Articles

RSS

Click Here To Download:
•Article: Kimberly-Clark

Copyright 2006, RFID Journal LLC. Reprinted with permission. For more information, visit www.rfidjournal.com

Kimberly-Clark (K-C) says it is using the ALR-9800 RFID interrogator (reader) made by Morgan Hill, Calif.- based RFID hardware provider Alien Technology in its RFID-tagging operation. The consumer packaged goods manufacturer and early RFID adopter chose the reader from a pool of other Gen-2-compliant, multiprotocol models it tested last year in its 5,000-square-foot Auto-ID Sensing Technologies Performance Test Center in Neenah, Wisc.

"We tested the readers in multiple scenarios [with tags moving at] multiple speeds, and with many different [EPC passive] tags," says Gary Clement, technology development manager for Kimberly-Clark's Auto-ID Sensing Technologies group, which performs tests and makes RFID hardware recommendations for K-C's logistics division. The group is also responsible for deploying the company's RFID systems.

"The Alien ALR-9800 interrogator was the best-performing one," Clement says, adding that K-C's decision to use the ALR- 9800 extends only as far as its current RFID-tagging operations, for compliance with retail mandates. "We're using the readers for our present use case, but as our scenarios change and as manufactures develop new readers, we'll continue to consider them."

Alien released the ALR-9800 interrogator in August (see Alien Debuts Gen 2 Interrogator). The device reads ultrahighfrequency EPC Class 1 Gen 2 tags, as well as EPC Class 1 Gen 1 tags, which K-C is applying to cases and pallets today. According to Clement, the company is actively testing EPC Class 1 Gen 2 tags and hopes soon to begin applying them to the cases and pallets it ships to RFID-enabled retail distribution centers.

Mary Catherine O'Connor is the associate editor of RFID Journal and RFIDJournal.com. She provides a wide variety of news and feature stories for both the Web site and print magazine. Prior to joining RFID Journal in late 2004, O'Connor served as an associate editor with Modern Media Partners, the media and events firm that produces many of RFID Journal's conferences and educational seminars, including the annual RFID Journal LIVE! conference. Before working for Modern Media, she worked as an editor and writer for a range of magazines and Web sites devoted to adventure travel and outdoor recreation.

Click Here To Download:
•Article: Kimberly-Clark