TIBCO Software Inc. has launched TIBCO RFID Interchange, a comprehensive new solution designed to transform, enrich and route Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) edge events.
The technology will make integration easy, with enterprise applications performing tasks such as order fulfillment and warehouse management.
Users of TIBCO RFID Interchange will streamline operations, orders, lead times and inventory at each stage in the supply chain process.
RFID technology connects the physical world of tags and readers with the enterprise applications that leverage the information contained in the tags. To date, mandates from major retailers and the US Department of Defense have driven much of the demand for RFID technology.
Now companies are seeking ways to make RFID part of their IT infrastructure by incorporating the technology into supply chain management activities to improve asset management, inventory management and order reconciliation.
However, realising this return-on-investment requires RFID data be aggregated from various edge devices and numerous disparate facilities and be integrated into the corporate business processes and application infrastructure.
While the focus for many has been on meeting short-term RFID compliance requirements at the lowest cost possible, more visionary companies have recognised the long-term benefits associated with RFID, such as improved supply chain efficiencies, increased visibility into product flow in logistics operations and reduced errors.
TNT Logistics, a leading provider of logistics services, has implemented TIBCO RFID Interchange to meet these goals. TNT Logistics required an RFID solution that could address specific customer business processes, streamline product flow and scale to meet the future demands of an expanding product line.
With TIBCO RFID Interchange, TNT Logistics leveraged their existing businesses processes and TIBCO infrastructure to quickly and easily build an RFID system fully integrated into its existing supply chain execution processes.
"TIBCO RFID Interchange has enabled us to take RFID requirements, concepts and ideas and quickly integrate that information with the existing supply chain execution data stream, greatly enhancing our ability to track product throughout the supply chain," said RFID project leader for TNT Logistics North America, Terry McIntyre.
"TIBCO was the best choice for TNT Logistics because the foundation of the RFID infrastructure is built for easy integration with TIBCO BusinessWorks, making it a viable solution for us to expand globally."
TIBCO RFID Interchange is a non-intrusive solution that seamlessly incorporates RFID event data into business processes and provides business context to aid decision making across the supply chain.
The system supports EPC Global's Application Level Event (ALE) specifications and real-time streaming of information from RFID Edge devices. It also supports leading readers and printers, is fast and easy to deploy and enables centralised configuration and management of devices.
TIBCO RFID Interchange's browser and GUI-based, slap-and-ship business process templates are configurable to meet the unique distribution processes and various retail compliance mandates.
"With companies seeking to increase customer responsiveness and profits, supply chain inefficiencies continue to hamper the effort with out-of-stock, lost revenue situations and service-level challenges," said TIBCO’s senior vice president, worldwide marketing, Ram Menon.
"While RFID tagging improves granularity and visibility of data, benefits come only when the processes are linked and improved to leverage the available information. TIBCO RFID Interchange now provides a scalable, standards-based architecture to facilitate RFID integration, linking warehouse management and order fulfillment processes to provide long-term benefits to the supply chain."