Patients who don't take their medications as prescribed pay a price in poorer health, more frequent hospitalizations, and a higher risk of death. They also incur up to $290 billion annually in increased medical costs, according to a Boston-based health policy group that urges making the issue part of the national debate on overhauling health care.
Novartis AG plans to seek regulatory approval within 18 months for a pioneering tablet containing an embedded microchip, bringing the concept of "smart-pill" technology a step closer.
It is estimated by industry experts that 30% of perishable food crops are lost in transit, costing billions of dollars in profits and putting additional pressure on already high food costs. With biofuels diverting crops formerly grown for food, such unnecessary losses are now driving the problem into the realm of national security.
It is estimated by industry experts that 30 percent of perishable food crops are lost in transit, costing billions of dollars in profits and putting additional pressure on already high food costs. With biofuels diverting crops formerly grown for food, such unnecessary losses are now driving the problem into the realm of national security.
According to Forbes magazine in 2007, global waste from perishable goods in the supply chain amounts to $35 billion annually. In the US, supermarkets perishables account for more than half of all shrink, while temperature-related shrink per store averages almost $80,000 a year, or $40 million across a 500-store chain, according to a 2003/2004 Supermarket Shrink Survey.
While some companies may be actively seeking the value proposition of RFID implementation, others have discovered that the value proposition already exists in applications utilizing active RFID.
Information Mediary Corporation of Canada describes how RFID monitors compliance with medication instructions, saving lives and improving the integrity of data in drug trials, such as the US National Institutes of Health Azithromycin trial recently. The US Army present on supply chain and shelf life management such as recording temperature time profile.
RFID technology is conceptually easy to understand. So is data warehousing, and we know there's a lot to data warehousing. RFID is a tagging technology that uses electronic transmitters, or backscatters, containing (usually) a standard code representing the item that it is attached to - whether that is a shirt, an automobile, a cow, a bird, a computer, a pallet of goods or a passport. The tags are read by readers, which are usually in a fixed location.
Sistema de Trazabilidad Térmica, ganador del premio a la innovación en la feria RFID World 2007, permite realizar el seguimiento completo a los embarques de frutas, verduras, alimentos y otros productos perecibles.
Evidencia LLP (distributor/integrator) won this award for cold chain management of temperature and delivery of avocados, an application spanning 6,000 miles—from the Rio Blanco farms (end user) in Chile to the end customer in California, a subsidiary of Green Giant. Using RFID-enabled temperature logging technology from Evidencia’s affiliate, Information Mediary, the pilot produced 100 percent read rates despite challenging temperature and humidity conditions.
Chilean avocado producer Rio Blanco is using RFID temperature sensors to ensure the fruit is kept at the proper temperature during shipment to the United States.
RFID is still an emerging solution, but it's quickly becoming a realistic answer to the challenges of many businesses, and it must be implemented by each company on its own terms. As I mentioned in my first article on this subject, the RFID industry is rapidly changing. This statement still holds true today. Companies looking to adopt the technology must understand the truth behind the myths.
One of the often-overlooked accessories required for a RFID solution are equipment enclosures. Many never think about this issue until after the initial installation. Not surprisingly, managers are focused on tags, readers, software, and multitudes of other minutiae and neglect to consider how equipment will be physically incorporated into their operations. Depending on the set-up, choosing the right enclosure may be as important as selecting the appropriate tags and readers.
In any rapidly emerging market sector, there are those that make bold initiatives but miss their targets and there are those that quietly create profitable businesses. So it is with RFID, where many companies are reviewing their strategies after disappointment while others are succeeding. However, as far as the press and the analysts are concerned, profit is a taboo subject. Until now.
The current buzz is about item-level tagging, in essence implementing a numbering scheme and fitting a unique serial number onto every imaginable item. Following are some aspects of the technology and its possible applications.
On January 1st 2005 Wal-Mart.s mandate to top suppliers, announced some 18 months ago, came into effect. Here we report, after two months into the year, what has happened so far.
A new market research report covering RFID from 2005 to 2015, researched by IDTechEx, reveals some surprising new disruptions. The bottom line is that this year's global market for RFID including tags, systems and services is $1.94 billion but it will be driven by demand and new laws to $26.90 billion in 2015.
Item level RFID is the Mount Everest of RFID, with by far the largest potential at up to ten trillion tags yearly as most barcodes are replaced. Infrastructure, software and services to make it happen are likely to approach one hundred billion dollars yearly across the world - roughly the sum that will be needed for the tags.
IDTechEx announces that its RFID Knowledgebase now exceeds 1000 case studies of RFID in action, covering activities of over 1250 companies in action. Chairman Dr Peter Harrop said, .RFID is now so ubiquitous that few participants know of all the activities in their chosen application, let alone the reasons behind their success or failure.
A smart label is a flat responsive device that is usually electronic. Most electronic devices are becoming flat because it is easier to lower their cost and fit them in awkward places such as packaging but we are not defining smart labels as generally as this.
