AirGATE Technologies has completed the initial phase of a significant RFID pilot that has implications for manufacturers across the globe.
The AirGATE pilot is being conducted with one of the largest U.S. automotive component re-manufacturers to solve item tracking and control problems that occur during the manufacturing process.
During the re-manufacturing of certain automotive components, the assembly and painting processes render traditional bar code labels ineffective for item tracking by blocking the line-of-sight optical reader requirement associated with bar codes. To address the problem, AirGATE engineers incorporated RFID tags for tracking purposes. RFID tags are tiny RF transmitters that use radio waves to communicate component identification data such as part numbers, unique serial numbers, date of manufacture and other information specific to that item.
RFID tags can be preloaded with information and then applied to a component early in the assembly process, painted over, and communicated with throughout the progression of manufacturing and assembly, all the way to final packaging and pallet loading. Using RFID in this way will allow the manufacturer to identify which components are inside which box and pallet, before shipping finished items to a distribution center or customer location, ensuring accurate product distribution.
"This is an excellent example of a best use of RFID to produce a great ROI for a manufacturer by eliminating shipment errors, re-cycling and returns, and most important, avoiding unhappy end-user customers," said Michael Sheriff, CEO of the X-Change Corporation.
Radio Frequency Identification is one of the fastest growing markets in technology. RFID is an information management tool that employs miniature RF transmitters, sometimes called 'smart labels' or 'smart tags', that are attached to product packages, cases, pallets and shipping containers to communicate their cargo's identification data via radio waves to 'readers' that allow a tagged item to be tracked every step of its journey from component stage in the assembly plant to final manufacture, shipping, and movement through all points in the distribution channel, all the way to the retail shelf and eventual purchase by the end user. The growth to-date and the predictions into the future for RFID tag and reader technology will follow an upward geometric curve. The global uptake of RFID is expected to grow rapidly, conservatively reaching a value of $1 billion by 2006.
AirGATE Technologies is a development stage company specializing in wireless data management technologies. The company designs and develops applications utilized in RFID deployments. AirGATE will deliver RFID solutions in selected vertical markets built around a data management and integration strategy.
X-Change Corporation intends to acquire interests in emerging technology opportunities, such as RFID, that the Company believes will generate significant revenues and return a profit to shareholders.