Mar 03, 2011RFID Journal has unveiled the finalists for the 2011 RFID Journal Awards. The winners will be announced at RFID Journal LIVE! 2011, the company's ninth annual conference and exhibition, to be held at the Orange County Convention Center, in Orlando, Fla., on Apr. 12-14, 2011. Each winner will be invited to present its case study at the event.
"We had more than 100 submissions this year, and the judging was closer than ever before, indicating the quality of the submissions was consistently high," says Mark Roberti, RFID Journal's founder and editor. "Attendees at RFID Journal LIVE! will be in for a real treat when they hear the winners present their stories live on stage, and see some of the new products that will be featured in our Best in Show category."
End-user companies and organizations were nominated in four categories.
Best RFID Implementation
• Gerry Weber International, for a solution that integrates RFID tags into its product-care labels so clothing items can be tracked from factories to multiple warehouses and on to 200 stores
• Steinmetz Diamonds, for an RFID system that securely tracks and traces stones as they move among various manufacturing departments, personnel and locations in real time
• John Deere, for an RFID system that provides visibility of work-in-process and finished goods inventory
Most Innovative Use of RFID
• The U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, for its use of RFID to modernize the management of nuclear materials
• Heritage Valley Health System, for an RFID solution that integrates mobile and desktop computers, offering physicians and clinicians an easy method for entering and accessing patient data
• Rochester General Hospital, for a cost-efficient RFID system that monitors hand-washing compliance in all rooms of its facility
Best Use of RFID to Enhance a Product or Service
• Container Centralen, for an RFID system that can track the more than 2 million metal trolleys used to transport its horticulture products
• Hach Lange, for a solution that enables chemical-testing devices to automatically import calibration data from a cartridge via RFID
• Royal Caribbean Cruises, for a solution that allows guests to prepay for unlimited soft drinks, and to then serve themselves fountain beverages without having to wait on a service bar line
A Special Achievement award, introduced at last year's conference, will be given to an individual who has made an impact on the RFID industry. This year's finalists are:
• Roger Blazek, VP of shortage control at Bloomingdale's, for his visionary work in expanding the use of RFID at Bloomingdales and Macy's
• Chris Diorio, Impinj's chairman, co-founder and CTO, for his leadership in the development of EPCglobal's ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) Gen 2 RFID standard
• Bill Hardgrave, founder of the University of Arkansas' RFID Research Center, for his pioneering research on the real-world impact that RFID can have on retailing
• The City of Hattiesburg Sanitation Department, for an RFID system designed to track reusable trash receptacles and automated collection
• Mission Foods, for an RFID solution enabling the elimination of disposable corrugated boxes, thereby reducing the company's solid waste stream by 98 percent
• Waaree Energies, for a solution enabling the firm to track the production of solar panels
In addition, 10 technology providers were nominated for the Best in Show award, to be given to the best new product being exhibited at this year's LIVE! event. The finalists are:
• Biolog-ID, for its complete system for utilizing RFID to track blood bags
• Franwell, for a new version of its wearable RFID reader, the RFID Sleeve WR100-1
• Identec Solutions and InSync Software, for the Beverage Metrics Complete Solution, consisting of a combined hardware and software solution that monitors beverage service in multiple applications across the hospitality industry
• Impinj, for a new product that will be announced at LIVE! 2011
• Intelleflex, for its FMR-6000 and HMR-9090 multi-protocol battery-assisted tags and readers, featuring a read range of more than 300 feet
• Intelligent InSites, for its InSites Enterprise Visibility Platform, which aggregates real-time location and sensory data through standardized Web-based interfaces, and also serves as a data-exchange hub for all InSites-enabled applications and devices
• Microelectronics Technology Inc. (MTI), for its RFID ME hardware and software that turns any laptop into an RFID reader, with a variety of software applications
• Tageos, for its "inlay-less" RFID label, which eliminates the need for a plastic substrate, thereby making RFID labels cheaper to make and more environmentally friendly
• TagSense, for its BlueReader, a wireless handheld RFID interrogator that interfaces with Android cell phones
• Xerafy, for its "iN" family of UHF RFID tags that can be embedded in metal assets without sacrificing read performance
These awards are given in recognition of excellence in the RFID industry. "Each year, we see a growing number of impressive implementations and exciting new products," Roberti states. "I'm pleased we are able to shine a light on some of the amazing things being done in the industry."
In addition to the RFID Journal Awards, LIVE! 2011 will also feature eight industry-specific and how-to conference tracks, nine in-depth preconference seminars, three co-located events, fast-track CompTIA RFID+ training and certification, an RFID in Apparel Workshop, and numerous exhibits and demonstrations conducted by leading technology firms.
