UNOVA Announces RFID Technology That Could be a Growth Catalyst
23 March 1999
UNOVA Announces RFID Technology That Could be a Growth Catalyst for Its Automated Data Systems Segment
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--March 23, 1999--Subsidiary and to Other Companies
Intermec Technologies Corporation, a UNOVA, Inc. company, today announced a comprehensive product line based on its innovative, semiconductor-based radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. The new products, comprising tags, readers and software, will be marketed through Intermec's global distribution network, and other companies, on an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) basis or through license agreements.
Compared to bar coding, RFID is a wireless information technology that offers significant advantages in the identification, tracking and control of valuable products, objects and assets. Utilizing radio waves instead of bar code scanning devices, RFID tags do not require line of sight, but can be read automatically from a distance. With a read rate of up to 50 tags per second, they also increase the speed and efficiency of sortation systems for logistics and distribution. Finally, data on the tags can be changed and updated at any time.
"We have invested tens of millions of dollars in this innovative and promising technology," said Alton J. Brann, UNOVA Chairman and CEO. "Now we are bringing our first RFID products to the market, enabling select customers to move ahead with pilot installations. In addition to marketing efforts through our Intermec organization, we will license the new RFID chip and reader products to other companies to accelerate market acceptance of our technology. We believe our solution offers superior performance characteristics for users who have been waiting for an efficient RFID product range."
The performance and application advantages of this RFID solution could establish UNOVA's technology as a standard in supply chain management, logistics, warehousing and retail markets, becoming a major growth driver of its Automated Data Systems business in coming years.
According to studies by independent market research companies, the global RFID market has grown to about $650 million in 1998. It is expected to continue to expand at a rate better than 20 percent per year, reaching more than $1.8 billion in five years. Some believe expansion of the RFID industry into new applications has been held back by technological and cost limitations of the products offered in the market.
Intellitag(r) 500 Product Description
Based on attractively priced, chip-based technology, Intermec will offer its RFID systems solution under the tradename Intellitag 500. The system includes both fixed and wireless hand-held reader/interrogators, network-enabled access points and a Windows(r) compliant applications program interface (API) for use with industry-standard software development tools. This systems approach will allow easy adaptation of RFID for existing and new installations.
Tag technology used in the Intellitag 500 systems was originally acquired by UNOVA in December 1997 from IBM Corporation. The tags can be used as discrete components or combined with existing bar code labels, known as "smart labels," that are imprinted on dual-mode bar code/RFID label printers. The RFID chips, tags, label inserts and readers will be offered as OEM products, available in UHF 868 - 915 MHz and microwave 2.45 GHz frequencies. The products are the first to comply with the new proposed draft ANSI standard for RFID Item Identification in the United States, which has also been recommended to ISO for international standardization.
Compared to other semiconductor proximity tags on the market, Intellitag 500 has superior range (up to 10-meter read range); fast, almost simultaneous read performance (up to 50 tags per second); and a high capacity (1024-byte) read/write memory for application flexibility. The memory can be updated almost indefinitely, enabling tag reuse.
Intermec's Amtech Systems division, based in Dallas, has a long and successful history in RFID technology development and systems installations for the transportation and access control markets. It is driving the internal RFID development efforts within UNOVA's Automated Data Systems segment.
Intermec Technologies Corporation, a subsidiary of UNOVA, Inc., is a global leader in the development, manufacture and integration of automated data collection and mobile computing systems. The Company's products and services are used by customers in multiple industries to improve productivity, quality and responsiveness of business operations, from supply chain management and enterprise resource planning to field sales and service.
Headquartered in Southern California, UNOVA is a $2 billion industrial technologies company. It has global leadership positions in manufacturing systems and machine tools for the automotive, aerospace and general metalworking industries and for automated data collection, mobile computing, bar code, RFID and wireless enterprise data collection and communications systems for industrial, distribution, transportation, logistics and government applications.
Certain forward-looking statements in this release (as defined by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) relate to matters that are not historical facts. They include, but are not limited to, statements about the demand for the Company's products and services, the Company's ability to profitably exploit new technologies acquired or developed, and the Company's ability to realize its intentions with respect to the future performance of operations being acquired. Such forward-looking statements involve and are dependent upon certain risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, the following which are beyond the Company's control: the presence of competitors with greater financial and other resources; technological changes and developments; regulatory uncertainties; worldwide political stability and economic conditions; operating risks associated with international activities; the risk that the Company's due diligence procedures may have failed to reveal undisclosed material information concerning acquired operations; and other risks and uncertainties described more fully in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
http://www.unova.com
Note to Editors: Detailed technical information on Intellitag 500 can be found at http://www.intermec.com. Windows(r) is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.