8:00 am

CompTIA RFID+ Training & Certification

This fast-track CompTIA RFID+ certification preparation course will provide one day of intensive, instructor-led training using state-of -the-art RFID equipment, and will include the RFID+ Certification Exam. Attendees will receive a CD-ROM containing RFID+ practice tests. Those unable to take the exam during the conference and exhibition will get a voucher allowing them to take the exam at a later date.

12:00 pm

Preconference Seminars Open/Working Lunch

Working Lunch: RFID Basics
This session is designed for all pre-conference seminar attendees who want to gain the foundational knowledge of RFID and EPC needed to engage vendors and begin to develop a business case. The differences between the various classes of tags will be explained, including active and passive systems. The need for additional IT systems to build upon RFID in real-world applications will be highlighted. The session also includes a very brief overview of the EPCglobal Network®, the future of ISO standards, ETSI reader regulations and the latest standardization efforts worldwide. Finally, the relationship between different standards in the area of RFID and EPC, including the latest EPCglobal Gen 2 standard, will be presented.

1:00 pm

Preconference Seminars Continue

RFID Journal University
RFID in Health Care
EPC Compliance & Benefits Training

5:00 pm

Preconferences Concludes

7:30 am

Continental Breakfast

8:30 am

Welcome and Introduction

Speakers:

Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal LLC
Art Smith, President & CEO, EPCglobal Canada

8:45 am

Opening Keynote:
The Benefits of RFID-Enabled Collaboration

One major retailer and several of its suppliers have been employing RFID to reduce retail shelf out-of-stocks, and to improve inventory profitability. This is the largest rollout of the technology in Canada's retailing sector to date. Hear about some of the lessons they have learned during the deployment, as well as the insights the supply chain partners are getting from the data.

Takeaways:

• Insights into how one retailer is utilizing the technology and some of the lessons it has learned in rolling out in Canada
• Hear how some of the retailer's suppliers are using the data they get back from the store

9:30 am

Opening Keynote:
Bombardier Update: Taking RFID to New Heights

Bombardier has taken an intelligent enterprise approach to RFID. In this session, learn what progress the company has made in the past year, where the technology is delivering value and how Bombardier is employing RFID today and in the future.  

Speaker:

Keith Sheardown, General Manager, Technology Solutions, Bombardier Transportation

10:15 am

General Session:
RFID in the Oil and Gas Sector

More and more companies in the oil and gas sector are deploying RFID to track critical components. But the technology's performance when tracking metal parts can be inconsistent. In this session, discover how one oil company is employing RFID successfully, and how it overcame problems tracking metal parts.

Takeaways:

•  An understanding of how RFID can be used to track oil drilling and other mission-critical equipment
• How to overcome problems tracking metal parts

11:00 am

Refreshment Break in Exhibit Hall

11:45 am

Sponsored Breakout Sessions

12:25 pm

Lunch in Exhibit Hall

Manufacturing/Operations:
RFID Secures Distribution of Hazardous Materials

With the threat of terrorism and rising energy prices, product security has become increasingly important. Emco Wheaton, a UK-based manufacturer of petroleum tank truck equipment, has introduced an RFID security solution for liquid petroleum and fuel oil road tankers that also facilitate real-time tracking from terminal to delivery point. In this session, hear how RFID can be employed to track, monitor and secure high-value cargo and hazardous materials.

Speaker:

Graeme Murphy, Managing Director, Emco Wheaton SBU

Takeaways:

• Best practices for the use of RFID solutions in the secure delivery of liquid petroleum and fuel oil, as well as other hazardous materials
• How key elements of the system, including immediate event alerts and monitoring of tank truck openings, can be installed on existing road tankers and equipment

Supply Chain/Inventory Management:
General Session:
Kimberly-Clark Uses Passive UHF EPC For Yard Management

Many companies have employed active RFID for tracking containers in a distribution yard. However, Kimberly-Clark chose to use a passive UHF EPC system for yard management, because it offers a cost-effective, turnkey solution utilizing existing infrastructure, and because it has the ability to integrate into existing software platforms and fit the organization’s process-improvement needs. Learn how passive tags can help improve yard management, lower the total cost of ownership of an RFID system and deliver an ROI in less than a year.

Speaker:

Gary F. Madsen, Manager of RFID Packaging Solutions for Auto-ID Sensing Technologies, Kimberly-Clark

Retail:
The Benefits of Using RFID instead of Cash

A Canadian retailer has introduced an RFID payment system to speed up transactions during busy hours. The system has increased the number of customers the firm can handle during peak periods, and has engendered greater customer loyalty. Learn how the system works, and why it delivers benefits to the retailer and customer.

Takeaways:

• Understanding the benefits of using RFID for quick payments
• How to implement an RFID payment scheme quickly and cost-effectively

2:35 pm

Movement from Room to Room

Manufacturing/Operations:
Factory Accelerates Vehicle Production Via Active RFID

An automotive joint venture is using an RFID real-time locating system to optimize operations at a plant that produces 250,000 vehicles each year. The system accelerates the processing of receiving parts deliveries and ensures that the proper parts are brought to the correct assembly line workstation in time.

Takeaways:

• Best practices for using real-time locating systems to increase production and reduce inventory
• The ROI of RFID in a logistics environment

Supply Chain/Inventory Management:
Case Study: Using EPC/RFID to Cut Costs for Reusable Transport Packaging

The Reusable Packaging Association (RPA) is conducting the largest, most widely supported industry field test to determine if multiuse tags on reusables can provide greater asset tracking and financial benefits. This project, supported by Frontera Produce, Georgia-Pacific, Stemilt, Tanimura & Antle, Wal-Mart and others, traces perishables from fields in Washington and California, where they are subjected to mud, varying weather conditions and rough handling, to Wal-Mart distribution centers, where produce is cleaned and containers and tags are subject to washing, handling, refrigeration and storage before being sent to stores. Hear the results of extensive laboratory tests conducted prior to the field test and an update on the field test itself.

Speaker:

Bob Klimko, Corporate Sales & Marketing Manager Norseman Plastics and Vice President, Reusable Packaging Association

Takeaways:

• How multiuse tags can be the financial catalyst to driving RFID technology integration, as opposed to one-way transport packaging
• The potential to employ RFID tags in other industries beyond perishables, including automotive, beverage and pharmaceuticals

Retail:
Doubling Retail Profits by Improving In-Store Labor Efficiency

In-store labor is the single largest cost of retailers, containing the biggest inefficiencies. Major areas of concern include shrinkage, out-of-stocks, turnover, the presence of outside employees, returns, backroom stock, in-store demos and waste; solving these inefficiencies by integrating RFID can enable a retailer to double profits at a cost lower than what it currently spends.

Speaker:

Robert G. Brown, Chairman of the Board, Spar Group

Takeaways:

•   Areas of in-store labor inefficiency RFID can improve—and by how much
•   Types of RFID equipment that are necessary and practical to use, and the payback from an implemented program

3:20 pm

Movement from Room to Room

Manufacturing/Operations:
Using RFID to Track Inspections for Industrial Equipment

A Canadian provider of slings utilized by cargo-lifting cranes has deployed a passive-tag system to track the maintenance and safety inspection process. Learn how this system, which replaces a manual tracking system, cuts costs and improves regulatory compliance.

Takeaways:

• Understanding the benefits of employing RFID with steel production
• Best practices for achieving high read rates within the validation process

Supply Chain/Inventory Management:
Finding Benefits in Meeting Customer RFID Mandates

A Montreal-based company that manufactures aircraft testing equipment and accessory kits realized the importance of implementing RFID in its supply chain in order to maintain its relationship with the U.S. Department of Defense. In this session, hear how the firm went through the implementation process and found business benefits in meeting the RFID tagging requirements.

Takeaways:

• Best practices for meeting RFID tagging mandates
• How to utilize RFID tags required by customers to improve internal inventory management

Retail:
Key Applications for Using RFID in Retail

Over the past two years, an increasing number of retailers have been deploying RFID technologies to improve the way they do business. In this session, discover where RFID is being used today to achieve real cost savings, or to increase sales, based on real-world implementations in North America, Europe and Asia.

Takeaways:

•  An understanding of the various applications on the market that can deliver value today by using RFID data
•  Ways to utilize RFID data to create business benefits today

4:10 pm

Day 1 Program Concludes

7:30 am

Continental Breakfast

8:30 am

Welcome Back Remarks

8:45 am

Opening Keynote:
RFID and Innovation

RFID and EPC are enabling technologies. What they enable depends on the creativity of the companies employing them. In this session, presenters will highlight four innovative uses of RFID technology and show how a variety of organizations are utilizing it in innovative ways to deliver value.

9:30 am

General Session:
RFID and Serialization Lead to New Levels of Value Generation

Across a variety of industries and process areas, RFID and serialization-based applications have evolved from point applications to integrated business-wide solutions. We are now witnessing the emergence of a new class of collaborative processes involving large-scale data exchange of RFID, unique identification and related business data. Learn how companies worldwide are already generating business value from these new solutions.

Takeaways:

• Insights into how RFID and serialization technologies deliver data enabling a new class of software applications
• An understanding of the many ways companies are using serialization of unique items to drive business value

10:00 am

Refreshment Break in Exhibit Hall

11:30 am

Sponsored Breakout Sessions

12:10 pm

Movement from Room to Room

Manufacturing/Operations:
Trailer Maker Employs RFID to Stay Lean

A real-time location system is helping a Canadian manufacturer of heavy-haul trailers track the time it takes to assemble, sandblast and paint two types of its logging trailers. They system supports a new lean manufacturing initiative the company launched to reduce the amount of inventory and products the facility has on hand at any particular time.

Takeaways:

• Insight into how RFID can be used to enhance a lean-manufacturing initiative
• How and where to deploy RFID readers to track inventory and work-in-process

Supply Chain/Inventory Management:
Consortium Offers Cold Storage Tagging

A group of logistics providers and hardware and software vendors have developed an RFID solution for tagging frozen foods. Learn what challenges they had to overcome to tag frozen products, and how they were able to do so. Find out the benefits that can be achieved by tracking frozen foods, and by monitoring their temperature as they move throughout the supply chain.

Takeaways:

• Insights into the benefits of tracking frozen foods from manufacturing to the store freezer
• How to overcome the challenges of tagging frozen foods

Retail:
Apparel Maker Manages Maternity Departments With Smart Displays in Stores

To help it track inventory and sales, one maker of maternity clothes is rolling out RFID-enabled fixtures to department stores in the United States and Canada. The company will supply tagged garments to the stores and use the smart-shelf technology solution to manage its maternity departments in 384 stores across both countries. Learn where the firm has seen early benefits, as well as the challenges it needed to overcome to make the system work.

Takeaways:

• Benefits of using RFID to track apparel shipments
• Insights into the challenge of tagging at the point of manufacture

1:00 pm

Lunch in Exhibit Hall

Manufacturing/Operations:
Uniform Firm Boosts Productivity With RFID-Guided Sortation

By automating the sorting of soiled linens and garments, a Canadian uniform service has reduced labor by 17 percent and increased capacity by 50 percent. In this session, hear how the company replaced its manual sortation of soiled items with an RFID-enabled automated system, and learn how a similar system can be deployed in a variety of industries, including recycling, parcel delivery and baggage handling.

Takeaways:

• The benefits of replacing manual sortation with automated systems
• How to set up automated sortation

Supply Chain/Inventory Management:
Canadian Airline Uses RFID for Visibility of Cargo Shipments

An airline in Canada has tested RFID in its cargo operations. The system was integrated with its shipping and receiving process to collect information, such as the number of pieces in a shipment, as well as route, weight, origin and final destination. In this session, learn how the company set up a system in the challenging airport environment, and how it benefits from having near-real-time visibility into cargo shipments.

Takeaways:

• How RFID can deliver greater visibility into the movement of cargo shipments
• How to overcome the challenges of tracking goods with a high-degree of accuracy in a challenging environment

Retail:
Combining RFID and Other Data to Drive Value in Retail

RFID data provides a new level of supply chain visibility, but this information alone won't solve all business problems or enable new efficiencies. In this session, a panel of experts will explain how RFID data can be used, and what additional information can be brought to bear to improve replenishment algorithms, streamline retail business processes and measure system performance more effectively.

3:10 pm

Movement from Room to Room

Manufacturing/Operations:
At Canadian Trailer Dealership, RFID Pays for Itself

A utility trailer dealership is employing an RFID system to track and locate more than 1,000 trailers on lots spanning 25 acres. The active RFID tags, affixed to the fronts of 48-foot-long and 53-foot-long trailers, help the dealership more easily locate the trailers and more accurately document inventory, thereby reducing errors and labor costs. The system has already generated a return on the company's investment.

Takeaways:

• How to track large assets over long distances
• Insights into how RFID can be used to track finished goods inventory

Supply Chain/Inventory Management:
Case Study: Using RFID to Track Liquor

A provincial government-owned liquor board studied the impact of RFID on its operational processes. In this session, hear an update on what the board has implemented after conducting a multi-year study, and learn the early results it has achieved by integrating RFID technology into its business processes.

Takeaways:

• The benefits of using RFID data to track shipments of high-value products, such as alcohol
• How to use software applications to turn RFID data into actionable information

Retail:
Doubling Retail Profits by Improving In-Store Labor Efficiency

In-store labor is the single largest cost of retailers, containing the biggest inefficiencies. Major areas of concern include shrinkage, out-of-stocks, turnover, the presence of outside employees, returns, backroom stock, in-store demos and waste; solving these inefficiencies by integrating RFID can enable a retailer to double profits at a cost lower than what it currently spends.

Takeaways:

• Areas of in-store labor inefficiency that can be improved by RFID—and by how much
• Types of RFID equipment that are necessary and practical to use, and the payback from an implemented program

3:55 pm

Conference Concludes