2014 bestrfid · edson perin, brasil editor [email protected] sam greengard contributing...

DEDICATED TO RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIF ICATION AND ITS BUSINESS APPLICATIONS

www.rfidjournal.com 2014 REPORT

DEPLOYMENTBEST RFID PRACTICES

contents

COVER ILLUSTRATION:

EDITORIAL

Mark Roberti, [email protected]

Andrea Linne, Executive Editor/[email protected]

Paul Prince, Executive Editor/[email protected]

John Hull, Creative Director [email protected]

Rich Handley, Managing [email protected]

Beth Bacheldor, Senior [email protected]

Claire Swedberg, Senior [email protected]

Edson Perin, Brasil [email protected]

Sam GreengardContributing [email protected]

Bob ViolinoContributing [email protected]

Rhea Wessel Contributing Writer/[email protected]

Jennifer ZainoContributing Writer [email protected]

RFID JOURNAL EVENTS

Kimberly A. Ray, VP of [email protected]

Cheryl JohnsonSenior Director of Events [email protected]

Debbie Hughes Senior Editorial Director of [email protected]

Deborah LambertEditorial Coordinator of [email protected]

SALES

Alan McIntosh, Senior Director of [email protected]

Matt Singer, Senior Director of [email protected]

SUBSCRIPTIONS

[email protected]

ARTICLE REPRINTS

[email protected]

RFID JOURNAL LLC

Editorial office:PO Box 5874Hauppauge, NY 11788

Mark Roberti, Chief Executive [email protected]

Kathleen Knocker, Director of Finance [email protected]

Sonja Valenta, VP of [email protected]

Kathy Roach, Marketing [email protected]

Lydia Sum, Administrative [email protected]

Contents © 2014 RFID Journal LLC

2 From Pilot to Rollout: Reaching the Decisive Moment Transforming an RFID pilot project into a real-world deployment demandsvision, close attention to details and a determination to solve unexpectedchallenges. By John Edwards

10 Best Practices for Rolling Out RFID Companies and systems integrators that have deployed an RFID solution at multiple locations say the key to success is following these eight steps.By Samuel Greengard

18 The Big Picture Companies large and small must take a strategic approach to deployingRFID enterprisewide, so the technology can solve their current problemsand support their long-term goals. By Samuel Greengard

26 8 Common Deployment Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemBusinesses deploying RFID systems keep making the same errors. Here’show to ensure you don’t follow in their messy footsteps.By John Edwards

30 Gaining Project Buy-in From Company EmployeesFront-line managers and other end users play a pivotal role in making orbreaking a new RFID project. Here’s how to get them on your side.By John Edwards

33 How to Develop an RFID Training Program Preparing workers to use a new or upgraded RFID system is essential.By John Edwards

36 Futureproof Your RFID System Industry insiders share seven strategies to design and manage an RFIDsystem that will keep pace with evolving technologies and business demands. By John Edwards

46 Best Practices: RFID Change Management Six steps can ensure a smooth transition as you deploy or expand a radiofrequency identification system. By John Edwards

DEPLOYMENTBEST RFID PRACTICES

RFID Journal • 2014

editor’s note

For many years, companies were prettymuch on their own when it came to deployingradio frequency identification technologies.Early adopters had no roadmap or signs

warning them to avoid adead-end path, or to sidestep small pitfalls.There were no guideposts pointing them toward asuccessful deployment.

Now, after more than adecade of deployments—some successful, othersnot so much—there areclear best practices that organizations can follow.While they can’t guaranteea successful, stress-freeRFID project, they dogreatly improve yourchances of implementing a solution capable of delivering the promisedbenefits.

To help our readers deploy RFID success-fully, RFID Journal has published a series ofbest practices articles in our magazine and onour website, based on interviews conductedwith early adopters who have spent years de-ploying RFID systems—and who have learnedwhat does and doesn’t work. Often, these com-panies learned the hard way—by innovatingand through trial-and-error. They agreed toshare their insights and learnings, so you canavoid the missteps they made, as well as thetime and money they spent.

RFID Journal has collected these best practices articles in this special report, coveringthe many issues involved with deploying RFIDsuccessfully. “Reaching the Decisive Moment”

examines the steps necessary to move from apilot to a rollout. Expanding that rollout to dif-ferent locations requires a detailed plan, as theexperts we spoke with emphasized in “BestPractices for Rolling Out RFID.”

“The Big Picture” explains how to create anRFID strategy that not only solves a short-termproblem, such as tracking returnable transportitems, but also supports longer-term goals—and enhances your firm’s competitive advan-tage. And in “Futureproof Your RFID System,”industry insiders share seven strategies to design and manage an RFID system that willkeep pace with evolving technologies andbusiness demands.

Additional articles explain how to managethe process change that comes with deployingan RFID solution, and how to obtain buy-infrom employees. These are critical issues thatcan mean the difference between an RFID project’s success or failure. After all, if peopledon’t use the system or change the processesthey follow, the technology can’t deliver all thebenefits envisioned.

Our goal, as always, is to guide you along thepath to RFID adoption, point you in the rightdirection and help ensure that your project delivers a return on investment or other important benefits. We can’t anticipate everychallenge that might arise, of course, but I’mconfident that if you follow the advice outlinedin this special report, you will find the road toRFID results smoother and easier to navigate.

Why Best Practices Matter

Mark Roberti, Founder and EditorPHOTO

: TOM HURST | RIFID JOURNAL

Transforming an RFID pilot projectinto a real-world deployment

demands vision, attention to detailand a determination to meet

unexpected challenges.

ReachingtheDecisiveMoment

by john edwards

FROM PILOT TO ROLLOUT:

ILLU

STRATIO

NS: ISTO

CKPHOTO

“The decisive momenT,” aterm coined by the pioneer photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson, refers to the point at which all the fleeting elementsnecessary to create an awesomeimage converge in the camera’s

viewfinder, signaling the photographer thatnow is the time to press the shutter button.

Organizations that have deployed RFID pilots face their own decisive moment. It

occurs weeks or months after the trial windsdown, when precise planning, hard-won experience, test data analysis and business insight all merge inside the project leader’shead, telling him or her that now is the time toroll out the system.

It all sounds so simple—but decisive moments aren’t all that easy to spot. Cartier-Bresson, who shot stunning photographs world-wide for more than half a century, admittedthat it took a great deal of experience to know

RFID Journal • 2014 3

exactly when to push the shutter button. RFID project leaders face a greater challenge

in determining when to push a pilot into finaldeployment. “You always wonder, ‘Is this agood time? Is this not a good time?’” saysPhilomena Sousa, oncology systems managerand process specialist at Toronto’s Odette Cancer Center, who worked on the team thatcreated an RFID-based patient arrival andtracking module. There’s always a feeling, shesays, that there’s another improvement to bemade, another issue to consider.

Rolling out a pilot isn’t simple, and specificissues vary among companies. Yet, there arecommon situations and challenges that nearlyevery RFID project leader will face as a systemis being prepared for full operation. Project

leaders who address these issues can feel moreconfident that they’ll have a successful launchand the solution will deliver benefits for thelong term.

START WITH A PLAN

The key to a successful rollout begins withmeticulous planning at the pilot stage. In RFIDJournal’s story “Eight Common DeploymentMistakes—and How to Avoid Them” (page 33),RFID experts cite the importance of selectingan experienced systems integrator, choosingthe right RFID technology, assigning responsi-bility to one senior executive, thinking strate-gically and handling the integration of RFIDdata with back-end systems.

“I’m a big believer in pilots, but I also believe that there’s a lot of work to be done before the pilot,” says Steve Halliday, presidentof High Tech Aid, an RFID consulting firmbased in Gibsonia, Pa. “I know some compa-nies would rather just throw together a pilotand then work on solving the issues that comeup when it’s time to deploy, but that doesn’twork for me in my company,” he says. “We liketo try and identify as many of the issues beforewe start as we can.”

A pilot heading out in the wrong directionwill leave a business ill-prepared for a suc-cessful rollout, says Grant Richardson, direc-tor of the innovative solutions group at CDOTechnologies, a Dayton, Ohio-based RFID systems integrator. “First and foremost, youneed to understand what problem you’re trying to solve,” he says. “There definitelyneeds to be some sort of statement or vision ofthe problem.” Setting goals is the next step,Richardson says. “What is your end state?Where do you want to be when this project isdone?”

Steering the pilot in the right direction fordeployment also requires establishing specificrules and benchmarks, says Bill Spahr, VP ofprofessional services for Ekahau, an RFIDprovider based in Reston, Va. Project leadersneed to ask themselves several basic questionsbefore launching a pilot, he says, including:“What’s the evaluation timeframe? What arethe next steps? How do we evaluate success?”

Project leaders should carefully documenttheir current processes before attempting toautomate them with RFID, advises Ryan Mabry,a lead software engineer working on the development of an RFID-driven shipboardinventory system at the Naval Surface WarfareCenter (NSWC) in Panama City, Fla. (see NavalSurface Warfare Center Demos RFID Tool-Tracking Solution for Combat Ships). This in-formation, he says, is essential for developinga system that will deploy successfully. “A lot oftimes, people don’t have the [current] processactually documented,” he explains. “Theydon’t know what they are doing today, or howthey actually conduct an inventory, or evenwhat they are actually inventorying.” Key F

From Pilot to Rollout

“I also believe that there’s a lot of work to be

done before the pilot. I know some

companies would rather just throw together

a pilot and then work on solving the issues

that come up when it’s time to deploy.”

—steve halliday, high tech aid


http://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?9529



cover story

details, he says, are often “the hardest thingsto nail down” before beginning work on anRFID-based system.

AGREE ON THE RESULTS

As the pilot wraps up, project leaders, systemsintegrators and stakeholders need to reach aconsensus on the trial’s results, to determinewhether it’s time to move on to a full-scale deployment. “It’s important to agree on suc-cess benchmarks up front,” Halliday says. “Ifyou’ve agreed on the right things, it should bevery easy to say whether or not you’ve donewhat was needed to move forward.” The prob-lem, he explains, is that people sometimesdon’t know what they really want. “Then,” hesays, “it becomes much harder to agree upfront what the measurement point is.”

“Sometimes it’s a no-brainer whether toflick that [deployment] switch quickly orslowly, but it’s really... measured on a case-by-case basis,” says Philip Lassner, CEO ofOverheer Systems, a Westmount, Que.-based systems integrator serving retail customers. He recalls one project when arapid rollout was expected but ultimatelydeferred. “We thought we were going to dothis quickly,” he says. Then the client requested a delay, sensing that things justweren’t quite right. “It turned out there weresome IT issues that needed to be addressedfirst,” he says.

Businesses must examine their currentbusiness processes to define pilot acceptancecriteria, Spahr says. “Ultimately, what movesthe needle is pilot success against acceptancecriteria,” he observes. “In health care, for example, they would look at things like utilization rates, equipment cycle testing, andequipment being in use versus not in use.”

OBTAIN BUY-IN

It’s important to ensure that top managementremains committed to the project and willfully support—and fund—the system as itmoves to the next stage. “Once you get thatbuy-in, everybody becomes a part of the suc-

cess,” Spahr says. “You want the system to besomething organic that improves processesoverall, and you only get that when you havefull buy-in.”

Buy-in represents management approvaland support, not necessarily direct project participation, Halliday notes. “Top-level man-agement doesn’t always want to be involved,and there’s a lot of work that can go on without them being involved,” he says. “But Ithink it’s really important to give them an understanding of what’s going to happen andwhat it will mean to them.”

Often, buy-in is achieved by demonstratingreturn on investment—that magic formulathat can determine whether a pilot is worthtaking to the next stage. “In today’s economy,

no one’s got money to burn,” Halliday says.“Businesses want to know up front if they willsee a three-month, two-year, 10-year ROI.”

The NSWC went to great pains to ensurethat its RFID system would live up to its ROIgoals, Mabry says. “We had to do a businesscase analysis, and that included return on investment, payback period, reduced work-load, and what it would take to actually put allof this into implementation.”

Many enterprises conduct time and motionstudies and other sophisticated process evaluations before and during the pilot. Butsqueezing meaningful ROI insights out of suchdata prior to deployment can be tricky. “Youcan show that by doing things a certain way,you’re going to shave three seconds off a stepin a process,” Halliday says. “Yet, typically,

“We had to do a business case analysis,

and that included return on investment,

payback period, reduced workload, and

what it would take to actually put all of

this into implementation.”

—ryan mabry, naval surface warfare center



there’s no hard and fast way to work it out,nothing that’s going to be the way to computethis sort of thing.”

Sousa convinced Odette Cancer Centremanagement to roll out its patient-manage-ment solution by showing various stakeholdercommittees the concept in operation. “Prior to going live, we had a number of demos,” she says. (See Odette Cancer Centre BoostsThroughput via RFID.) “After the pilot, ourfindings were summarized and the analysis,the business case and the go-live plan werecompiled and presented to the senior management for approval. After approval, the implementation team decided that thechemotherapy suite would be the first to berolled out due to an immediate need.”

In some cases, the “go/no-go” decision on apilot set to deploy is complicated by the factthat ROI isn’t simply a straightforward calcu-lation based on time, dollars and equipment.Mitigating risk, or failing to mitigate risk, canhave a significant impact on an RFID deploy-ment’s projected ROI.

“Ultimately, ROI matters, but there are alsoa lot of intangibles, like safety,” Spahr says. “It’shard to put that into a calculator. A single incident can be absolutely devastating to anorganization, particularly in schools or inhealth care. Those things can be difficult to put a number around, but you certainly can’t underestimate the value ofthem.” (Deploying personnel safety solutionsto locate employees during emergencies, for

example, is typically not determined by ROI;see Protecting Employees.)

Employee health is often the biggest factorin determining ROI, Halliday says. “ROI ismuch more than the direct saving of dollars,”he says. “It can be much more indirect, such asnot having people out on sick leave.” An RFIDsystem can often be engineered—or reengi-neered after a pilot—to enhance ROI by safe-guarding employee health.

A recent project in a consumer industry wasadapted to achieve just such a goal, Hallidaysays. Items shipped in returnable plastic containers must be checked for correctnessupon receipt, but the containers are difficult toopen, despite the use of special tools, and therepetition was taking its toll on employees’

health. The new process usesRFID readers and tags to ensure the contents’ accuracyso the majority of containersdo not need to be opened andreclosed. The number of con-tainers that must be checkedmanually has fallen fromroughly 1,500 per day to lessthan 50 per day.

“The change started outbecause there were three people out on sick leave because of repetitive stress injuries,” Halliday explains.

“We simply eliminated that stage of theirprocess, so they don’t get that repetitive stressinjury any more.”

In addition to getting buy-in from top management, key stakeholders must always begiven the opportunity to voice their support,or objection, before the system is fully de-ployed. “It’s important to have buy-in from allaspects of the organization, so it’s not beingdumped on anyone,” Spahr says. “I can’t tellyou the number of times I’ve had an angry ITperson on the phone who just had a systemdumped on him, and he’s trying to figure outwhat’s going on.” Failing to consult projectstakeholders prior to rollout is inviting trouble, he states. (For tips on getting front-line managers and other end users on

“I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had

an angry IT person on the phone who just had

a system dumped on him, and he’s trying to

figure out what’s going on.”

—bill spahr, ekahau






your side, see “Gaining Project Buy-in FromCompany Employees” on page 30.)

FIX THINGS

Pilots are not only designed to show how anRFID system works, but also how it sometimesdoesn’t work. As deployment preparation begins, project leaders need to turn their attention toward addressing any problems orshortcomings that became apparent duringthe trial.

Problems can pop up almost anywhere,Lassner says. “There can be shielding issues,there can be tag issues, there can be reader issues... It’s really a case-by-case basis,” hesays. “And, yes, you’re only going to noticethose things in a pilot.”

A need for incrementalchanges during and after apilot is to be expected on cer-tain types of projects, saysJignesh Vania, IT head atAdani Port, in Gujarat, India.Since deploying a passive ul-trahigh-frequency RFID sys-tem to manage cargo, theHazira Container Terminalhas decreased loading andunloading times (see RFIDReduces Traffic Delays atIndian Port).

“We have faced some challenges during theproject,” Vania says. “As we have moved craneson which we have to mount the RFID readersand controllers, many modifications werenecessary on the standard mounting accessories.” Mounting accessories had to beredesigned and customized for each type ofcrane, but the extra work paid off. “Now, it isalmost more than one year, and RFID integra-tion is working fine without any major issues,” he says.

RFID project teams handle predeploymentsystem fixes and changes in different ways.NSWC, like most large organizations, takes acommittee approach. “We use an engineeringchange board,” Mabry says. The RFID team reviews project results and sends suggestions

for upgrades and other alterations to the review panel. “Through this engineeringchange board, we are able to maintain configu-ration management and make changes,” Mabry explains.

Important changes are often made just priorto deployment. The NSWC’s project team, forexample, thought things over and determinedthat its shipboard inventory-management sys-tem would benefit from the use of smaller tags.“We went with smaller tags because they areless cumbersome and more user-friendly for...systems integration,” Mabry says. “And someof the newer tags have a better read range, sotherefore you have a higher reliability of yourinventory.”

Project leaders also must remember that

problems that appear trivial in a pilot have thepotential to become far more detrimental in a full-scale deployment. “Companies tend tolook at pilots as the least expensive way thatthey can test their theory, their solution, anddetermine whether it’s going to work,”Richardson says. “But what happens whenthere are 50 tags in proximity to a location, andyou haven’t considered the fact that yourreader sensitivity might have to be dialeddown so that you don’t start picking up unan-ticipated reads?”

“Unfortunately, unforeseen issues will always be unforeseen,” Lassner says. “It’s personnel and people who make the difference. As long as the RFID professionalsknow what they’re doing, and they’ve got the

“There can be shielding issues, there can be tag

issues, there can be reader issues... It’s really a case-

by-case basis. And, yes, you’re only going to notice

those things in a pilot.”

—philip lassner, overheer systems




23 OCT. 2014DEXTER HOUSELONDON,ENGLANDENGLAND

ONDON,LDEXTER HOUSE

CTO3 2

ENGLANDONDON,

DEXTER HOUSE4102. CTT.

Register now and save with early-registration pricing, at www.rfidjournalevents.com/europe.For maximum savings, use promo code LES .

Hear from CompaniesUsing RFID Technologyto Address Real BusinessChallenges Today.

» Find the best RFID technology foryour needs.

» Learn best practices from earlyadopters.

» Meet the right technology partnersto help you move forward.

Alexander BolsGeneral Manager,Intersport Jan Bols

Karl JordanSenior Loss PreventionInvestigator,Wilko

Alastair BookerManufacturing Systems Lead,Aston Martin

Lilian MarianiProject Director,Vente-privee

Dr. Bill HardgraveDean, Harbert College of Business,Auburn University

Glyn MatthewsSenior IT Project Manager, Innovations,Speedy Services

Richard JenkinsHead of RFIDProgramme,Marks & Spencer

Mark RobertiFounder and Editor,RFID Journal

SILVER SPONSOR EXHIBITORS INCLUDE

HEAR FROM THESE AND OTHER SPEAKERS

support of their client, and as long as the resources are strong, it makes all the differencetoward minimizing unforeseen issues.”

TACKLE TRAINING

As an RFID pilot heads toward full deployment,it’s time to begin training the people who willbe operating, managing and maintaining thesystem, as well as the individuals who will beincorporating the technology into their dailywork routines (see “How to Develop an RFIDTraining Program” on page 33).

IT staff members and other system stake-holders need training to achieve technical own-ership of the solution, Spahr says. In addition,training key supervisors and other top staffmembers is vital “so you can have super-users

who can then train regular users,” he adds. Thisway, companies can save time and money bysolving routine operational problems in-houserather than turning to outside help.

Halliday agrees. “Once your initial peopleare trained, they kind of become the onsite experts,” he says. “We spend a lot of time train-ing people in the early days, because we findthat’s the best way to guarantee success.”

Good training also helps managers avoidthe threat posed by confused and resentfulworkers. “What ends up happening is that youget 500,000 suggestions telling you why thesystem doesn’t work,” Halliday says. “Then itreally doesn’t work, because that’s the attitude

people develop when they’re forced to dosomething they either don’t want to do orthey’re not used to doing.”

Odette Cancer Center not only had to trainits staff members but also teach a never-ending stream of new patients how to use itscard-based tracking system. “The biggest issuefor us was the patients,” Sousa says. The firstpatients to use the system acted as if they wereusing a bank card. They didn’t realize theycould register their location simply by wavingtheir device near the reader. Instead, theyplaced it on the kiosk for a moment, thenpicked it back up again. “We modified our information pamphlet and the directions tothe patient displayed on the screen to scan thecard. But if that’s the worst [training problem],we’re good with that,” she jokes.

“Once everything was done and all the pri-vacy and impact issues were signed off, and allthe user groups were signed off, then we wereready to go,” Sousa says. “We just decided tobite the bullet. We have to go live with this. Weknow what we’re going to be dealing with, andthere will be some hardships, but if we keepdelaying this, we’re never going to get off theground.”

Odette Cancer Center found its decisive moment. Since rolling out its patient-manage-ment solution, the center has achieved itsgoals, increasing patient throughput andshortening the wait time for patients receivingservices.

“The biggest [training] issue for us was the patients.

We modified our information pamphlet and the

directions to the patient displayed on the screen to

scan the card. But if that’s the worst [training problem],

we’re good with that.”

—philomena sousa, odette cancer center



ILLU

STRATION: ISTO

CKPHOTO

ROLLING OUT

In 2009, DIsney deployed a radiofrequency identification solutionto manage costumes at one loca-tion within the Walt Disney World

resort in Florida. Since then, it has expanded the solution to all costuming locations at that resort—andat Disneyland Resort in California, the Disney CruiseLine, Hong Kong Disneyland, Shanghai Disneyland and Disneyland Resort Paris (see RFID Helps DisneyEmployees Get Into Character).

From 2010 through 2012, Cisco Systems deployed anRFID solution to track fixed assets at 70 U.S. data centersand research and development labs, as well as at facili-ties in China, India and the Netherlands (see Cisco’sBusiness-Driven RFID Strategy).

In November, Checkpoint Systems announced thatit had worked with a retailer to roll out an inventory-management solution at 1,000 stores in 100 days (see

Major North American Retailer Adopts Checkpoint Systems’ RFID Solutions).

How did they do it? To find out, we talked to the people who led these deployments and to systems integrators who have helped other companies roll outan RFID solution at multiple sites. It is not a simple endeavor, they say. It involves careful planning and theability to handle practical and technical challenges. Butbased on their experiences and the learnings theyshared, there are common best practices that all companies, regardless of industry or application,should follow. Here, then, are eight strategies that canboost the odds for success.

1 ASSEMBLE A BUSINESS PLAN

Every RFID expansion project requires a roadmap. If you have deployed several RFID applications at, say, a

BEST PRACTICES FOR

by samuel greengard


RFIDCompanies and systems integrators that have deployed an RFID solution at multiple locations say the key to success is following these eight steps.







manufacturing plant—you’re tracking assets,tools and work-in-process, for example—intro-duce one application at a time at the new location. The business plan should help youdecide which task or business process to beginwith, says Jason Warschauer, sales applicationengineer for HID Global’s industry and logisticsdivision.

A successful business plan takes into ac-count physical site components, installation,costs, resources, training, solution compo-

nents and post-implementation support, saysSue Flake, RFID director of business develop-ment at Motorola Solutions.

The business plan must be based on asound methodology that focuses on up-frontplanning, understanding functional require-ments and getting customer acceptance for theend solution—before testing and prestagingthe software and hardware for each location,says Sarabjeet Chhatwal, senior director of pro-fessional services at OATSystems (a division ofCheckpoint Systems). In addition, he says, youmust be sure it is possible to accept items intothe system and have the ability to tag and en-code at a high volume.

Cisco worked with business and deploymentteams at 60 locations—and set up a conciergeservice to ensure that any and all issues wereaddressed—before introducing a solution overan 18-month span, says Maryanne Flynn, direc-tor of IT. When locations were ready to go live,they plugged in the new system.

Once Disney saw the value of expanding itsRFID costume management solution to otherlocations, its business plan began with a

cost/benefit analysis, says Vinny Pagliuca, di-rector of creative costuming. “The size of thisproject warranted funding through a capitalauthorization request,” he says. After receivinginput from the finance, operation and tech-nology teams, building an integration strategyand gathering formal cost estimates for equip-ment, software and labor, he developed a pres-entation for senior management justifying theproject and explaining its benefits. By doingthe “heavy lifting” up front—including negoti-ating pricing and discounts with suppliers—Pagliuca was able to gain support and quickapproval. A bonus: The project ultimatelycame in under budget.

2DEVELOP A DEPLOYMENT PLAN

Once you’ve decided where to roll out theRFID solution, you need to address how to doit, and that involves asking a number of critical questions. Should you demand thatthe site use the same hardware and softwareas the initial site or provide some latitudeabout specific technology? Are workflows andprocesses the same at all sites or will adjust-ments have to be made? Can you transition toRFID without interrupting current businessprocesses? Does the new facility have anyunique characteristics?

It’s crucial to view a rollout in a compre-hensive and holistic way, Flake says. Organiza-tions, particularly retailers, can benefit frompilot projects that are set up at a limited num-ber of sites and deliver information, includingreturn on investment, that can be comparedwith older systems. This can provide cluesabout how to design a deployment strategy—including a phased rollout versus an all-at-once approach—and manage everything fromthe design and build-out of systems to site sur-veys and training. “It’s also necessary to havepost-deployment support in place and helpworkers get up to speed with new processes,”she says.

To roll out an inventory management solu-tion at as many as 200 stores per week, Check-point developed a detailed deployment plan.It’s important to have a plan for dealing with

Rolling Out RFID

A successful business plan takes into account

physical site components, installation, costs,

resources, training, solution components and

post-implementation support.

—sue flake, motorola solutions


cover story

essential variations and adjustments to hard-ware and IT infrastructure, Chhatwal says. Typically, he notes, you don’t need a separateplan for each location—though it’s critical tounderstand the requirements and limitationsof each location. “A retailer with 1,000 storeswould have a limited number of site varia-tions, based on store format, use cases andRFID hardware, so visiting a few stores repre-sentative of these variations would beenough,” he explains. It’s also wise, he adds, to“conduct a multistore pilot with representativestores to test the configuration and businessmetrics, making adjustments before rollingout an enterprise deployment.”

The process must balance enterprise re-quirements with local requirements and preferences. “With any enterprise software deployment, regardless of regional variations,it’s important to RFID-enable existing storeprocesses, instead of starting from scratch,”Chhatwal says. “It makes for easier training,employee engagement and compliance, resulting in a more successful deployment.”Checkpoint attempts to standardize and pro-vide plug-and-play components. “In the caseof a recent chainwide deployment, we wereable to load preconfigured software on RFIDhandhelds shipped to each store, and provideWeb-based training tools to store associates,”Chhatwal says. “Store managers were literallyable to ‘open the box’ and get started. Softwareupdates are all managed automatically withchange-management tools.”

A deployment plan must also consideravailable resources. Checkpoint works withcustomers to ensure adequate employee train-ing and support is in place.

Disney split its project into two phases,each of which lasted approximately 12 months.Because of the magnitude of the endeavor, thecompany wanted to ensure user adoptionevery step along the way. “The phased ap-proach allowed us to make minor design andprocess improvements as we saw how our castand guests were actually using the new sys-tems,” Pagliuca says. It also allowed the firm toadopt a change management-centric strategy,he adds.

CONDUCT A SITE SURVEY AT EACHLOCATION

In most cases, it’s critical to conduct a site sur-vey prior to installing even the most proventechnology. RFID equipment may not work asanticipated because each facility’s physical layout—and the way items move through it—isdifferent. Another potential problem is metalshelving and fixtures, which could cause RFinterference. “If you are deploying with hand-

held devices, then a site survey may not be required,” Motorola’s Flake says. “If an organi-zation relies on physical portals for receivingitems, transitions or outgoing shipments, asite survey is probably required.” Key factorsinclude network connectivity issues andpower requirements.

A site survey should also identify whichtechnology components, tools, software and resources to use at specific sites. And what typeof data and how much data can and should bestored on the RFID tag, HID Global’s Warschauersays. “You can’t just toss technology at a loca-tion—even if it has worked well elsewhere,” hesays. “It’s crucial to have high-level confidenceabout what will work effectively.”

Checkpoint relies on a worldwide field serv-ices team that conducts hardware site surveys.“Hardware site surveys are not required forRFID handhelds,” Chhatwal says. “For RFIDhardware installed in ceilings, fixtures andentry/exit doors, each store needs to be sur-veyed individually to assess electrical, envi-ronmental, construction, shielding andoperating frequency requirements.”

3

“Store managers were literally able to ‘open

the box’ and get started. Software updates

are all managed automatically with change-

management tools.”

—sarabjeet chhatwal, oatsystems


Rolling Out RFID

A starting point for a site survey is to docu-ment and photograph each area to fully un-derstand how the technology will function in aparticular space, Flake says. Once on site, it iscritical for the systems integrator to review thesite layout and validate the expected productflows. It may be necessary, for example, to un-derstand how dock doors function and howthey are used. “This determines the proper location of RFID readers and antennas for optimal read performance,” she explains. “A

systems integrator should be able to provide areport detailing the work that must be per-formed for installation of a system, the bill ofmaterials needed at each site and all RFID readpoint locations, as well as the methodology toensure the readiness of the system.”

Disney’s integration partner, a major hard-ware vendor, assisted with site reviews to ensure the system would work as billed at different locations, Pagliuca says. In addition,Disney placed a project manager on site towork with contractors, oversee permits, han-dle inspections and review IT installations.“Testing at every site was necessary to ensurethere was no interference,” he says. “In somecases, we modified designs to add shieldingto protect against interference… but were able to keep to the same basic equipment designs at all locations.” No two locations areidentical, he adds, so varying levels of cus-tomization—such as construction to mountequipment—was needed to implement thetechnology.

4 TAKE A TEAM APPROACH

The success of any initiative is heavily de-pendent on obtaining buy-in from manage-ment at each location. Without this, acompany is likely to encounter pushback andproblems that could ultimately derail an RFIDdeployment. Experts say it’s wise to adopt ateam-based approach and rely on it through-out the planning and deployment phases. (For tips on getting front-line managers andother end users on your side, see “GainingProject Buy-in From Company Employees” onpage 30.)

Disney initially established a crossfunc-tional team to design and build its RFID solu-tion. The team included staff members fromthe costuming workroom, costuming ware-house, laundry facilities, costuming metricsand systems, IT and costuming operations. Itnow insists that RFID project teams “stay connected with regular meetings to sharetechnology ideas as well as discuss how to effectively benchmark site to site,” Pagliucasays. The teams also address training, taggingissues and managing everything from equip-ment installation and upgrades to schedulingnew RFID deployments. They examine thespecifics of a park or other location, its operat-ing hours and available labor.

Cisco also adopted a team approach when itlaunched its RFID initiative to track IT equip-ment, and as the company rolled out its solu-tion at other sites, it formed and consulted withteams at those locations to understand theirbusiness processes and any local idiosyncrasiesand challenges. Flynn and IT executives con-tinue to engage with local finance, human resources and IT teams to ensure the organiza-tion is addressing all challenges and issues.“They are our eyes and ears,” she notes. “Theycreate a controlled environment that minimizesrisk and maximizes the odds for success.”

5 BE PREPARED TO MAKE SOMECHANGES

When Cisco expanded its RFID solution, itadopted a global standard for a passive RFID

“Testing at every site was necessary to ensure

there was no interference. In some cases, we

modified designs to add shielding to protect

against interference… but were able to keep to

the same basic equipment designs at all

locations.” —vinny pagliuca, disney


tag. The company identified ways to apply thetags using adhesive stickers and zip ties, butalso gave executives some discretion in howthey approach practical, regulatory, securityand other requirements. “We learned a lot byconducting pilots and proof of concepts beforeexpanding the program,” Flynn says. “Teamshave had a chance to review deployment successes and challenges and make necessaryadjustments.”

“We partnered closely with the costumingand development teams in Hong Kong, Parisand Shanghai,” Disney’s Pagliuca says. “Theyall use our proprietary software system. Hard-ware varies from site to site, but functionalityis similar enterprisewide.”

Disney conducts ongoing analysis of itsRFID system, Pagliuca notes, and has madechanges based on a number of factors, includ-ing safety, ergonomics, system speed, read rateaccuracy and efficiency. Metrics are a key partof the equation. “You cannot underestimatethe value of testing, testing and more testing,”he says.

Each retail store is different, OATSystems’Chhatwal says, but system changes don’t haveto be traumatic or expensive. In some cases, it’spossible to swap out one reader for another orreposition devices to make things work. He believes it’s wise to opt for hardware based onestablished RFID standards, to build in greaterflexibility and ensure long-term system anddata compatibility.

“Some changes are inevitable,” Flynn says.“The key is to build a platform that allows youto make changes to technology and processeswithout a great deal of disruption.” (For strate-gies on how to design and manage an RFID system that will keep pace with evolving tech-nologies and business demands, see “Future-proof Your RFID System” on page 36 .)

6MANAGE THE TRANSITION TO RFID

Moving from bar codes and manual tracking toautomated RFID systems requires a good dealof oversight. At times, some parts and itemsmay be tagged while others are not. It may alsobe necessary to keep a bar-code system in place

for a period of time as a backup. As Disneyrolled out its RFID solution at various facilities,it left the bar-code technology operating untilthe scheduled go-live date, Pagliuca says. “Atno time during the project did we close an op-erating location during scheduled operatinghours in order to implement the system.”

The same issues apply to software systemsand data, Warschauer says. In many instances,hosted and cloud-based systems make theswitchover from legacy technology more eas-

ily. “One of the advantages to the cloud is that it allows an organization to collect andpush data anywhere in the world with fewerresources,” he explains. It’s also important todevote adequate time and attention to middle-ware during the transition period, he adds.“Fortunately, the software that manages thedata is becoming more agnostic,” he says. “It isbecoming easier to link systems.”

7 EXPECT UNFORESEEN CHALLENGES

Comprehensive planning and state-of-the-artproject management cannot prevent unex-pected events and circumstances—there’ssimply no way to plan for every possibility.When Disney expanded the use of its RFIDsystem across the company and extended itout to cruise ships, it discovered that carbonfibers and other RF absorbing materials insome costumes created “unforeseen chal-lenges” surrounding effective and accuratereads, Pagliuca says. The result was a need

“One of the advantages to the cloud is that it

allows an organization to collect and push data

anywhere in the world with fewer resources. It’s

also important to devote adequate time and

attention to middleware during the transition

period.” —Jason Warschauer, hid global


RFID End-User Case-Study DVDs

RFID Journal has created a series of DVDs containing presentations by end users,

recorded at various live and online events.

RFID Journal holds several face-to-face conferencesevery year, as well as a number of online virtual eventsand webinars. These events feature end users speakingobjectively about the business reasons that theydeployed an RFID system, the technical hurdles theyovercame in doing so and the benefits they nowachieve as a result, as well as presentations byacademics, vendors and other experts. Many of thesessions were recorded, and we have compiled theserecordings into seven DVDs that are available forpurchase for only $99 or free with a one-year premiummembership to RFID Journal.

TO LEARN MORE, VISITwww.rfidjournal.com/dvds

Hear presentations from RFIDJournal events, including:

• RFID in Health Care

• RFID in Energy

• RFID in Defense and Security

• RFID in Aerospace

• RFID in Manufacturing

• RFID in Retail and Apparel

• RFID in Supply Chain andLogistics

Updated with new case studies from RFID Journal LIVE! 2014

http://ads.rfidjournal.com/www/delivery/ck.php?oaparams=2__bannerid=998__zoneid=0__cb=5772ef01c3__oadest=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rfidjournal.com%2Fstore%2Fcase-studies

to adjust tag placements—and continueadapting costumes based on the role of theemployee, environmental factors and othercriteria. “Cruise ships also presented severalnew issues, predominantly due to metal sur-faces onboard,” he adds. “During our first in-stallation attempt, we burned through arecord number of readers due to bounce andstatic.”

Cisco’s Flynn says when the companylaunched its initial RFID program, “There weretags that would work in one country but notothers. During the first few months of the U.S.rollout, a world tag became available.” Whileit’s crucial to stay abreast of changes in the in-dustry and a company’s specific RFID rollout,she says, it’s important to build flexibility and

adaptability into processes. “Things can andwill change, and you have to be ready whenthis happens,” she adds. It’s during these trying times that executive sponsorship, aclearly defined change-management strategyand ongoing communication pay dividends.“Teams and employees must stay informedand remain confident,” she says.

8DON’T OVERLOOK TRAINING ANDPOST-DEPLOYMENT SUPPORT

To ensure employees will accept a new RFIDapplication—and use it correctly—trainingmust be built into the scope of a project fromthe outset, Flake says. While some or mostsites may sail through deployment smoothly,

she says, other locales could experience spe-cific challenges that could torpedo the entireproject. It’s essential for employees to under-stand how hardware and software works, beequipped to deal with potential problems andknow where to seek help when a glitch or failure occurs.

Cisco provides training and certification tokey personnel. “It isn’t necessary for everyoneto become an expert, and people don’t requirea Ph.D. in RFID,” Flynn says. “It’s simply important to make sure the right people havethe right knowledge.”

For tips on training the people who will beoperating, managing and maintaining thesystem, see “How to Develop an RFID Train-ing Program” on page 33.

“Organizations that take a best practice ap-proach to build a targeted strategy for deploy-ing the technology to multiple locations are farmore likely to succeed,” Warschauer says.

“Come up with a realistic timeline and beprepared for it to change,” Pagliuca says. “Es-tablish a small core group of key partners, andwork closely with them on defining projectscope, roll-out plans and process changes. Thebiggest word of advice, however, is communi-cation and awareness. Before you try and getapproval to make this level of change, talk toand showcase the changes to all levels of leadership in IT, finance, operations… anyonewho may be touched by the technology. In theend, this will make the entire project run verysmoothly.”

“There were tags that would work in one

country but not others. During the first

few months of the U.S. rollout, a world

tag became available.” —maryanne flynn, cisco

Rolling Out RFID


Your companY is about to deploy a radio frequency identification system to track assets or inventory, managework-in-process, improve personnel safety or solve anotherproblem that has been plaguing operations and impacting thebottom line. Is it a smart move?

That may seem like an odd question in a publication thatbelieves in RFID’s ability to boost efficiencies and reduce costs.But it’s for precisely those reasons that every company shouldconsider the question before it deploys an RFID system.

Most companies begin investigating RFID to solve a particular problem. But RFID is an enabling technology thatcan address many issues. The same system used to track toolscould be extended to identify parts in a warehouse. A real-

time location system designed to monitor hand hygiene in ahospital could also track and manage high-value assets. Itmight require a mix of active and passive technologies, butwith up-front planning, all the data can be integrated into afirm’s back-end business applications.

Companies that look at RFID as an infrastructure, or plat-form, on which they can build many applications will reducecosts in the long term. Of course, no company can solve allits problems at once. But companies that take a strategic approach to deploying RFID enterprisewide will be able to rollout new projects that deliver a fast return on investment.

Several organizations, including jet maker Airbus, U.K.retailer Marks & Spencer, and hospital and research center

Companies large and small must take a strategic approach todeploying RFID enterprisewide, so the technology can solvetheir current problems and sup port their long-term goals.

BIGTHE

PICTURE BYSAMUEL GREENGARD


ILLU

ST

RA

TIO

N:

ISTO

CK

PH

OTO

Oregon Health & Science University, have put in place thestructure—both the technology architecture and standard-ized business practices—that enable them to readily expandthe use of RFID into new areas. Based on their experiences,as well as advice from RFID solution providers that haveworked on enterprise deployments, here are seven best prac-tices that companies both large and small in any industryshould consider as they adopt RFID or add new applications.

Have a Vision

In most cases, an RFID initiative is born when specific stake-holders identify a need for tracking materials or processes andRFID is brought up as a possible way to provide visibility, saysJohn Baker, president of consulting and integration firm Ven-ture Research. When he initially meets with a client, he says, helooks for a shopping list of objectives, but identifies the “low-est hanging fruit” where there’s the “biggest bang for the buck.”At the center of all this is a key concept, he says: “Can we provethe technology and demonstrate to upper management thatthe initiative is worth investing in over other projects?”

Some companies, however, do have well-thought-outplans for deploying RFID companywide. Airbus, for example,developed a three-phase program to improve businessprocesses and provide real-time automated visibility acrossits entire value chain of operations, from suppliers to customers, says Carlo Nizam, head of value chain visibilityand auto ID. Marks & Spencer (M&S), the largest U.K. clothing retailer, set out to tag and track all clothing to be “the store inwhich you can always find your size,” says Kim Phillips, headof packaging.

Often, identifying the value of an RFID initiative—how itcan simplify, streamline or improve existing workflows—canhelp galvanize support within the company, says Diana Hage,CEO of software and services firm RFID Global Solution. Itpaints a picture for an effective end-to-end solution, she adds.

That was the approach taken by Oregon Health & ScienceUniversity (OHSU), in Portland, Ore. In 2005, a crossfunc-tional team, with representatives from nursing administra-tion, clinical technology services, IT services, patienttransportation and equipment pool services, began explor-

BIGRFID Journal • 2014 19

ing ways to better track infusion pumps andother essential equipment across large critical-care units. The team turned to AeroScout tobuild a more robust network and design a sys-tem that would allow nurses to reduce the timewasted looking for equipment, says DennisMinsent, director of clinical technical services.The group also identified a number of otherpriorities, including the ability to locate equip-ment involved in recalls, identify equipmentfor maintenance, monitor the temperature ofrefrigerators and freezers that store pharma-ceuticals and other items, and locate specialtywheelchairs and stretchers to improve patientflow and speed discharge times.

They prepared a formal presentation forOHSU’s upper management and capital com-

mittee that addressed how the facility couldbuild a platform for the future. “We made itclear that we were designing the system tomeet everyone’s needs then and in the future,”Minsent says. The methodical and formal approach paid dividends. The team gained approval and buy-in. It installed the first RFIDtechnology in 2006 and has since built RFIDinto the mainstream of its business. OHSU hasadded features, capabilities and applications,including temperature and humidity monitor-ing, maintenance scheduling, mobile trackingand systems that boost regulatory compliance.

Establish a Crossfunctional Team

An enterprise approach to RFID involves multiple departments, so it’s important to setup a crossfunctional team early in the game.“The more touch points a project has, the moreimportant it is to have input from across theorganization,” Hage says.

Initially, M&S established a small cross-functional team chaired by a project manager,whose sole task was to oversee the implemen-tation and bring together all departments in-volved in or affected by the project, includingretail, purchasing, IT, operations and logistics.The project manager’s role is crucial, Phillipssays, adding, “You need a champion; withouta champion, you can’t succeed.” As its RFIDinitiative has grown, so has the team, Phillipssays. Today, a crossfunctional steering group,chaired by the director of retail, oversees RFIDimplementation. Members of the committeeinclude representatives from the retail stores,the financial department, Avery Dennison (theretailer’s technology provider) and the execu-tive board.

Deere & Company, the world’s largest manu-facturer of agricultural and construction equip-ment, began using RFID in 2005 to track someparts and products. The asset-tracking solutionproved beneficial, and by 2007, Deere had deployed roughly a dozen RFID systems in fac-tories and warehouses. The applications in-cluded tracking work-in-process to wringinefficiencies out of manufacturing and moni-toring outbound logistics operations to preventdefective products from ending up in show-rooms (see RFID Gains Traction at John Deere).

From the start, Deere has taken a crossfunc-tional team approach. Each new RFID deploy-ment is managed by a five-person core team,whose members play key roles—enterprise ar-chitect, factory and warehouse analyst, projectmanager, channel business analyst and tech-nology architect. “We want to keep the knowl-edge where it should be—in the organization,”said Mark Moran, the company’s former man-ager of tracking systems. The core team workswith representatives from the divisions thatare considering or implementing RFID.

The Big Picture

“We made it clear that wewere designing thesystem to meeteveryone’s needs thenand IN THE FUTURE.”

—dennis minsent, ohsu



cover story

Start Small

Once the crossfunctional team begins to con-sider the many areas within the company thatcould benefit from RFID, it’s tempting to wantto tag and track everything at once. That’s nota good idea, because it increases capital outlayand complicates deployment. It’s important toprioritize the applications on your list.

M&S for example, is focused on using RFIDto improve inventory accuracy and on-shelfavailability. But the U.K. retailer has also iden-tified 16 touch points where RFID might beused to collect data and improve processes.“We are looking at some of these other areas,”Phillips said last year at RFID Journal LIVE! Europe. “We’d be foolish not to—but you can’tdo it all at once.”

In 2003, M&S, which operates 750 stores inthe United Kingdom and more than 350 in 40other countries, began conducting field trialsto prove the technology and business case. In2004, it began tagging and tracking someclothing items, including men’s suits, shirtsand ties, at several locations. Gradually, it ex-panded the deployment to all its U.K. storesand additional types of clothing, such as men’sformal and casual trousers, jackets and shirts,as well as ladies’ knitwear, coats, formal andcasual trousers, and suits. Now, M&S is plan-ning to monitor home goods, such as bedding,accessories and kitchenware.

It’s wise to focus on quick wins that demon-strate results within six months, Hage says, andthen expand to new and broader applications.“It’s critical to have clearly defined processesand boundaries in order to expand or add ap-plications,” she says. “It’s important to definephases in implementations and celebrate earlysuccesses. The goal is to build momentum andinterest. It’s also very important to develop ref-erence designs prior to deployment and testequipment in a lab before introducing it live.”

For the past four years, Hawaiian LegacyHardwoods (HLH), a Honolulu-based lumber in-vestment and ecotourism firm, has been taggingand tracking koa hardwood trees, as they growfrom seedlings at nurseries to trees in forests.While the koa isn’t listed as an endangered

species, 90 percent of the native Hawaiian treehas been harvested. HLH has RFID-tagged morethan 225,000 trees to monitor their care andeventual harvesting. Its nonprofit division,LegacyTrees.org, plants and monitors koa treesfor the purpose of permanent reforestation. Adatabase contains information about each tree,including seed stock, feeding schedules and watering, to ensure a healthy crop.

Each planting season, HLH tags more trees.

Since HLH began using RFID, the organizationhas gained knowledge and experience—andhas developed a plan that will enable it to keeppace with growth and employ RFID through-out its operations. Early on, HLH conductedvalidation tests, including random doublechecks, to ensure the system worked with 100percent accuracy, says CIO William Gilliam.But the company did not envision expandingthe operation or adding new applications. “Werealized that the original tags and readerscouldn’t perform certain tasks or weren’t thebest for the conditions in which they wereused,” he says. HLH recently revamped its RFIDsystem and is now planning to monitor per-sonnel, equipment and tools.

Standardize Business Practices andProcesses

Before any RFID deployment, Hage says, “It’simportant to conduct an assessment of the

“WE ARE LOOKINGat some of theseother areas. We’dbe foolish not to—but you can’t do itall at once.”

—kim phillips,marks & spencer


The Big Picture

facility and engage in a business process work-flow review.” By documenting all the stepswithin a workflow, she adds, it’s possible to min-imize disruptions to existing processes. “Whereyou can have uniform placements of the tech-nology, you are generally going to have moreconsistent results and faster deployments.”

In 2007, Airbus found itself neck deep in a

spate of RFID initiatives, but lacking a uniformapproach. The firm recognized a need to pulltogether a collection of 17 independent RFIDinitiatives, Nizam says. “We realized therewere a lot of interesting things happening withRFID across all different parts of Airbus, butthings were highly fragmented,” he says. “Eachindividual project was looking to establish itsown contracts with suppliers, and the lack ofstandardization in software and hardware wasgoing to lead to higher complexities and costs.There was a clear need for a corporate programand an enterprisewide strategy, and so theValue Chain Visibility program was born.”

Nizam and other officials at Airbus workedfor months to introduce a life-cycle approachbased on standardized systems. “Once we tooka closer look at all the initiatives going on, wediscovered that all projects had about 70 per-cent commonality, so we used it as a startingpoint for consolidating systems,” he explains.After Nizam and the team pored over all the information, a strategy began to fall into place.“We understood the need to create a converged

backbone to run all the applications on and theneed to build an RFID supply chain that wouldsupport everything,” he says. We wanted to takefull advantage of the volumes of scale we couldleverage as a large enterprise.”

Among other things, the team closely exam-ined workflows, processes, procedures andproof points. The goal, Nizam says, was to un-derstand how to adapt things for full value-chain visibility. “We were focused on creatingprocesses and workflows that could be linkedto one another and essentially become part of areusable approach that involves minimal cus-tomization,” he says. “We wanted to avoid in-jecting costs into other processes and steps.”The big-picture approach—which focused heav-ily on key areas such as supply-chain logistics,transportation, distribution, production and assembly, tooling management and in-servicemaintenance—has served as the basis for thecompany’s industry-leading approach to RFID.

Embrace Hardware and SoftwareStandards

Without a long-term plan for deploying RFIDacross the enterprise, companies can wind upwith a mishmash of hardware and software.Venture Research’s Baker believes companiesgenerally benefit by avoiding vendor-specifictechnology. Consistent standards aid in every-thing from data collection to reporting, hesays. “Standards allow stakeholders to developreporting that will span local, departmentaland organizational boundaries.”

In the past, Baker says, companies had toperform integration on a number of discreetcomponents—readers, antennas, fixtures, RFcabling and middleware for each read point.“All of this can be readily purchased now as acompleted sealed solution at substantially lesscost than integrating each component,” hesays. “This also improves field support andcost of maintenance.”

At Airbus, Nizam says, 17 different initia-tives multiplied into hundreds, if not thou-sands, of different technology issues anddecision points. “We realized that the longerwe waited to harmonize everything, the morecostly and complicated everything would be.”

By documenting all the steps within aworkflow, it’s possibleto MINIMIZEDISRUPTIONS toexisting processes.

—diana hage,rfid global solution


As a result, the company decided to look atthings more proactively and adopt a stan-dards-based approach.

Airbus has established a portfolio of part-ners that provide RFID hardware, software andsupport. This ensures a basic level of unifor-mity across different use cases and scenarios.What’s more, the company has embedded thisinformation into its internal IT systems. Whenupdates take place, they populate across thecompany simultaneously. An added benefit ofthis approach is that a new facility can comeonline with an RFID initiative very quickly.Just as organizations have power or Ethernetin a building, RFID becomes a utility that’ssimply switched on. “Speed and cost are hugedrivers,” Nizam says.

At OHSU, which is tracking 150 equipmentcategories, a standardized technical foundationis essential. To achieve consistent and accurateresults, Minsent has standardized tags, readers,software and database fields. But, he acknowl-edges, “What’s necessary and needed for a cardiac unit may be very different from what’sneeded for a general medicine or pediatric unit.”Working with an established set of standardsenables OHSU to adapt rules, processes andworkflow for individual departments, he says.

As an early adopter of RFID, M&S decided itneeded to upgrade its system to meet its goals.In 2012, the firm converted its system to EPCGen 2 standards. “The technology has movedforward and continues to move forward,”Phillips says. The firm expects to see more im-pressive results in terms of return on invest-ment with the newer systems, he says,“because Gen 2 technology is far more cost-effective, more accurate and faster.”

Share Information AcrossDepartments and Divisions

It’s no secret that silos are an ongoing problemfor businesses, particularly larger organiza-tions. Too often, data, information and knowl-edge end up squirreled away in departmentsand systems. Consequently, an enterprisewinds up reinventing the proverbial wheel—over and over again. In general, business collaboration tools can help facilitate commu-

nication, but a more focused approach to information sharing is essential to deployRFID successfully across an enterprise.

Airbus, for example, has constructed a busi-ness infrastructure that pushes data, informa-tion and knowledge through the organizationand to its parent company, Airbus Group (formerly EADS). It includes regular internalconferences and seminars, physical visits andother sessions that extend beyond the 50-per-son core team. Airbus provides the same basictemplate to any internal group or departmentimplementing RFID.

In addition, Airbus uses a common project-management system and business-case calcu-lators to develop processes, metrics andbusiness transformation activities. Nizam andhis team simply adjust the deltas for these cal-

culators on an as-needed basis per project.This reusable and standard approach helpsspeed up projects.

The output of all these projects provides thecompany’s “business radar,” Nizam says. RFIDintroduces constant real-time visibility of in-dustrial process performance. By integratingthis data with other back-end systems andusing dashboards, reports and key perform-ance indicators, he says, “we are able to adopta continuous improvement system that showsus our real performance. We are able to dothings faster, better and with less risk.”

Among other things, teams can use all theinformation gathered by RFID to “visualize fac-

“Standards allowstakeholders todevelop reportingthat WILL SPAN local,depart mental andorganizationalBOUNDARIES.”

—john baker,venture research


We help clients achieve REAL results while remaining focused on their ROI. Our expertise crosses all key marketing channels, including e-mail, Web, search,

print, public relations, social media, events and telemarketing.

CUSTOMIZED MARKETING SOLUTIONS THAT GET RESULTS!WHY SPEND ALL OF YOUR MARKETING DOLLARS ON A LARGE AGENCY,

WHEN YOU CAN HAVE CREATIVE CAMPAIGNS DEVELOPED MORE EFFICIENTLY—AND AT A MUCH LOWER COST—BY INSIDERS IN THE RFID INDUSTRY?

WE CAN HELP YOUR COMPANY:

For more information, visit www.rfidjournal.com/marketing

Raise Brand Awareness

Create a ProductLaunch Plan

Increase Website Traffic

Generate Qualified Leads

And so muchmore!

tories in 2-D and 3-D,” Nizam says. “By know-ing where objects are located at any given moment, we can visualize them graphically.”For example, across the organization, manage-ment can determine whether containers are inthe right place and workflows are taking placeas desired. An added benefit: It’s easy to iden-tify what’s working and what isn’t and applybest practices. “It’s the basis of a smart factoryand a smart supply chain,” he says.

Address Change Management

RFID initiatives that touch many parts of an or-ganization and significantly alter workflowsand processes often require a strong changemanagement component. Resistance and op-position are predictable pieces of the puzzle,Hage says. “RFID project managers constantlyunderestimate the level of pushback they aregoing to experience,” she says. Managementmust make a solid case for change and alertemployees as soon as possible. (For tips to ensure a smooth transition as you deploy orexpand an RFID system, see “Best Practices:RFID Change Managementon” on page 46.)

An effective change management strategyfor Airbus has been to fuel relatively smallprojects in order to complement and build momentum for larger ones. “Many of the bigprojects are becoming mission critical, but wecould never have started with them withoutproof points,” Nizam says. “The small projectshelp us demonstrate results quickly and builda foundation for the larger ones.”

In addition, Airbus tests and validates sys-tems across numerous iterations and condi-tions in its industrial showroom andinnovation center in Toulouse, France. Thisenables project managers to appraise how thechange process is unfolding so they can adjustand adapt the systems—and work with groupsto manage expectations—as needed.

Phillips says M&S builds support for initia-tives by focusing on two key areas: achievingconsensus and support among executives andproject leaders, and training and educating formanagement and staff. “Through engagementand top-quality training, we have won heartsand minds of our store colleagues and man-

agement teams,” he explains. This approach“has persuaded everyone that RFID is helpingto deliver improvements for customers and forthemselves. The evidence is demonstrated inextremely high compliance levels in stores.”

Clearly, taking a strategic approach to de-ploying RFID enterprisewide brings visibilityand benefits to all areas of a company’s operations. It also results in faster, reliable andcost-effective rollouts. Building a seamless andintegrated RFID infrastructure allows a com-

pany to fulfill its goal, whether that’s integrat-ing disparate business units, providing bettercustomer service, transforming hospital oper-ations to reduce labor and improve patientcare, or preserving native trees.

“At the start, we had a challenging job toconvince people to implement RFID and getprojects off the ground,” Nizam says, “buttoday, as more projects have been deliveredand the results have been demonstrated, thechallenge is keeping up with demand.” In2008, Airbus had fewer than five RFID projectsunder way, mostly small to medium-size ini-tiatives. Today, the number stands at nearly 60.What’s more, Nizam notes, these projects are of much larger scope in both size and geography. “For example, one initiative alonespans five countries and 10 separate manufac-turing facilities,” he says. “It has helped usbuild planes faster and more efficiently—andimprove quality.”

The Big Picture

“The small projects help us demonstrate resultsquickly and BUILD AFOUNDATION for thelarger ones.”

—carlo nizam, airbus


ILLU

STRATIO

N: ISTO

CKPHOTO

As the leAder of A systems-integrAtion busi-ness, Mary Ann Wagner, the president of Vienna, Va.-

based XIO Strategies, has seen an almost endless stringof new adopters of radio frequency identification make

exactly the same deployment mistakes. It’s one of the mostfrustrating parts of her job, she says, noting, “The complexity

involved with marrying hardware, software and processes can oftenbe underestimated.”

Wagner is being polite, of course. In reality, a surprisingly large num-ber of prospective RFID adopters launch their projects with all sorts ofmisconceptions, outrageous expectations and various types of wrongideas and delusions. Then they complain when the system is late, fails tomeet its planned goals or is intrinsically problem-plagued.

While any RFID project can run into the occasional unexpected prob-lem, learning to avoid the fundamental errors that set most newcomers

back can lead to a faster and less ex-pensive deployment, as well as a


CommonDeploymentMistakes—And How toAvoid Them8Businesses deploying RFID systemskeep making the same errors. Here’show to ensure you don’t follow intheir messy footsteps. by john edwards

8 Common Deployment Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

system that lives up to its owner’s expectations from theonset.

Sound good? Then learn to avoid these common mistakes.

1 Selecting an Inexperienced Systems Integrator

Most RFID beginners depend on a systems integrator forknowledge and insight about RFID technologies and systemdesign. But problems often arise when a newbie decides totackle the job without external help, or turns to a system in-tegrator lacking sufficient experience in the type of RFID de-ployment being planned, or in the client’s business sector.

“You need an expert—a partner with RFID experience—todetermine your requirements,” says Nicolas Jacquemin, theVP of marketing and sales at Tageos, an RFID tag developerlocated in Clapiers, France. “Sometimes, customers call us di-rectly, and they seem to have well-defined requirements—but, in fact, they do not, because they did [the planning work]alone, without the help of an RFID expert.”

Correcting mistakes can be a time-consuming and costlyprocess, Wagner says. “In some of our experiences, we havehad to resolve issues created by vendor partners, as well as insupport of integrators," she states. “Most of the time, our en-gineers are able to rework a project so the owner can reachthe capabilities they set out to achieve by implementing anRFID system, but we have also encountered other circum-stances where a complete rework of the project was neces-sary in order to achieve the best results.”

2 Choosing the Wrong Type of RFID

Newcomers are often blithely unaware that there are manydifferent types of RFID technologies, standards and configu-rations. “They think that you’ll just be able to plug a system inand it will do everything it can,” says Anthony Palermo, thedirector of business development for the Academia RFID Cen-tre of Excellence, an RFID training, certification and researchorganization located in Montreal. “The thing is, they have ahard time deciphering between passive RFID, active RFID, GPSand battery-assisted RFID, tracking things in real time, readpoints and so on.” Palermo advises beginners to learn all theycan about the technology as it relates to their business beforeeven approaching a systems integrator. (See How to Choosethe Right RFID Technology for Your Application: A Step-by-Step Guide.)

Misconceptions about RFID technologies and operationare widespread, often fostered by inaccurate media reports.“Some people associate all RFID with the large active RFIDtags used for the past couple of decades in military asset vis-

ibility, and are uninformed on the differences in capabilityand potential benefits of passive RFID over bar-coding,” Wag-ner explains. “Recognizing and understanding how to bestapply the entirety of the automatic-identification technologyfamily of data-collection tools, as well as the differences thatexist within radio frequency identification, is a primary steptoward project success."

3 Not Assigning Responsibility to One Senior Executive.

Like any major business project, a new RFID deployment re-quires a leader able to guide the project through to comple-tion. “Successful projects have a very strong leader who iscompletely committed to riding through the bumps in theroad to achieve a new state of operational efficiency for theircompany,” says Dean Frew, the president and CEO of Xterprise,an RFID software developer based in Carrollton, Texas. Such aleader, he notes, has a clear vision of what the final deploy-ment will look like, as well as the best way to achieve that goal.

While a project manager is critical to oversee the project’svarious tactical activities, Wagner says, having a projectchampion among the senior management ranks is equallyvital from a strategic perspective. “There must be a clear as-signment of roles and responsibilities between organiza-tional leadership, the workforce, and the RFID project’svendors and contractors,” she notes. “The senior executiveassumes the accountability for overall success, integrationand synchronization with corporate objectives, removesroadblocks across departments or functions, and supportsand defends the project as needed.”

Without a project champion leading the way, even minorchallenges may prove to be insurmountable. “We have seenRFID efforts bog down through both a committee approach—decisions take more time or don’t occur at all—as well as adistributed approach [where] functional areas only focusedon their element and not the broader effort,” Wagner says. “In both cases, schedules slip, risk is increased, and costs inevitably increase.”

4 Not Thinking Strategically.

Newcomers need to be aware of how RFID will impact busi-ness processes. “It is not only a matter of changing the tech-nology, but sometimes also changing your business processto see the most benefit from your RFID investment,” Tageos’Jacquemin states.

“If you don’t understand your processes and how the technology is going to improve or alter the process flow, itdoesn’t matter what hardware or software you buy—you’re





going to fail,” says Chris Gaskins, VP of productdevelopment for RF Code, an RFID technologydeveloper located in Austin, Texas. “You haveto do that process engineering, understandhow all that is going to fit together, and thenyou go figure out what you’re going to do withit and what technology you want to buy.”

“One of the biggest mistakes [is] the under-estimation of the change-management por-tion of the project,” Palermo adds. If a businessis already using bar codes, for instance, itshouldn’t be too complicated to progress from bar-code technology to RFID. “But ifyou’re looking to completely automate certainprocesses and get 100 percent read rates, [it’s] guaranteed you’re going to need processre-engineering.”

If an organization fails to think strategicallyabout an RFID system, Wagner says, it runs therisk of not implementing an enterprise solu-tion and, instead, just filling the need of a sin-gle department within a company. “Thinkingstrategically about deploying RFID begins withstepping back from a requirement and defin-ing what the technology can do for the entireenterprise,” she states.

At times, thinking strategically can be sim-ple, Wagner says, sharing this story: “Oneclient explained that a colleague in charge ofstock control was getting ready to buy newhandheld bar-code scanners. Upon hearingabout the company’s plan to incorporate RFID,he modified the requisition to select a modelthat had an optional RFID attachment.”

5Mishandling the Integration of RFID Data With

Back-End Systems

Integrating RFID-generated data into businessapplications so that essential information canbe viewed, analyzed, applied and presented toend users is often a far more difficult task thangathering the information. Incomplete orerror-prone data integration—a common mis-take—can easily diminish an RFID solution’soverall value to a business.

“Whatever [RFID] systems get put in place,they need to lend themselves to easy integra-tion with other things," Gaskins says. “I can’t

tell you the number of times when... the cus-tomer starts using our stuff, and we find outthat the data needs to flow to two, three or fourother places they never really thought aboutduring their initial planning phase.”

Since the very first RFID deployments, thequestion of using middleware as a bridge toback-end systems has been a topic of debate.But the issue has now been largely settled,Wagner says.

“In our experience, companies that enabledtheir RFID network without a layer of devicemanagement—middleware—found that theirinventory-management databases were vulnerable to corruption and out-of-synchconditions,” says Wagner, who thinks thatdata-integration needs to be among the firstchallenges addressed by a prospective RFIDimplementer. “Middleware enables the properfiltering of tag data and updated database in-terfaces, [and] without these capabilities, RFIDcan inundate the database with redundant information instead of cleanly and clearly providing the desired just-in-time inventoryinformation and business condition alerts.”

Gaskins agrees, noting, “The whole point ofRFID, obviously, is driving automation, reduc-ing errors and trying to make this stuff happenautomatically with as little human interven-tion as possible. So integrating this data, andrealizing it’s going to get consumed by multi-ple applications, is really, really key.” (For moreinformation, read the “Software Savvy” col-umn in RFID Journal’s print magazine, as wellas How to Integrate RFID Data WithoutDisrupting Your Business.)

6 Failing to Adequately Test the Concept

and System

To save time and money, many new RFIDadopters opt to shorten or even eliminate theirprojects’ proof-of-concept and pilot stages.That’s almost never a good idea.

“What you don’t want to do is come in,make that huge capital investment, and thenfind out that some of your assumptions aren’ttrue,” says William Lee Mapp, III, the presidentof BA Systems, a Washington-based systems-

“One of the biggest mistakes[is] the under -estimation of the change-managementportion of theproject.”—anthony palermo,academia center ofexcellence




8 Common Deployment Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

integration firm. “We always try to encouragepeople to pilot sections of the system, becausewe can then scale it out from there.”

Perhaps most importantly, a pilot projectlimits any potential business damage that maybe caused by a malfunctioning or improperlydesigned system. “Piloting is a really good wayof uncovering more problems,” Mapp asserts,“and verifying that your solution does, in fact,solve the problem.”

7 Not Sufficiently Educating and Training

Employees

Many new adopters treat RFID like a birthdaypresent, springing the technology on end userswithout warning. Unfortunately, unlike a gift,RFID surprises are rarely appreciated.

“You need to train the people,” Palermosays. “If the entire [end-user] team is all newemployees, then you have to make sure there’ssomeone there... who can continue to trainnew employees as they come in.”

Craig Jo, the business development directorfor Hong Kong RFID, an RFID technology man-ufacturer, distributor and consultant, believesit’s important to involve end users in an RFIDproject as soon as possible—preferably duringthe proof-of-concept and pilot developments.“The workers need a lot of chances to learn,"he states. “Whether the project can runsmoothly or not often totally depends on theworker.”

Xterprise’s Frew feels it’s essential to createsolutions carefully tuned to end users’ needs.“You have to build systems that are very intu-itive, very graphical in their interface—touchscreens, things like that,” he says. “If you thinkabout it, most folks have grown up on iPhonesand so on—they’ve got that kind of mindset.”

Reluctant, unhappy and RFID-phobic employees can create big headaches. “If employees are not educated about the bene-fits of RFID or how it works, they can sabotagethe solution, whether intentionally or inad-vertently,” Wagner states. “For example, wehave heard of employees disabling asset-visibility portals because they believed theRFID reader was capturing and reporting the

content of their text messages.” There havealso been reports of indigenous commercialdrivers moving military goods in combatzones removing and discarding active RFIDtags, she adds, because “they believed theenemy would target their vehicle based on thepresence of the tag.”

8 Not Addressing Challenges Associated With

Expanding (Scaling) the Rollout

Most RFID projects never really end—they con-tinually expand into new application areas andphysical locations. New RFID deploymentsshould be designed with the ability to expandinto in an array of different environments.

“The surest way to build a flexible and scalable solution is to first establish a firmfoundation—it’s just like any other software ap-plication or enterprise architecture system,”Mapp says. This process, he notes, starts with agreat design and plenty of time for developmentand testing. “You need to ask the right questions[and] identify who the stakeholders are.”

What works in one facility may not be ap-plicable at another site, Wagner notes, evenwithin the same organization. “One examplewe encountered occurred in a test facility atthe headquarters of a global conglomerate,”she says. “The RFID pilot was so successful thatmanagement realized that ROI would be real-ized in less time than thought possible.” Un-fortunately, during the rollout, the companydiscovered branch locations with unique re-quirements. “As a result, the solution had to becompletely re-architected for distribution cen-ters in foreign countries, where the RFID fre-quency used did not meet host nation’sapproval.”

Regardless of a deployment’s size or pur-pose, proper project-management techniquesare necessary to identify all potential stake-holders, as well as to establish the system’sgoals. “A ‘slap-and-ship’ solution designed forbasic compliance with a customer mandatelooks very different from technology adoptionthat’s instrumented not only for downstreamcustomer consumption, but also for internalbenefit,” Wagner says.

“Piloting is a reallygood way ofuncovering moreproblems, andverifying thatyour solution does,in fact, solve theproblem.”—william lee mapp iii,ba systems


Front-line managers and other end users play a pivotal role inmaking or breaking a new RFID project. Here’s how to get themon your side. by john edwards

ILLU

STRATIO

N: ISTO

CKPHOTO

Given the cost and transformative nature of a radio fre-quency identification deployment, an important first step formost project managers is to obtain buy-in from key stake-holders. Yet in their zeal to win approval from their CEO, CIO,CFO and other front-office executives, project leaders oftenneglect to seek any type of input from the managers and endusers who will eventually need to incorporate the new tech-nology into their daily routines.

This is a big mistake, says Anthony Palermo, the director ofbusiness development at the Academia RFID Centre of Excel-lence, in Montreal, Canada, an organization that providesRFID training, certification, consulting and engineering serv-

ices. “It’s extremely important to get buy-in from the man-agers... they’re the people within your organization who aregoing to continue to promote the benefits, or to justify in-vestment, in the technology,” he says.

Cisco Systems recognized this reality the moment it beganworking on an RFID system to manage and protect the serversand other fixed IT assets at its 70 U.S. data centers. The com-pany began its design process by reaching out to the peoplewho would actually use the system to track equipment ac-quisitions, movements and disposals. “We started by lookingat our internal policies and processes,” says Maryanne Flynn,the operations director of Cisco’s fixed-assets lifecycle initia-

Gaining Project Buy-in FromCompany Employees


Gaining Project Buy-in From Company Employees

tive. “We wanted to find out from our stake-holders—the people who manage these assetson a daily basis—what were some of the piecesof the process that didn’t work for them.”

Cisco’s approach can help virtually any RFIDadopter design a more efficient and productivesystem (see Cisco’s Business-Driven RFIDStrategy). While gaining the buy-in and trustof those who will actually use an RFID systemis a multi-step process involving considerableforethought and hands-on planning, it’s an effort that will continue to pay dividends formany years. Here’s how to get started.

Involve Front-Line Managers in Project-Planning Meetings

The team that establishes the RFID system’slayout, processes and goals should consult themanagers of all affected departments. “We liketo get a chance to interview the users, andoften the front-line manager is the best youcan get,” says Steve Halliday, the president ofHigh Tech Aid, an RFID consulting companybased in Gibsonia, Pa. “They know everythingabout how the current system works andwhere the potholes are. Our intent is to alwayshave appropriate line managers involved fromthe start. They can act as your eyes and ears...to gauge if there are likely to be any issues.”

“Very rarely will a successful project remainsuccessful if the manager who will use it is noton board,” observes Jeremy Codiroli, a process-improvement engineer at GE Energy, inGreenville, S.C. Codiroli recently designed anRFID system that will track equipment used atthe company’s wind power and gas turbinemanufacturing facility. “It’s much better tohear the manager’s concerns beforehand,while there’s still time to plan around his con-cerns,” he states.

“Without the buy-in... when you start thedeployment, you will get resistance from thosemanagers,” says veteran RFID researcher andconsultant Bill Hardgrave, the dean of AuburnUniversity’s College of Business, located inAuburn, Ala. “You can head off some of that resistance by getting [managers] involved fromthe very beginning.”

Request Help With Project Planningand Listen Carefully

Nobody likes to be ordered around, so presentthe invitation to help the planning team as arequest rather than as a demand. And be sureto pay close attention to what the managerssay.

“I usually do my research and plan theprocess out, then confront the manager andpresent my project,” Codiroli says. “At thispoint, I ask the manager to tell me if he has initial concerns that I can address.” This approach, he notes, can nip previously undetected system problems or shortcomingsin the bud. “[It] addresses many of the issues ata point where I’m still able to make changes.”

Hardgrave feels the best approach is tospend time with the front-line managers, ask-ing them about existing problems. “You needto start by understanding, letting them talkyou through the problems they have,” he says. “The worst thing you can do is come inand say, ‘Hey, I’m from corporate’ or ‘I’m atechnology integrator,’ and I’m here to solve allyour problems by doing X.’”

Give Front-Line Managersa Feeling of Ownership

It’s not enough to simply involve managers inthe project—they also need to feel they have astake in the venture and its ultimate success.“By making [managers] the champion of thetechnology system, they often can find the issues before they are issues,” Halliday says.

“It is beneficial to consult with managersover the more important decisions for the proj-ect,” Codiroli adds. “The best way to do this isto sit down with the managers and make surethey fully understand the technical details.”

Palermo believes ownership is establishedby instilling a sense of project involvementamong the various managers. “Making suretheir ideas are heard and their ideas are in-cluded in the solution design” is important, hesays. That close and continuous interactionbetween system planners, managers and otherend users is another way of building project


“Our intent is toalways haveappropriate linemanagersinvolved from thestart. They can actas your eyes andears... to gauge ifthere are likely tobe any issues.”—steve halliday,high tech aid



Gaining Project Buy-in From Company Employees

ownership and acceptance. “By constantly re-minding them ‘I need this and this and this,’ itallows them to feel like they’re giving you thetools you need to be able to help them.”

Put Front-Line ManagementInsight to Work

Achieving manager buy-in leads not only tomore satisfied and cooperative end users, butalso to a better performing RFID system. Man-agers and staff members working on the frontline live in a world far removed from theoreti-cal projections. These individuals have deep,practical experience with production, ship-ping, maintenance, retail and other essentialbusiness operations. This valuable knowledgecan be put to good use during an RFID project’sdesign and testing phases, allowing the finalsystem to perform as well in the real world asit does in concept. “Many engineers don’tthink about the business side of a project,”Codiroli says. “It creates a great balance whenthe manager can provide input into the eco-nomic side of things.”

Yet, Halliday notes that simply askingfront-line managers and end users for theirinsight doesn’t always guarantee a free flow ofinsightful information. "Spend time withthem, without the boss around, to understandhow the project is really going to work," hesuggests.

Be Open About Your Intentions

Resist the temptation to hide or obscure any ofthe project’s less attractive aspects, such as thepossibility that it may lead to job reductions orshake up existing work assignments. Man-agers and other end users will hear the badnews soon enough, via the company rumormill. Hollow attempts to hide or sugar-coat theinformation will only serve to build staff skep-ticism and mistrust. What’s more, you will alsolose the chance to squash untrue, negativenews before it can poison employees’ minds.

“I’ve seen completed projects get shut downbecause someone originally hid, downplayedor ignored the negative aspects from a man-

ager,” Codiroli explains. “Sometimes, peoplethink a manager might overreact when told thenegatives, so they hide them—only to laterhave the manager stop or restrict... the project.”

Hardgrave agrees: “If you try to hide objectives, then what you’ll have is peoplebeing very suspicious of the project and the technology. What you may find then is a resistance to the technology.”

Use Managers as an InformationPipeline

Front-line managers have direct, daily contactwith supervisors, line workers and other RFIDsystem users. As such, the managers shouldserve as the project team’s primary informa-tion conduit to all end users. “The front-linemanagers should be the communicationbridge to the workers, rather than corporate orthe systems integrator,” Hardgrave states.“They have to be the ones communicating tothe workers on when and how and why thetechnology is being used.”

Tapping into this ready-made resource cansave both time and money. “Managers can holdmeetings with the workers all at once, so in-formation doesn’t need to be repeated individ-ually,” Codiroli says. “This is also beneficialbecause workers are more prone to listen totheir manager than to an engineer they may ormay not have ever met.”

Since front-line managers remain in close,continuous contact with all end users, Palermosuggests making them directly responsible forinitial and ongoing training services. “Give[the managers] the tools necessary to properlyeducate their staff on how the technologyworks, what it can do,” he says.

A Final Thought

“The key to getting [manager] buy-in is toshow them how this is going to improve theirjob,” Hardgrave advises. “If you understandtheir problems, you understand what stressesthem, or keeps them awake at night, and thenshow them how this is going to improve theirjob. That’s where you’ll get the buy-in.”

“Managers canhold meetingswith the workersall at once, soinformationdoesn’t need to berepeatedindividually. Thisis also beneficialbecause workersare more prone tolisten to theirmanager than toan engineer theymay or may nothave ever met.” —jeremy codiroli,ge energy


How to Develop an RFID Training Program

Preparing workers to use a new or upgraded RFID system isessential. by john edwards

ILLU

STRATIO

N: ISTO

CKPHOTO

User training: it's the essential component of everyradio frequency identification solution that is most often forgotten or ignored. While most businesses deploying or expanding an RFID solution agonize over system design,hardware and software, training is frequently breezed over orneglected. In many cases, companies mistakenly assume thattheir staff will "quickly get the hang of things" or "learn asthey go."

But believing that personnel will be able to adapt to thenew processes and responsibilities created by RFID throughsome form of magical osmosis is a critical mistake. Somecompanies and organizations that complained about their

RFID solution not working learned, upon further investiga-tion, that this was due to employees not using it properly—orat all.

As with any critical system component, user training mustbe in place and ready to roll before the first tag is read withina "live" environment. When evaluating RFID systems inte-grators or solution providers, businesses should inquire iftheir services include training. Many offer on-site trainingservices, which can be bundled into complete system pack-ages or purchased separately.

"When we get a new customer, we have a deploymentphase where we go onsite, install all the hardware and work

How to Develop an RFIDTraining Program

RFID Journal Feature


out all the kinks," says Alejandro Solorio, a trainer withAwarepoint, a health-care industry real-time location system(RTLS) solutions provider. "While all of that is taking place,I'm already working with the customer remotely to get readyfor training."

Smart businesses start thinking about training as soon asthey begin designing an RFID system. "A training programshould be developed in the sense of first making sure that youhave all your ducks in a row," Solorio explains. "Do I have myclassroom? Do I have the participants that I need? Do I have adefining role for them?"

Developing an RFID training program that addresses theneeds of both the business and its employees requires in-sightful thought, precise planning, a flexible approach and along-term commitment to quality. Here's how to begin.

Identify the Users

A single RFID system may be used by several different typesof workers, each with their own particular task sets, respon-sibilities and concerns. A retail supply-chain application, forexample, might be employed by warehouse personnel, sales-floor associates, back-room workers and delivery drivers, allof whom will interact with the system in different ways. Sim-ilarly, within a health-care facility, an RFID-based pharma-ceutical management solution might involve nurses,physicians and pharmacists. In both scenarios, these indi-viduals will have specific training needs.

When teaching people with different jobs, skill sets andeducational backgrounds, it is important to consider how youcommunicate with them. "When you're dealing with engi-neers, they have their own language and ways of communi-cating with each other, versus when you're working withnurses," Solorio says. "There might be one or two engineersyou could get to break down the training information for peo-ple inside their department, and they will be able to do thisbetter than you can, coming in from the outside."

Choose the Training Method

RFID training can be approached in various ways, such aswith classroom lessons, on-the-job instruction, videos, com-puter-based training, Web conferencing or, as happens atmany businesses, a combination of two or more methods. "Idon't think there's a cookie-cutter format that works," saysPhilip Lassner, the CEO of Overheer Systems, a firm that sup-plies item-level RFID solutions to retailers. "There's a definiteneed to work hand in hand with the client to determine whatis the best training model for them. It's up to us to have as

many tools in our toolbox, so that the client can mix andmatch the appropriate tool for their users and locations."

Fernando Matos, the head of information technologies atTAP Maintenance and Engineering (TAP ME), a division ofPortugal's national airline, TAP, relies on RFID to track enginecomponents. In late 2011, while the system was being de-ployed at TAP ME's central engine maintenance and repair fa-cility, in Lisbon, formal classroom training commenced."First, we explained what RFID is in general terms, and whatwas going to happen on the shop floor," Matos says. "Then,the class was given the scanners, and they got to see all of thefunctions."

Training then moved to the maintenance floor, where me-chanics gained practical experience tagging workshop com-ponents before the system was taken live. "While tagging,they were learning the full process: how to print the tags, howto glue the tags to the task card, how to scan, how to work inreal production," Matos says. "We spent a couple of days witheach group of mechanics until we covered this with all theguys that were working on the shop floor."

When a large number of users working in different areasneed to be trained quickly, it often pays to provide instruc-tion on an as-need basis. Such was the case when NemoursChildren's Hospital, in Orlando, Fla.—which opened its doorsfor the first time last October—faced an immediate need totrain a wide range of workers on the use of multiple systems,including an RTLS asset-tracking and refrigerator tempera-ture-monitoring system.

"We used informal sessions that were led in one of our con-ference rooms," says Jackie Gustafson, an application supportmanager at the hospital. The sessions were held frequently,she notes, enabling workers with busy schedules to receivenecessary training without neglecting other important tasks."People could just come in and get a demonstration."

Gustafson describes the approach as "just-in-time learn-ing"—giving users necessary instruction and support at thevery moment they need it. "We had some quick referenceguides and some very targeted communications," she says,"and then, mostly, it was the hands-on demo sessions—'comein, let us show you how this works, here's the link, here'swhat you click.'"

Select a Training Leader

Any training program, even the most informal effort, needs aleader who will ensure that users are acquiring the necessaryskills to work effectively and efficiently. While many largebusinesses have on-staff professional instructors, smallercompanies typically turn to trainers recommended by a ven-


How to Develop an RFID Training Program

dor or systems integrator, or find someone in-house who is willing and able to handle thetask.

Mike Beedles, the director of the integrationsolutions division at RFID hardware vendorSATO America, suggests using a “train-the-trainer” process. This approach matches anRFID-savvy staff member with coworkers whoneed to learn system practices and operations.“That ‘super-user’ would actually be the onewho trains the employees,” Beedles explains.“The super-user wants to take ownership of it;he or she is excited about the new process andwants to be the ‘go-to’ person.” Beedles recom-mends picking “somebody that’s IT, somebodythat’s a bit higher-level on the operations side.”

Business knowledge and enthusiasm areother desirable super-user attributes, Lassnersays. “I like finding somebody who shows thatthey’re eager to learn—more importantly,somebody who is eager to teach, because mak-ing sure that everybody knows how to use thesystem, and that they’re excited about the sys-tem, provides a good starting point,” he states.

Provide a Wide Range of Quality Training Materials

Training materials, such as printed hand-books, instruction sheets, e-books and Websites, are commonly used to reinforce class-room and on-site training. Such items andservices enable workers to study on their owntime, and to find answers to specific questionsquickly and with little effort. Gustafson saysshe is a big fan of Web publishing, adding, “Wetake the quick reference guides and publishthem on our learning-management system.When there’s a question, we can always pointpeople there.”

The learning-management system can beaccessed internally on the company’s network,Gustafson notes, or externally via the Web. Forworkers in situations without network or Webaccess, the hospital operates a help desk.“When the help desk gets a call, they cansearch the knowledge base for work instruc-tions,” she says.

Users who have trouble grasping certain

challenging concepts or processes can often behelped via Web conferencing. This approachgives confused users a direct one-on-one con-nection to vendor- and systems integrator-based experts. “We’ll do a session online andwe'll walk them through the steps,” Beedlessays. “We’ll work with them until they get it.”

Determine the Training’s Effectiveness

Pouring time, energy and money into trainingdoes not guarantee success, however. To verify that employees are acquiring the skillsthey need, it is important to have a way of assessing, documenting and maintainingtraining quality.

Most RFID systems include activity-moni-toring tools that can be used to detect specificweaknesses. “The company can get a quicksnapshot of the performance of their users andlocations; they can quickly see which users orlocations are performing better than others,”Lassner says. “If you have one location that’sperforming super-well and another locationwith a user that's not performing as well, youcan make some decisions based on the analytics tool.” A subpar worker detected by amonitoring tool, for instance, might be designated as a candidate for retraining. Addi-tionally, if the monitoring tool detects ineffi-ciency or failure patterns developing overtime, that could be a sign that the training pro-gram is failing to meet its objectives and needsto be improved in some way.

Provide Long-Term Training Support

Training needs to continue for as long as newworkers are introduced into the system. “Inthe beginning, we had 400 mechanics whograduated training,” TAP ME’s Matos recalls.“Now, we have maybe two guys one month,one guy another month and four the monthafter.” The formal classroom sessions, mean-while, were transformed into one-on-one in-struction and small group meetings. “There isno need to push the training as hard,” hestates, “but the mechanics get exactly the sametraining as all the others.”

“We take the quickreference guidesand publish themon our learning-managementsystem. Whenthere's a question,we can alwayspoint peoplethere.” —jackie gustafson,nemours children’shospital


cover story

futureYOUR RFID SYSTEMPROOF

by john edwards

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII


ILLU

STR

ATIO

N:

ISTO

CK

PH

OTO

Obsolescence. You believe radio frequency identifica-tion will help your organization handle tasks more efficientlyand cost-effectively, yet that word lingers in your mind.While the benefits of RFID have been proven, there’s stillsome risk in investing thousands of dollars in a relativelynew technology. You fret about deploying a system that may be made obsolete within a few years by evolving tech-nologies or business practices.

This is a real concern, but not a reason to put off deployingan RFID solution that can deliver benefits today, say earlyadopters, technology providers and analysts. By applyingsome “futureproofing” strategies, just about any adopter canensure its new system will function smoothly and produc-tively for many years.

Futureproofing means taking a holistic approach to RFIDdesign, implementation and maintenance. That involves determining your goals, analyzing systems from multiple angles, and understanding the relationships among hardware,software, standards, scalability, design and quality—all with

an eye toward maximizing durability and longevity. Future-proofing also means keeping up with emerging trends—ex-amining what’s new while knowing what may be headingtoward obsolescence—and creating strategies to deal withinevitable changes in technologies and business practices.

Here, then, are seven strategies to futureproof your RFIDsystem.

1 PLAN CAREFULLY

Futureproofed RFID systems are born on the drawing board.Careful and precise planning aimed at understanding currentneeds, predicting growth and determining how to integrateRFID with other existing and future systems is essential toensure longevity.

“We want to get [customers] thinking about growth andfuture needs, and how their systems will accommodate these

Industry insiders share sevenstrategies to design and manage

an RFID system that will keep pacewith evolving technologies and

business demands.IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII


changes,” says Steve Halliday, president ofRFID consulting company High Tech Aid, inGibsonia, Pa. “It really comes down to under-standing where you are today and where youwant to be in the future. Probably 75 percent ofpeople can’t tell you where they want to be—they only have some vague ideas.”

When working with a customer to developan application, Halliday says, his firm leads theclient through a logical thought process byasking questions such as:

• How do you do this now?• What information is missing?• What makes your process difficult?• Who does this work?“We then try to get them to think about their

ideal solution,” Halliday says. Questions include:

• What do you really want to makeyour life easier?

• Who/where is the bottleneck in yourcurrent system?

• How do you see the system workingin two years? Five years? Ten years?

“From this, we try to create a plan for themfor the implementation and for the future, sothey have a path forward,” Halliday says.

Strategic planning also can help earlyadopters manage risk. “In most cases, earlyadopters are the people who gain the most,”says Chris Hood, Europe, Middle East and

Africa channel sales manager for tag supplierOmni-ID, in Rochester, N.Y. “They get a marchon their competitors.” Yet, there’s a reasonbrand-new technologies and approaches areoften described as “bleeding-edge.”

The key is to look for value in whateverproduct or service is being offered, and thenmeasure potential opportunity against likelyrisk, says Michael Liard, RFID director at VDCResearch, a technology market research andstrategy firm in Natick, Mass. “You don’t wantto buy something with all the bells and whis-tles in the mistaken belief that it alone willprovide a futureproofed solution,” he says.“The best approach is to have a short-, mid-and long-term vision around RFID and whatthat will mean to your operations.”

2 TACKLE CORE BUSINESSFUNCTIONS FIRST

A business’ initial move into RFID should bean effort to improve core business functions,such as inventory management and manufac-turing processes. Core functions generallyoffer the richest return on investment oppor-tunities. Only later, when a business can lever-age the experience gained while applying RFIDto core functions, should RFID be extendedinto other, less critical areas.

“Everything starts with processes,” saysRoelof Koopmans, managing director for Europe at Los Angeles-based RFID systems de-veloper Mojix. “Our customers do very well byidentifying key processes where they think theycan gain efficiencies or quality improvements.”

Deployments that improve core businessfunctions begin generating operational and fi-nancial benefits almost immediately and willcontinue offering productive service for manyyears, Koopmans says. “We’ve seen that thecustomers who do their homework, they’regetting the most out of these technologies

“It really comes down to understandingwhere you are today and where you wantto be in the future. Probably 75 percent ofpeople can’t tell you where they want tobe—they only have some vague ideas.”

STEVE HALLIDAY, HIGH TECH AID

Futureproof Your RFID System

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII


15

CUT COSTS AND IMPROVE PATIENT OUTCOMES WITH RFID

REGISTER NOW TO SAVE WITH OUR EARLY-REGISTRATION PRICING! FOR MAXIMUM SAVINGS, USE CODE HCEW.

www.rfidjournalevents.com/healthcare

This one-day event is designed to help hospitalsand clinics leverage RFID technologies.

The conference sessions will cover a wide variety ofapplications relevant to health-care organizations.Lear how to:

› Boost asset-utilization rates› Improve inventory management› Increase bed turnover and monitor patient flow › Reduce the incidence of objects being left

behind› Enhance patient safety› Improve supply chain management› And much more

Exhibitors participating in the event will be displaying health-care solutions covering a range of RFID technologies, including:

› Passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF)› Passive high-frequency (HF)› Ultra-wideband (UWB) › 802.11x› Active UHF› ZigBee › Hybrid tags› And more

Case studies presented by health-careorganizations already using RFID technologieswill help attendees determine the best RFIDtechnology for their needs, learn best practicesfrom early adopters, find the right technologypartners and move forward.

http://ads.rfidjournal.com/www/delivery/ck.php?oaparams=2__bannerid=1008__zoneid=0__cb=9e2d07b470__oadest=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rfidjournalevents.com%2Fhealthcare%2F

because they know exactly where to enableprocesses with RFID technology.”

Midwest Transit Equipment, a Kankakee, Ill.,firm that specializes in commercial bus sales, isusing Intermec RFID technology to track andmanage its vehicle inventory. John M. Keigher,the company’s director of systems and humanresources, had his priorities in order beforeplanning began on the bus inventory-manage-ment system. “For us, RFID improved our inventory and maintenance processes, which

are the core parts of our business,” he says. “Wesee the technology as a way to do things wecould not have done with other technologies or our existing manual processes.” System deployment has been completed at all four ofthe company’s current bus inventory sites.

3 STICK TO STANDARDS

Unless you have a really good reason for doingsomething differently, design your system forcompatibility with accepted standards. “We tryto only supply systems that are based on stan-dards,” Halliday says. “We don’t use proprietarystuff, because there’s too much concern aboutwhether it will still exist in two or five years.”

At the technical level, there’s already a largeand well-established standards base. “By andlarge, particularly for passive UHF, we’re in

“For us, RFID improved our inventory andmaintenance processes, which are the coreparts of our business.”

JOHN M. KEIGHER, MIDWEST TRANSIT EQUIPMENT



good shape when it comes to standards,” Liardsays. Many once-innovative RFID technologiesare also being rapidly standardized. “We’restarting to see some additional developmentaway from proprietary solutions in the activeRFID community—ultra-wideband is a goodexample—as well as for some of the 2.45 GHzsolutions,” he says.

Industry-specific standards are now avail-able in many areas, from retailing to manufac-turing. “[When] using data standards from ISOor EPC or whomever, we look hard to deter-mine if there are already standards in their in-dustry that [the customer] should be focusingon,” Halliday says. “A company might be work-ing in the health-care arena, for example, andhave no idea that there are already standardsthat relate to what they’re doing.” Such stan-dards include Health Level 7 specificationsthat define the interchange of data and theISO/IEC 15408-1 IT system security standard.

Still, futureproof-minded adopters must se-lect their standards wisely. Glyn Matthews,senior IT project manager for Speedy Services,a tool-rental company in Haydock, England,was concerned about standards when he beganinvestigating RFID tool-tracking systems. Colleagues told Matthews that low-frequencyRFID was a better, cheaper choice than ultra-high-frequency. “When we started this projectin 2010, there was a lot of skepticism in theRFID world about whether you could do tooltracking using UHF RFID tags,” he says.

Matthews decided to find out for himself.“We were already using low-frequency tags inthe rail division of our business,” he says. “Thetechnology was old, and the read range was notgood enough for a walk-through portal. Wewanted the tags to be inside [the assets]; wewanted them to be read without the customerhaving to do anything.

“I went to RFID Journal LIVE!, in Darmstadt,Germany,” Matthews says, explaining he left theevent convinced that UHF was the way forward.“It seemed LF tags were being phased out in a lot

of places,” he says. “That was one of our mainreasons for going with UHF tags. It was verymuch about following the Gen 2 and GS1 [speci-fications]. I got quite a few contacts [at the event]and started contacting people to send me sometags.” After studying and evaluating the prod-ucts, he felt confident his gut instincts had beencorrect. “I had tags sent to me from all over theworld, and the [UHF] Omni-ID tags were consis-tently giving us good reads inside an asset.”

4 CHOOSE COMPONENTSCAREFULLY

Making a commitment to using high-qualitysystem components, including durable tags,sturdy readers and bug-free software, is one ofthe most important steps a business can taketo keep its RFID system running trouble-freefor many years.

“Quality hardware and software compo-nents are critical for futureproofing,” MidwestTransit’s Keigher says. “They allow you to havea durable, robust system that lasts for a fulltechnology cycle.”

Organizations that deploy RFID in ruggedenvironments, such as places afflicted by ex-treme heat or cold, often benefit the most fromquality RFID products. “We wanted somethingdurable because nearly everything we do is

“It seemed LF tags were being phased out in a lot of places. That was one of ourmain reasons for going with UHF tags. It was very much about following theGen 2 and GS1 [specifications].”

GLYN MATTHEWS, SPEEDY SERVICES




outside in the weather,” Keigher says. “We’re inthe Midwest—we’ve got snow and ice in thewinter, and in the summer many days of over100 degrees.”

When used in industrial settings, particu-larly outdoors, poor-quality equipment ismore susceptible to dust, bumps and drops.Keigher says his system needed to be resilientenough to resist all these conditions, so usingquality components was essential. “We wantedsomething we would be sure was a long-last-ing investment for us,” he says.

Many RFID adopters with long-term goalsfocus on hardware technologies and specifica-tions while neglecting software requirements.That can be a big mistake. “When future-proofing, you have to start thinking about the

software capabilities,” Liard says. “How are up-grades going to be handled? You’ve got to makesure that’s done automatically and is part ofthe solution.” Both system and applicationsoftware need to keep pace with growing busi-ness needs and evolving technologies.

RFID hardware must also be able to accom-modate new and enhanced types of software.“If there are any changes to application soft-ware, or different types of protocols that needto be pushed through to a reader device, you need to be able to do that through afirmware upgrade that’s automatic,” Liard says.“That will help you futureproof your RFID

system from a technical perspective.”Adopters should be proactive in asking their

hardware supplier—whether direct from a ven-dor or through a reseller or integrator—keyquestions around technology futureproofingand device upgrading via firmware, Liard adds.“Specifically,” he says, “what are the associatedcosts, frequency of upgrades and features/func-tions that are upgradable?”

5 STRIVE FOR SCALABILITY

Some RFID systems meet a premature death be-cause they can’t keep up with growing opera-tional demands. Careful scalability planning,performed at the project’s start, can extend a sys-tem’s service life by years, potentially decades.

“Scalability is important from day one—even if there is no current need, it has to be un-derstood and discussed,” Halliday says.“Unfortunately, it’s real easy to design a systemthat can’t be scaled—probably less expensiveas well—because you’re not looking at optionsfor the future.”

Failing to plan for future needs can lead toserious and expensive problems down theroad, when managers and staff members findthemselves struggling with a locked-in systemthat can’t keep pace with increasing workflowdemands.

Frank Zucca, a senior mechanical engineer-ing technical associate in the Advanced LightSource (ALS) unit of the Lawrence Berkeley Na-tional Laboratory, says he took scalability intoconsideration when evaluating RFID systemsto track and manage the equipment scientistsand technicians use in the facility. In 2011, ALS deployed an active RFID solution from RF Code, with software from AssetPulse. “Most definitely, we needed to be expandable,because we’re always adding new pumps and retiring older pumps that aren’t supportedby industry any more,” he says. “There was a


“When futureproofing, you have to startthinking about the software capabilities.How are upgrades going to be handled?You’ve got to make sure that’s doneautomatically and is part of the solution.”

MICHAEL LIARD, VDC RESEARCH

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII


Get the latest RFIDnews from the mosttrusted sourceThe leading early adopters turn to RFID Journal to learn where the business benefits are

and how to achieve them. In addition, all members get these exclusive benefits:

RFID Journal digital magazine, published 6 timesper year, which delivers the latest RFID products, innovations and news

Access to members-only content on the RFID Journalwebsite, including the industry’s most extensivedatabase of case studies, features and special reports

Timely e-mail newsletters with industry-specific news

Discounts on RFID Journal events, training and educational seminars

Read What Our Members Say

RFID Journal is the single source for knowingwhat is happening and discussing what

potentially may happen next with RFID. RFID Journalstands alone. —S. Fabes, Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton

A great publication focusing on the needs of theuser. —T. Coyle, Senior VP, Mark IV

Join today: Call (631) 249-4960 or visit us online at www.rfidjournal.com/join

’’‘‘

Get all these great benefits—save 15% with promo code DPGD

DON’T MISS THE NEXT ISSUE—BECOME A MEMBER TODAY!

cover story

real need to be able to expand.” Keigher made sure scalability was an integral

part of Midwest Transit’s bus inventory-man-agement system. “It’s a very scalable solution,because we can add any number of devices, andthe cloud-based application doesn’t impact ourexisting IT infrastructure,” he says. “Additionally,the IP30 handheld RFID reader from Intermecsupports a range of Intermec mobile computers,and it allows us to add RFID to mobile comput-ers that we may migrate to in the future.”

If your RFID solution provider doesn’t raisethe issue of scalability, ask. Understanding scal-ability and how to best achieve it is crucial tocreating a truly flexible and adaptable system. “Ithink the worst thing is when a customer thinksthey’ve got something that’s going to last forever,and the supplier has done nothing to help them

understand that it has severe restrictions and itcan’t be scaled for the future,” Halliday says.“What’s been proposed has been proposed downto a price rather than up to a requirement.”

6 TEST, RETEST AND TESTSOME MORE

A futureproofed RFID system will last manyyears, so spending several months testing andretesting before deployment is a small price topay for long-term reliability and performanceenhancements. ALS’ Zucca opted to trial twoseparate systems while evaluating RFID-basedequipment-management systems. “We devel-oped a beta test: a passive system and an activesystem,” he says. The trial showed that the activesystem delivered operational benefits that faroutweighed the passive approach’s lower cost.

Jörg Sandlöhken, research and standardsmanager for German supermarket chain ReweGroup, is a strong believer in getting every-thing right before proceeding with final de-ployment. In 2010, Rewe Group began trackingreturnable transport items at its Buttenheimdistribution center with Mojix’s STAR System.Like many RFID adopters, Rewe tested its

“Most definitely, we needed to beexpandable, because we’re always addingnew pumps and retiring older pumps thataren’t supported by industry any more.”

FRANK ZUCCA, LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY



cover story

system architecture in a limited trial deploy-ment before deciding to invest fully in thetechnology. “We first created a trial, spendingjust a little money to see how RFID might work for us,” Sandlöhken says. “I think that researching your options and first doing some-thing on your own is always the best way.”

7 MAINTAIN YOUR SYSTEM

Futureproofing demands a commitment toRFID excellence that doesn’t end on deploy-ment day, Liard says. He notes that systemmaintenance, upgrade, enhancement and ex-pansion projects all need to be made with aneye toward ensuring longevity and addressinganticipated needs. “Futureproofing is aboutmaintaining your system: What do I need to dotoday, and what do I need to do tomorrow—just in case,” he says.

It’s essential to establish a maintenanceschedule, since a poorly maintained system islikely to fail prematurely. “A customer or enduser should feel very at ease once a vendor hascompleted work on deploying an RFID solution,and feel like the system should operate withvery little maintenance,” Mojix’s Koopmanssays. “The RFID solution should also havechecks and balances on the health and status ofits components, providing the customer withalerts for actions needed to remedy any issue.”

These seven strategies will help any com-pany futureproof an RFID solution. But eventhe most carefully designed system, using thehighest-quality components and supported bythe most rigorous maintenance program, willeventually become obsolete. Some new, bettertechnology or business requirement will comealong that simply can’t or shouldn’t be inte-grated into your existing RFID infrastructure.

“Nothing lasts forever,” Liard says. “There arealways going to be new developments, the nextbest ‘XYZ’ or the latest update to whatever prod-

uct is out there. But if you already see the valueproposition and you’ve got a solid ROI model,total cost of ownership is digestible and the usecase is there for you, I wouldn’t wait to deploy.”

Keeping a steady eye on future plans andgoals is admirable. But if you find yourself post-poning RFID plans in the hope that somethingbetter will soon come along, there’s a strongchance you’ll miss out on available productiv-ity, efficiency and cost-saving opportunities.

For Speedy Services, moving ahead with itstool-tracking system sooner rather than laterled to immediate benefits. “We can see the uti-lization of the equipment, what’s being usedand what’s not being used,” Matthews says. “Itmakes the administration a lot simpler—thereare cost savings for the customer. There’s also acost savings due to reduced losses by theft.”

“I think that researching your options andfirst doing something on your own is alwaysthe best way.”

JÖRG SANDLÖHKEN, REWE GROUP


“The RFID solution shouldhave checks and balances onthe health and status of itscomponents, providing thecustomer with alerts foractions needed to remedyany issue.”

ROELOF KOOPMANS, MOJIX




Six steps can ensure a smooth transition as you deploy or expanda radio frequency identification system. by john edwards

ILLU

STRATIO

N: ISTO

CKPHOTO

Most people do not like change, yet change is inevitablefor all radio frequency identification adopters. Whetheryou’re piloting your first solution or expanding an existingone, RFID will impact the way your company conducts busi-ness and how your employees do their jobs. Understandingand addressing these issues upfront is key to successfully de-ploying RFID.

While there are many books, seminars and university pro-grams devoted to change management, they are not focusedon the challenges of deploying RFID. So RFID Journal spokewith several experts in the field who have observed or workedon a variety of deployments. These individuals have seen howpeople concerned about their jobs can sink a system—andhow educating stakeholders and preparing for the unknowncan lead to a solution that improves a company’s bottom line.

Here, then, are six steps every company should follow tomanage change successfully:

1Make a solid case for change.

Making the move to RFID, or dramatically expanding or mod-ifying an existing system, is a milestone event for almost anybusiness. The reasons for such a major change—requiringlarge investments in both money and human capital, and im-pacting employees, customers and business partners—needsto be communicated to all levels of your organization in aclear and decisive manner.

“The sooner you start alerting your employees, the better,”states Michael Liard, the director of RFID at VDC Research, anRFID industry research and analysis firm based in Natick,

Best Practices:RFID Change Management


RFID Change Management

Mass. “They need to learn what this change means and whatit does—the value proposition it brings to the organization.”

Many organizations approach change by creating a formalmission statement that incorporates three essential ele-ments: a convincing need for the change, documented proofthat the new or modified system will deliver tangible benefitsover the long term and a detailed road map that will guideplanning and decision-making.

“The biggest thing is understanding exactly what the endresult is going to look like and communicating this vision up-front—not only to management but also to the end users,”says Neco Can, the president and CEO of RFID Enabled Solu-tions, an RFID systems integrator located in Dublin, Ohio.

2 Bring organization stakeholdersinto the planning process.

The choice is simple: Embrace change at the project’s start byinvolving all organization’s stakeholders in system planning,or simply hope that you and your planners are smart enoughto cover an entire spectrum of design issues without anyinput from those who will actually use the system.

“First and foremost, you need to develop a team,” Liard ex-plains. “You’ll need an action team to develop an RFID blue-print and program, as well as to ultimately deal withpre-implementation, implementation and post-implemen-tation concerns.”

Liard suggests including representatives from IT, opera-tions and all business areas that will be affected by thechange. “If you’re in a retail setting, for example, and you’reusing the system for a storefront application, then you mightneed to get a marketing person involved,” he says. “In themanufacturing vertical market or transportation sectors,you’re going to need to include a supply-chain manager or alogistics lead as part of the team.”

Recruiting a strong, decisive project leader is also crucial, saysFrank Harris, the director of development services at RF Code,an IT asset-tracking and environmental and power systemsmonitoring firm based in Austin, Texas. “There needs to be anexecutive sponsor taking ownership of the project,” he states.“This executive should notify employees of the changes that willbe coming up—and that once the transition is made, RFID willmake their jobs easier, saving them time in the long run.”

3Manage change with all supply-chainpartners responsible for tagging parts, containersand shipments.

Imagine if you planned a party and nobody showed up. That’s

the way many RFID adopters feel after deploying a systemthat ends up being underutilized because key supply-chainpartners cannot or will not provide compatibly tagged goods.

“Involving supply-chain partners in project planning isnot only a good idea, it’s essential,” Liard observes, notingthat communication and cooperation are vital for creatingsupport among partners. “We’ve seen all the failed attemptsat the proverbial gun to the head; we’ve seen this approachtaken multiple times and fail.”

When presenting a proposed change, it’s important to con-sider partners’ needs and expectations. “Do they want 100percent accuracy? Is 95 percent acceptable?” Can asks. Makinga change that fails to meet partners’ needs is almost certain to cause trouble and result in participation that is, at best,lackluster.

Map out existing operations in order to show partners ex-actly how they will benefit from the planned change, advisesTom Reese, the senior director of business development atIntelleflex, an RFID systems integrator based in Santa Clara,Calif. “It opens the door to an intelligent dialogue.”

Supply-chain partners are usually eager to embrace achange that promises better performance, enhanced effi-ciency or some other type of tangible benefit, Harris says.Many partners, however, need some support. “Suppliers generally want to know how they can help,” he says. “We tellthe suppliers the best way to tag everything, where to placethe readers, and help them get set up with our on-site professional services.”

4 Consider how the change will be affected byphysical elements.

Whenever a major change is contemplated, it’s important toconsider how new or modified technologies and processes willfit into an existing environment, such as loading dock loca-tions, warehouse shelving configuration and retail floor space.Few organizations enjoy the luxury of a physical plant specif-ically designed to accommodate RFID technology. Far morecommon are facilities built in such a way that disrupts the flowof RFID-enabled processes, obstructs RF signals or poses someother type of challenge to successful system operation.

Existing resources may also need to be improved or re-placed. Increased data traffic, for example, may overwhelmnetworks that were designed and deployed many years prior.Can notes that he’s observed cases in which businesses sawtheir aging wireless networks simply fold under the pressureof heavier traffic loads. “Their connectivity was so terriblethat they had to find another approach,” he states. Possiblesolutions include adding higher-capacity routers or addi-


RFID Change Management

tional wireless access points, or using a wirednetwork to transport large amounts of data be-tween fixed readers and servers.

Yet, change can also have a beneficial im-pact on the local environment. At stores, hotels, hospitals and other public facilities,modern RFID gear can be seamlessly blendedinto building structures and equipment,thereby making the technology virtually invis-ible. “For all practical purposes,” Can says, “youcan implement RFID into a store today and no-body will know you are using it.”

5 Help employees understand anduse new or altered technology, as wellas cope with task changes.

Workers generally fear that any new technol-ogy or process is bound to lead to more workand bigger headaches, with no increase in payor benefits. In addition, employees tend toworry that the impending change will lead either to fewer jobs, or to jobs requiring tech-nical abilities far beyond their current skills.

“One thing we often forget, when we deployRFID within enterprises, is who’s going to beusing it on a daily basis—the guys on the manufacturing shop floor, the women in ware-houses, nurses and doctors in health-care facilities and so on,” Liard says. “Education,awareness and training need to be front and center before you begin deploying thetechnology.”

Employees must be helped to understandhow the changeover will affect their jobs anddaily routines. “They need to know how RFIDis going to make a meaningful impact on theirpositions,” Liard adds. “They need to know thatthe change is not necessarily taking their jobsaway, but will make their jobs easier and auto-mate things that normally would have beenvery manual processes.”

Automating manual operations. for exam-ple, may free managers to deal with more im-portant tasks. In some instances, employeesmay be concerned about the data being collected. Reassure workers that “Big Brother”is not watching them, and that their move-ments are not being tracked and monitored.

Moreover, avoid guaranteed moralebusters. “One of the biggest reasons why anyIT project fails to gain acceptance is becauseit’s all too complicated,” Can says. Many busi-nesses, for instance, make change more diffi-cult to handle by burdening users withsoftware that is extremely powerful yet ob-tusely designed, requiring them to deal withnon-intuitive commands, a seemingly end-less array of pull-down menus and other poordesign features. An application, he notes,should guide users through complex activitiesand have the built-in ability to spot and pre-vent common errors. “This helps the users atthe end of the day. They don’t want to makemistakes.”

6 Prepare for unexpecteddeployment and operationalproblems.

The biggest change-related challenge that RFIDproject leaders face occurs when a new systemcomponent or modified process either doesnot function or fails to meet a planned objec-tive in some critical way.

According to Harris, RFID adopters cansafely sandbox unexpected problems by mak-ing critical changes on a test network. “Use atest network and then a production network,”he advises. “Make sure that everything is work-ing the way it’s supposed to in the test networkand then make the change on the productionnetwork.”

Anticipate the possibility of some sort ofinitial system shortcoming or failure duringproject planning, Reese says. “What happens ifthe handheld you’re using stops working? Doyou fall back to the original way you used to doit, or is there an alternative plan that you canfall back to? You want to have that plan in placeahead of time,” he states

RFID is more than just tags and readers. Thecompanies that will benefit most from RFIDare those that embrace change. They plan forchanges in business processes and operations,and help their partners and employees under-stand the need for such changes, and how itwill help them do their jobs better.

“What happens ifthe handheldyou’re using stopsworking? Do youfall back to theoriginal way youused to do it, or isthere analternative planthat you can fallback to? You wantto have that planin place ahead oftime” —tom reese,intelleflex


The RFID Marketer’s

HANDBOOKsmART sTRATegIes FoR FInDIng poTenTIAL BuyeRs

AnD conveRTIng THem InTo cusTomeRs

LeARn smART sTRATegIes FoR ReAcHIng RFID BuyeRs ToDAyORDER YOUR COPY FOR JUST $199, AND START GENERATING MORE SALES.

www.rfidjournal.com/store/rfid-marketers-handbook

Based on a new survey of RFID end users, this guide reveals:

› The state of adoption by industry and region

› Who the RFID buyer is

› How companies make RFID investment decisions

› The applications end users are pursuing

Chasm 34% 34% 16%

Innovators Early Adopters Early Majority Late Majority Laggards

POTENTIAL MARKET SIZE TODAYAlmost 85 percent of companies won’t invest

until RFID crosses the chasm

http://ads.rfidjournal.com/www/delivery/ck.php?oaparams=2__bannerid=1003__zoneid=0__cb=48a7049456__oadest=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rfidjournal.com%2Farticles%2Fview%3F10276

Learn how leading energy producers, refineries anddistributors, as well as mining and utility companies,are using RFID and related technologies to track toolsand equipment, manage inventory, streamline businessprocesses and achieve other business benefits.

REGISTER BY 27 JUNE TO SAVE UP TO $300 OFF ONSITE RATES—FOR MAXIMUM SAVINGS,USE PROMO CODE . FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER, VISIT

www.rfidjournalevents.com/energy

THIS PREMIER EVENT WILL FEATURE:

›End users discussing how they are employing RFID, best practices,and the benefits they are achieving

›An agenda covering a variety of applications and technologies,including passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF), passive high-frequency(HF), RuBee LWID, 802.11x, ZigBee, active UHF and many others

›A unique opportunity to understand how and where RFID can helpimprove the way your company does business

REGISTER BY 27 JUNE TO SAVE UP TO $300 OFF ONSITE RATES—FOR MAXIMUM SAVINGS,USE PROMO CODE PCE . FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER, VISIT

www.rfidjournalevents.com/energy

Exhibitors

Cornerstone Sponsor Silver Sponsors

HEAR FROM THESE AND OTHER INDUSTRY LEADERS:

Tarek Amine Henk deGraaf Robert Edwardes Edward Valverde Dene Ladmore

Research Partner Media Partners

REGISTER EARLY AND SAVE! To register, visit www.rfidjournalevents.com/brasil.For maximum savings, use promo code BRY .

Learn HowCompanies Across BrasilAre Improving HowThey Do Business

With RFID

SEPT. 24-25, 2014 | SÃO PAULO

http://ads.rfidjournal.com/www/delivery/ck.php?oaparams=2__bannerid=1007__zoneid=0__cb=7ff0d8e800__oadest=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rfidjournalevents.com%2Fbrasil%2F

The world’s leading companies are using RFID inlarge-scale deployments to improve efficiencies,enhance visibility, reduce shrinkage and achieveother significant business benefits. LIVE! Brasilis designed to help Brasilian companiesconsidering using RFID technology to addressreal business challenges, determine the bestRFID technology for their needs, learn bestpractices from early adopters, find the righttechnology partners and move forward.

»Hear end users discuss where they areachieving real benefits.

» Simultaneous translation of all sessionsin Portuguese and English.

» See the latest solutions from the leadingtechnology firms.

» Attend the RFID Basics Workshop and learnthe basics to get started with RFID.

» The IEEE Brasil RFID 2014 conferencewill feature the latest scientific andtechnological research results.

SEPT. 24-252014ESPAÇO APAS – CENTRO DE CONVENÇÕES,SÃO PAULO,BRASIL

Renata RampimPh.D. Student,State Universityof Campinas -UNICAMP

Carlos TeixeiraSenior Analyst,Vale

Francisco PereiraLogistics,Veiling Holambra

Mark RobertiFounder and Editor,RFID Journal

FEATURED SPEAKERS

EXHIBITORS

SPONSORS

CORNERSTONE SPONSOR SILVER SPONSOR

REGISTER EARLY AND SAVE! To register, visit www.rfidjournalevents.com/brasil.For maximum savings, use promo code BRY .

http://ads.rfidjournal.com/www/delivery/ck.php?oaparams=2__bannerid=1007__zoneid=0__cb=7ff0d8e800__oadest=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rfidjournalevents.com%2Fbrasil%2F

2014 bestrfid · edson perin, brasil editor [email protected] sam greengard contributing...

Documents