Savi Technology and Matrics collaborating on breakthrough RFID system

Savi Technology, a provider of real-time solutions for global supply chain security and asset management, and Matrics Inc., a provider of EPC-compliant smart label technology, have been collaborating on the integration of passive and active Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies to achieve “nested visibility” throughout the supply chain.

The goal of this collaboration is to help bridge the gaps in supply chain visibility, from the item level to the conveyance transporting them as well as end-to-end from the factory to final destination.

For example, if the security of a container is breached, the integrated solution could tell authorities in real-time what specific items are missing from a container as well as that the container had been tampered with or violated. The integrated solution of this partnership will enable users to have complete, real-time visibility of item-level products as well as the pallets, containers and other conveyances that transport them.

The initial product to be delivered through the collaboration of Matrics and Savi will be a handheld device that reads and writes to EPC-compliant passive RFID tags. It will also be designed to read and write to 433 MHz active RFID tags and seals. With this integrated handheld, shippers, manufacturers, logistics service providers, and carriers will be able to fully automate the creation of an electronic manifest for each shipping container and be able to identify and track the status of both the container and its contents.

Separately, Savi Technology also announced that it will collaborate
with the Massachusett’s Institute of Technology’s Auto-ID Center to include support of the Electronic Product Code (EPC) within Savi’s SmartChain and SmartChain suite of software applications – including the Savi Transportation Security System and Savi Asset Management System..

“The Savi-Matrics partnership demonstrates that leaders in the industry advancing automatic identification technologies realize the time has arrived for greater collaboration to fully capitilize on the promise of this technology,” said Steve Banker, Service Director for Supply Chain Management at the ARC Advisory Group, a leading consultancy on manufacturing and supply chain solutions. “Because there are a variety of operational and logistics processes to be supported, as well as numerous hand-off points for products moving through a global supply chain, collaboration is critical among the leading suppliers to achieve end-to-end and top-to-bottom visibility.”

Savi Technology and Matrics will work together to demonstrate the integration and interoperability of their complementary technologies. The focus will be on passive RFID/EPC-compliant passive labels produced by Matrics and Savi’s SmartChain software platform and applications that are linked with Savi’s active EchoPoint RFID tags.

The partners will target applications for item-level product tracking and multi-level visibility management for aggregating, securing and monitoring supply chain assets that range from pallets and intermodal containers to trucks and railcars.

The ability of both technologies to communicate with each other and across Savi’s Asset Management and Security software platforms, will enable manufacturers, retailers and logistics service providers to have complete multi-level, or “nested,” visibility of products and their conveyances in real-time as they move or remain at rest in the supply chain. This will connect directly to their existing planning, operating and financial systems, thereby creating real-time feeds to allow them to make more secure and effective business decisions that are based on more accurate and timely information.