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Portable Technology Solutions (PTS) has created two apps, collectively known as GS1 Verify, to help suppliers to Walmart and other RFID-tag using retailers as they adopt radio frequency identification technology to uniquely identifies their products. The GS1 Verify app, the company reports, is designed as a low-cost solution to simplify tag verification and scanning. It offers a step-by-step process for validating that tags on goods are correctly encoded, then counts the items being shipped to ensure that the right products are in the shipment, and in the proper volumes.
The app can help suppliers find items and manage their own inventory, says Tom Banta, Portable Technology Solutions' head of product and business development. PTS built the solution with the help of consultancy RFID Strategies, headed by Mark Roberti, RFID Journal's founder. PTS predicts the app will help suppliers start gaining value from the RFID tags that they apply to meet retailer mandates, while preventing chargebacks if tags are not properly encoded or are unreadable. It adds that GS1 Verify will help Walmart and other large retailers increase supplier adoption of their RFID requirements.
When Walmart issued its mandate last year for RFID tagging of goods destined for the company's many stores (see Walmart Recommits to RFID, Walmart's RFID Mandate: A Prequel to Wider Retail Adoption and Manufacturers Have Inventory Problems—Walmart's RFID Relaunch Has Answers), PTS began looking into ways to ease that process with an app. The resultant app, known as GS1 Verify, is focused on serving small or mid-sized companies.
That's because large suppliers often already have an RFID tagging process in place, or they have built one. "They have a lot of technology resources, a lot of capabilities on their manufacturing sides," to make RFID adoption happen, Banta says. He adds that the Verify app would help those smaller companies, which may not already have an RFID system in place, or a large IT department to create one.
Collaborating with Industry, Labs
Tom Banta
Two challenges relate to launching an RFID system for suppliers, PTS explains. One is to verify that the tags being applied to products are working properly and are correctly encoded, and that they are using the correct tag for the right product. The second is to ensure an outbound shipment to the retailer is accurate.
Companies could meet retailer mandates by merely applying tags to products and then leaving the interrogation to the retailer. They could simply purchase tags, or order them from one of Walmart's approved suppliers, "and just stick them on right and hope that it's OK," Banta says. However, chargebacks for non-working or improper tags, or for the wrong number of items having been shipped, make validating them more desirable.
To build the app, Roberti facilitated conversations with Auburn University's RFID Lab, which tests and certifies RFID tags for specific use cases. They also worked with tag suppliers and contract manufacturers. "In talking with Walmart," Banta says, "the feeling is that many of the small to midsize suppliers need a simple solution to help them get jumpstarted."
The first stage in RFID deployment by large retailers typically involves confirming that tags on goods are valid, and that they match the Universal Product Codes (UPCs). If Walmart or another receiving retailer responds to a shipment with a claim that specific goods were not received, or that they were untagged, Banta says, "The brand needs to have some backup from a data perspective." That, he adds, is where the app begins.
How the System Works
Portable Technology Solutions opted for a solution that leverages the barcode's UPC, already printed on each product tag, to access that item's data and then link each RFID tag's Electronic Product Code (EPC) to that product. Users can download the app on any iOS- or Android-based device. That can be a phone with a connection to a reader and a scanner, or it can be a dedicated mobile handheld reader or computer, says Oscar Icochea, a PTS software engineer. That means suppliers need not create spreadsheets with products and EPCs that must be uploaded to a server.
GS1 Verify's two apps and cloud storage can be purchased for $998 annually, which includes support and software updates from PTS. One of the apps is dedicated to validating tags, while the other is for shipping tagged goods. In the case of tag validation, goods are first manufactured or received onsite, with UPC barcodes assigned. The RFID tags are applied, then users can employ the validating app.
If users have a box of similar products, such as T-shirts or mugs, they can scan a single barcode in the group of tagged items, then select the prompt to validate tags, pressing "enter" and then reading all RFID tags within the box. They can indicate how many items they expect to read, and the tag IDs will thus be captured and confirmed to be the quantity expected, with the proper EPC numbers. The user can approve the results and thus synch those tags to the cloud. That, Banta explains, "gives the supplier the data to support what was shipped." For example, the supplier might have a partial shipment. The cloud-based data will help the supplier connect all the individual shipments to a single order.
For shipping, the user again scans the UPC of a single item in the box, then inputs an order number and enters the number of tags expected to be read. The tags are interrogated, matched against the order and uploaded to PTS Cloud. The next step would be to ship the products. If an invalid tag read occurs, users can view the tags deemed invalid, or that are incorrectly packed in a shipment. They can use the app's built-in Geiger counter feature to track down the incorrect tags by waving the reader over the items until the incorrect ones are identified and removed. Users can acquire an RFID sled reader from PTS, and the company offers help in getting tags certified for retail.
Users can either repack the order with a proper tag, or submit it without that valid tag. The reader will automatically use a default power setting, or if the tags are in a crowded environment, they can lower the power. If users are reading a large number of tags packed inside a box, they may opt to increase the power. The app was launched in March 2023, and the company continues to work with multiple players to continue testing and provide product enhancements. Several businesses have already deployed the app, including one that is new to both RFID technology and Walmart.
Making RFID Deployments Easier
Oscar Icochea
PTS says it differentiates the GS1 Verify app from other RFID tagging or validating software, based on the app's ease of use. Other solutions may require that a list of RFID tag numbers be uploaded to a computer or server, Banta says, and that users find a way to capture that data from a handheld reader. "What we tried to do here is make it really easy," he states
In the future, PTS indicates, the app may be expanded to provide more functionality as companies expand their RFID technology use in-house. For instance, when advanced shipping notices are sent to retailers, RFID tag reads could potentially populate a databased with details of what is being shipped and when this will occur, which could then be accessed by the retailer. How that data is managed and disseminated still requires some development, the company notes.
"Nobody wants to pass tens of millions of records around every single day," Banta explains, "but they may want to validate shipments against the tag reads." Other applications could help suppliers accomplish internal inventory management in a more automated way, he says, and use RFID with a pick list to more accurately collect goods for an order, in less time. "We believe that it opens up an opportunity for those customers to really get more accurate and effective business processes in their back office."
Portable Technology Solutions provides a variety of RFID solutions, including TracerPlus (for use with mobile devices) and Clear Stream (for fixed reader applications). TracerPlus serves as an app-development tool that allows companies to create and customize an app for their handheld readers, to meet their barcode, RFID or Near Field Communication (NFC) needs. On a handheld reader, PTS says, TracerPlus can define app functionality, as well as manage the inputs and outputs of data from back-office systems.
In addition, PTS provides services to suppliers, such as answering questions regarding the tagging of products. For instance, some suppliers are unclear where to place tags and how to pack multiple items in a box so those tags are not pressed against one another, causing false or missed reads. Other tagging challenges include ensuring that tag transmissions are not impacted by the metal shelves at Walmart; not putting tags on the bottom of a product can alleviate that problem. "There's a lot of education that goes into it," Banta states.
Key Takeaways:
- A new app from Portable Technology Solutions helps suppliers to companies like Walmart more easily validate the RFID tags they apply to products, as well as confirm the proper packing and shipping of goods for orders.
- With the app, small to mid-sized suppliers can realize the technology's benefits, while in the long run it could address other applications, such as in-house management of goods.
