|
Feature
of the Month:
In this issue:
| Feature:
Law Firms Keep Track
of Files With 3M RFID Tracking Solutions
|
|
Two national law firms, Fish & Richardson P.C.,
and Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., have automated
their internal file tracking processes using new RFID-based
file management solutions from 3M. 3M Security Systems
Division recently launched its RFID Tracking Solutions,
featuring technology from TI-RFid, at the Association
of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA) show
and announced the successful pilot implementations
and rollouts at Fish & Richardson’s Trademark
Practice Group in Boston, Mass. and Fulbright &
Jaworski’s Intellectual Property and Technology
Practice Group in Dallas, Texas.
Legal secretaries, paralegals and attorneys at Fish
& Richardson were spending countless hours physically
searching for files in offices, on desks, and in file
cabinets. This top firm for patent cases at the International
Trade Commission, filing more than 4,700 patent and
trademark applications each year, needed an automatic
filing system that would keep the central file room
organized and efficient, and ultimately increase staff
productivity by making files easy to locate. After
a year of evaluating three RFID systems and a barcode
system, Fish & Richardson chose to install the
3M™ RFID Tracking System at the Boston Trademark
Group as a pilot.
 Using
the existing records management system, a new 3M database
of files was created, and all file folders were tagged
with 3M™ RFID Tracking Tags, featuring 13.56
MHZ Tag-it smart label inlays from TI. Staff at the
firm use the 3M™ Handheld Tracker to conduct
an entire office inventory ensuring all files are
accurately recorded in the database, and 3M™
Tracking Pads are installed in the central file room
for checking in and out, as well as at each paralegal’s
workstation to further optimize processes and increase
productivity.
“During a weekly teleconference shortly following
the installation of the 3M File Tracking System, I
was asked to comment on how we handle missing files.
I responded that since we’ve been using the
3M RFID system, we don’t have any missing files,”
said Debra Rose Brillati, trademark practice systems
manager. Eliminating the costly time wasted while
searching for misplaced files has saved the firm an
estimated at $144,000 per year in the Trademark Group
alone.
Similarly, staff at Fulbright & Jaworski’s
Intellectual Property and Technology Practice Group
were spending an inordinate amount of time searching
for misfiled or misplaced records. This department,
which manages several thousand active legal files
and averages up to 1,500 new files added to inventory
each year, could only scan the file inventory on a
monthly basis using the existing barcode system, and
was having difficulty ensuring that staff were properly
signing folders in and out.
"Once I saw the product demo at the ALA [tradeshow],
I realized 3M RFID Tracking Solutions could take our
IP department's productivity to the next level, allowing
us to retrieve client records at a moment’s
notice. It took only a few weeks in the beta test
for the department skeptics to become believers,"
said Monte Malone, director of administration.
With the barcode system, Fulbright &
Jaworski reported a 65 percent file accuracy rate.
Following the installation of the 3M RFID Tracking
System, the accuracy rate increased to 95 percent.
Because RFID and the 3M file management software is
designed to be user-friendly, employee compliance
with the system improved dramatically. With more accurate
access to files, legal staff at Fulbright & Jaworski
can provide an even higher level of customer service,
responding to clients in a timelier manner. Following
the success of the beta test at the Intellectual Property
and Technology Practice Group, the firm is currently
implementing the 3M RFID Tracking System within other
departments at the Dallas office.
For more information about 3M RFID Tracking Solutions
for file management applications, please visit www.3M.com/RFID
or call 800-944-3512.
back to top
|
13.56
MHz Technology Solutions Showcased at European Exhibition
At the Traçabilité show in
Paris, France last month, systems integrator Tagproduct
of St. Quentin-Fallavier, France, provided a first-hand
demonstration of how TI’s 13.56 MHz RFID smart labels
are used to automatically identify and accurately track
goods, improving data management throughout the supply chain.
A pallet containing 24 boxes was moved through a nearly
9-foot tall portal equipped with an antenna system and reader.
As the pallet passed through the portal, Tagproduct’s
software allowed attendees to view carton and pallet information
such as the carton ID number, and to see a tally of the
number of boxes that had already gone through the portal.
Smurfit Socar (www.smurfit-socar.fr),
a French division of the Jefferson Smurfit Group, one of
the largest European-based manufacturers of containerboard,
corrugated containers and other paper-based packaging products,
provided the boxes for the demo. The company is an active
member of L’Emballage Ondulé de France, a Paris-based
packaging organization sponsoring research into techniques
for embedding RFID labels into corrugated packaging material,
rather than attaching tags with adhesives to the outside
of the boxes. The goal is to remove a step in the labeling
and packaging process for goods manufacturers, allowing
them to purchase cases and boxes embedded with RFID technology.
The boxes used in the demo featured Smurfit Socar’s
new RFID-embedded corrugated packaging technique.
Attendees could also see how 13.56 MHz smart label technology
creates more supply chain visibility at the item level with
a demonstration by Cipam Identification Automatique of Clermont-Ferrand,
France, TI’s distributor in France. Plastic containers
filled with 13.56 MHz RFID-tagged DVD cases were rolled
along a conveyor belt and through a tunnel reader system,
allowing participants to view the contents of the container.
Various handheld RFID readers were also displayed in TI’s
booth, including a PCMCIA-enabled PDA.
The demonstrations in Texas Instrument’s booth were
featured in a news report on one France’s national
television networks. The exhibition attracted more than
5,000 attendees from all across Europe.
For more information on Tagproduct, please visit www.tagproduct.fr
or call +1 04 74 82 7012. Cipam Identification Automatique
can be contacted through its Web site at www.cipam.com
or by phone at +1 04 73 26 9516.
back to top
Shipcom
Wireless Joins Team Tag-it™ Program
Shipcom Wireless Inc., a leading global
provider of enterprise mobility, RFID, supply chain automation,
and business process modeling solutions, has become a member
of TI’s Team Tag-it™ Program, a partnership
of industry-leading companies dedicated to the development
and adoption of RFID smart label solutions.
Shipcom Wireless will develop its CATAMARAN RFID software
to read TI’s RFID tags and is incorporating TI-RFid
technology into its RFID Solution Center. The Houston-based
laboratory was established to assist companies with planning,
installing and deploying mission-critical RFID-based solutions
without compromising the performance of their existing enterprise
applications.
“By joining TI’s Team Tag-it program, we’re
leveraging the company’s world-class RFID hardware
technology and network of solutions providers who are seeking
an indispensable software link to the different back-end
enterprise systems within the Auto ID infrastructure,”
said Abeezar Tyebji, CEO and president of Shipcom Wireless
Inc.
Shipcom’s CATAMARAN software is a Rapid Development
Toolkit that integrates RFID reader set-up, coordination
and RFID data aggregation, smoothing, forwarding, storage
and monitoring. It also allows users to design screens,
set up back-end connectivity to enterprise applications,
such as SAP, Oracle and Siebel, and configure business logic
to make decisions. Other capabilities of CATAMARAN include
its ability to notify users via configurable alerts and
trigger transactions to enterprise applications as opposed
to most RFID middleware products that are limited to monitoring
only. Shipcom’s recently announced RFID Fixed Time,
Fixed Price Pilot program is designed to address the need
for integrating EPC-compliant RFID technology, including
Class 1 Generation 2, quickly and seamlessly to customers
from the point of data capture through back-end ERP, supply
chain and legacy systems.
 For
more information on the Team Tag-it program, call 1-888-937-6536
(North America) or +1 214-567-4364 (International), email
rfidsupport@ti.com,
or visit www.ti-rfid.com.
For more information on Shipcom Wireless, visit www.shipcomwireless.com
or call +1 281-558-5252.
back to top
R.
Moroz Ltd. Hosts the 1st Canadian RFID Conference
R. Moroz Ltd., in association with the Town
of Markham, Texas Instruments, Philips Electronics, FEIG
Electronic, and Imperial Oil is hosting the 1st Canadian
RFID Conference, April 27-28, 2004 at the Radisson Hotel
in Markham, Ontario. Corporate and financial executives,
IT management professionals, logistics and distribution
managers, engineers, systems integrators and VARs attending
this first-of-its-kind Canadian event will find out why
RFID is becoming one of the fastest growing sectors in the
high tech industry.
The first day of the event features the RFID 101 Educational
Seminar, in which Bill Allen of TI-RFid Systems will provide
an opportunity for participants to get up to speed on the
basics of the technology, as well as to learn more about
its history and proven applications. The kick-off day also
includes exhibit hall hours and networking opportunities
for attendees.
Attendees will not want to miss the second day of the event,
the main RFID Conference program, in which executives from
Philips, FEIG, TI, and Imperial Oil will address such topics
as “RFID Myths and Challenges to Growth,” “Today’s
Users and Applications,” “EPC, Supply Chain,
and Healthcare,” and “The Speedpass Success.”
Following the morning conference program, Dave Slinger,
vice president of TI and general manager of TI-RFid Systems,
will present “RFID: Reinventing the Mobile Enterprise”
at a special luncheon keynote address. The afternoon sessions
on the second day allow participants to attend workshops
in areas of particular interest such as supply chain and
logistics, healthcare, contactless payments, and standards
(ISO/EPC), as well as to network with vendors and solutions
providers in the exhibit hall.
“We saw a need for a local forum for Canadian businesses
to learn more about RFID technology and its applications,
and called upon our key partners, like TI, Philips, and
FEIG to make it happen,” said Bob Moroz, president
of R. Moroz, Ltd. “The Conference is a great opportunity
for executives to get answers to their questions and make
important connections in the industry.”
For more information about the 1st Canadian RFID Conference
and to register, please visit www.rmoroz.com
or contact Silvana Cantalini, marketing manager, R. Moroz
at 905-513-8919 ext. 25, or email info@rmoroz.com.
For those that register and pay in full by April 1, 2004,
the first day RFID 101 Educational Seminar is free.
back to top
TI
Fosters Opportunities for RFID and EPC Education
Educational opportunities abound in the
early months of 2004, with a series of programs sponsored
by TI-RFid including RFID World 2004, EPC and RFID Boot
Camps, and a special TI Product Training and Certification
Workshop. Information and updates related to these events
follows. For additional details or to register, contact
show producer Shorecliff Communications at +1 800-608-9641
or info@scievents.com,
or visit www.shorecliffcommunications.com.
EPC Boot Camp
There’s still time to register for TI’s EPC
Boot Camp coming up on February 12th in Dallas, Texas. Consumer
goods manufacturers, distributors, retailers, software solution
providers and other executives will learn how to get an
RFID pilot program off the ground and headed in the right
direction. Real-world RFID success stories will show attendees
how to make the business case and get a fast payback on
their RFID investments. The program features straight-talk
from the most experienced leaders in RFID including TI,
Accenture, Avery Dennison, Zebra Technologies, BearingPoint,
SAMsys Technologies, and GlobeRanger Corporation.
RFID Boot Camps
TI-RFid is bringing its successful RFID Boot Camp educational
programs to systems integrators, VARs and enterprise end
users in San Diego, California on February 23rd and to Denver,
Colorado on April 20th (pre-show event of the RFID World
Conference). The RFID Boot Camp features a one-day program
with presentations by a range of industry experts, providing
attendees with an overview of radio frequency identification
(RFID) technology, industry standards, current and future
applications, and the RFID selling skills needed to build
their RFID businesses and to garner support for the initiative
within their organizations.
TI Product and Training Certification Workshops
Integrators, IT professionals, engineers and technologists
looking for hands-on TI-RFid product training will not want
to miss TI’s Product Training & Certification
Workshop, a two-day program taking place February 24-25
at the San Diego Convention Center, following the one-day
Boot Camp. In this intensive program, TI-RFid delivers a
more in-depth review of its product solutions, design concepts
and installation issues. Attendees will receive a Dynasys
Dual Band RFID Evaluation Kit, which contains everything
required to evaluate both High Frequency (13.56 MHz) and
Low Frequency (134 kHz) RFID technologies – a $750
value.
RFID World 2004
More than 50 companies have already signed up to exhibit
at RFID World 2004, April 20-22 at the Adam’s Mark
Hotel in Denver, Colorado. Attendees will have their choice
of morning sessions, followed by keynote presentations by
Javed Sikander, director of RFID Solutions for Microsoft,
and David Slinger, general manager of TI-RFid, as well as
ample networking opportunities. The 2-hour Super Sessions
are designed to provide a comprehensive level of information
in a specific area of focus, such as EPC Implementation
& Compliance or Government & Military Material Management
and Supply, and includes an overview, technical detail,
needs assessment and case study. The 1-hour Technical tracks
offer shorter, more detailed presentations designed to offer
a wide array of presentation/topic choices for IT managers
and technology executives seeking information about RFID
systems and technology.
In addition, InformationWeek, the official media
sponsor of RFID World 2004, is hosting the InformationWeek
CEO Summit on April 20. It’s an exclusive education
and networking event designed for CEOs and senior executives
requiring extensive information, business modeling and statistics
on the adoption of an RFID/EPC system in the enterprise
supply chain. This separate one and a half day conference,
co-located with RFID World 2004, enables CEOs to gain the
insight, data and experience necessary to refine a large-scale
RFID implementation.
Questions? Want to register to attend any of the above
events?
Contact Shorecliff Communications
+1 800-608-9641
info@scievents.com
www.shorecliffcommunications.com
back to top
|
