter risk management and increased profit margins.

Throughout history technology has foisted major change upon enterprise and as time marches forward it will further change businesses and those entire industries within which they operate. Life altering “disruptive” technologies have had a particularly strong affect in terms of shifting paradigms and re-writing the book so to speak on how business is conducted. The ubiquitous personal computer, the cyber highway we know as the Internet and RFID are all examples of disruptive technologies because of their inherent ability to drive major change.

It was a short 17 years ago that the first vestiges of a World Wide Web was realized with the advent of the very first web page, and in the mid-90’s we saw PC Windows reach a plateau spurring the beginnings of the personal computer wave that spread like wildfire and empowered all who had one of those ‘boxes’ on their desk.

Harkening back to WWII when RF transponders were used by allied aircraft, we realize that the seeds were sown for RFID in the 1940’s, but it wasn’t until the relatively recent confluence of the PC and IP (Internet protocols) that data could be packaged, controlled, harvested, stored and retrieved. In short, technological microcosms adjoined creating an eco system that gave rise to and supported a profusion of new discoveries.

Over the last fifteen years RFID has been slowly gnawing its way into mainstream global enterprise while evolving and growing in interest. Some markets such as library, textile rental and even defense have already realized the immense advantages of radio frequency identification while others like CPG, retail, fashion/apparel, pharmaceutical and healthcare have only over the last two to three years dipped their collective toes into the RFID pool.

In Geoffrey A. Moore’s Crossing the Chasm, the author speaks to a bell curve illustrating the Technology Adoption Life Cycle. Moore takes us through cyclical phases of Innovators – Early Adopters – Early Majority – Late Majority and – Laggards. I would submit that preceding early Adopters is also a phase of Speculators. In any case, we are clearly vacillating between Innovators and Early Adopters when viewing the still emerging RFID markets such as those falling under the umbrella of life sciences. Moving from Early Adopter to early Majority will take market drivers and economic forces that are clearly demonstrative and easily understood, void of F.U.D. (Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt) and hype-free.

While RFID forges ahead, blazing new trails for meeting early adopter demands, and the industry continues to innovate with ever greater strides, one thing is certain; it has become a race for RFID vendor superiority in terms of tag and reader quality, compliance with EPC and ISO air interface protocols, increasingly more sophisticated integration methodologies, raising the bar on infrastructure deliverables, and of course cradle to grave support services. It all sounds like a fiat accompli. But, alas it’s not. There’s one excruciatingly apparent issue that is ever so quietly bubbling to the surface of this red hot molten lava pool and like a volcano the pressure is building.

You are probably thinking, “Okay, so what’s all the hubbub and drama about and what’s missing? Isn’t RFID all about the tags and hardware, software, and middleware? Taken together with business integration alliances and systems, isn’t this creating the lightening in a bottle that makes it all come together? And, isn’t RFID all about delivering near flawless performance when compared to the traditional 2D bar code? Doesn’t that about sum it up? The answer is yes [to a degree] – But, there’s another piece to the puzzle’s bigger picture.

In actuality, using a trite but applicable metaphor, what’s really occurring here is a “sprint” by manufacturers and integrators to accomplish the means by which end-users will enhance their supply chain and inventory management operations. Conversely, we’re seeing more of a “leisurely Sunday afternoon stroll” relative to educating those IT, Packaging, Production, Manufacturing and other professionals within the end-user community who will be responsible for the day-to-day RFID-enabled operations.

Company’s C-suites are salivating at the notion that RFID has the capability to reinvent commerce and help “build a better mouse trap” designed to enhance profitability and facilitate more prudent usage of human resources; and the RFID community is chafing at the bit to accommodate these captain’s of industry and their respective markets. It’s a “win-win.” So, why the lagging interest in educating and certifying?

In Thomas L. Friedman’s book, “The World is flat” he refers to a little anecdote reflecting on our global economy. It goes something like this: In Africa, the lion awakens in the morning and knows he must run faster than the slowest Gazelle or he will surely starve that day. The Gazelle awakens and knows he must run faster than the fastest lion or he will surely not live through the day. What’s the moral of this little tale? When you get up in the morning, you had better start running like hell!  The RFID community is doing just that.

However, the greater majority of end-users (specifiers and hands-on managers) have yet to divine an understanding of the more granular nature of RFID and need to play a bit of catch-up; start running or at least jogging to get up to speed on the technology that is changing the landscape of commerce as we know it. Can you imagine a CIO or I.T. Manager having little or no understanding of his/her company’s IP network server? The same holds true for RFID.

RFID training will accomplish two goals; the trained manager will be more proficient at his/her job and adept at functioning within the new environment, becoming a part of the RFID revolution both internally and externally. The second point is, with a more knowledgeable Operation, Packaging and/or IT Manager the company will become measurably more efficient and profitable. It’s academic. In contrast, if the individual is left behind, so to will the company be left behind. Maintaining a competitive edge is paramount both for the individual and the enterprise overall. In reality, history is chock full of giants that couldn’t adapt.

As a thought leadership advocate and practitioner, TAGSYS has to a large degree side-stepped the hawking of its wares and taken up the mantle of educating the marketplace on the advantages, features and benefits of radio frequency identification for tracking, tracing and authenticating goods as they move through the supply chain. In-fact, as the leading global item-level RFID specialist, TAGSYS has developed its IP portfolio, market focus, client approach, and product and services offerings to focus exclusively on customer-friendly end-to-end item-level RFID system solutions and infrastructure.

With this charter in-mind, the company has been ever more determined to demystify RFID and eliminate any and all biases associated with the so called frequency issue and instead offers the application-specific solutions that fit the individual customer need. Item-level tagging requires forward thinking discipline and skill sets, expertise and intellectual property for designing both the tag and the reader system, which when taken together deliver unparalleled real-world performance.

TAGSYS believes that the execution of an RFID strategy by the end-user is about selecting the best combination of frequency, technology, and implementation approach to develop a solution that delivers optimum performance while meeting set business objectives. The company is extremely proud that its clients acknowledge its ability to guide them in this process, and TAGSYS remains committed to helping create a customer friendly environment where veracity and empirically derived data, regardless of frequency issue, drives the advancement of RFID technology and the adoption process.

Today, TAGSYS takes another step in assuring a customer-friendly and unbiased educational offering for the end-user community at it’s corporate headquarters located in Cambridge, MA. The company is teaming with OTA Training in the interest of building a solid foundation of in-the-know practitioners; people who will be working with RFID on a daily basis. Although still a relatively young company, OTA has already developed a distinguished record of achievement. One of its earliest clients, DHL Express has already benefited from OTA’s highly effective style of RFID training.

“OTA training has enabled DHL’s project personnel to rapidly gain RFID practical expertise, which can apply immediately and effectively to RFID projects,” said Bob Berg, Global RFID Manager, DHL Express. “OTA’s training is more than technical book expertise – trainees learn how to properly deploy RFID in the real world while avoiding the pitfalls. DHL will be sending all of our RFID project personnel to OTA RFID training sessions” continued Berg.

SAP consultant, Matthias Galley was quoted as saying, “The 3-day training course by OTA gave me an excellent understanding about the complexity of RFID beyond the Wal-Mart requirements. The training provided me with the fundamental understanding of RFID and the hardware and software requirements for an implementation.”

It’s safe to say that just as there have been RFID manufacturing wannabes and look-alikes, there will also be many newcomers to the RFID training industry. But, none will offer a more leading edge, comprehensive and practical course. OTA’s instructors are not contracted from a pool of Rent-A-Trainers at general business training centers who offer learning platforms from power systems to aerospace technology. OTA’s trainers are RFID experts dedicated to the RFID industry. Period.

The unique OTA business model is built around a global presence of customizable courses to fit individual company requirements. The state-of-the-art training tools and facilities are unparalleled and are offered on site for customer convenience as well as at OTA’s base of operations located in Dallas, Texas. This isn’t a one-off or off the shelf training curriculum. OTA establishes a durable, long-term relationship with continuing education and ongoing support regardless of a customer’s location.

Robert Sabella, President and Founder of OTA Training, brings more than fifteen years of experiential, customer-focused practices and entrepreneurial business acumen to OTA. Considered by many to be one of the most innovative leaders in developing and bringing to market new technologies, Sabella has built an enviable reputation and distinguished track record of training a workforce capable of supporting these new technologies. This, in and of itself is a uniquely different cut above the competitive field and one of the criteria by which TAGSYS selected OTA training as a partner.

Sabella’s philosophy is grounded in a belief that in order for RFID implementation to be successful, people must be given the right set of skills and disciplines to enable that success. This was never more evident than when he co-founded OTA Solutions Inc., a leading RFID Placement company that focuses on the development and placement of RFID-trained resources. Also adding to the cache of the OTA brand is the fact that Robert’s OTA Training is one of the Founding Members of the CompTIA RFID+ Cornerstone Committee.

Sabella’s belief that individual’s learn at an individual pace gave rise to the guiding principle behind OTA’s success. As a result, courses are designed to guide the student through all stages of the learning cycle from novice to expert. Born of this practice is OTA’s proven E³ Learning System™; a unique blending of effective educational tools, engaging methodologies and easy to follow training that virtually guarantees highly effective results.

There are three distinct levels of OTA instruction that provide the academic structure geared to the individuals’ specific need:

• The Managers’ Perspective™ - A one-day course providing a basic overview for people who do not have direct implementation responsibility / Focus is on business process, change management and ROI calculation examples
• A System’s Approach to RFID Implementation™ - An intensive three-day course designed to train in implementation / Hands-on focus with exercises geared to instilling a deeper knowledge of commonly used tools
• RFID+™ Certification Module – An add-on module for A System’s Approach to RFID Implementation / Focuses on certification training and includes the CompTIA® RFID+™ certification exam

Each course curriculum is designed to instill just the right mix of information and training as required by the student and his/her environment and function.

Taken together, TAGSYS and OTA will further cement the belief that RFID’s only barrier to widespread adoption is imagination. The boundaries are virtually limitless as are the benefits in safeguarding lives and commerce as well as enabling increased corporate profitability. The power of blending TAGSYS’ technological expertise and OTA’s dedicated RFID learning platform will further advance implementation and the ongoing evolutionary process.