A recent article in the RFID Journal discusses how Peltz Shoes developed its own inventory management system to track 3000 shoes.

When a business is able to offer up-to-date information on many different styles it provides instant communication for the customer to find what they want now.

It gives an substantial advantage for store personnel helping customers locate the proper size and style. Just makes sense. Helps to restore superior customer service, don’t you agree?

Today’s busy consumers are always looking for faster and accurate service.

Now one company is leading the way for others to adopt.

Not only is this true for retail operations, but also for hospitals during cardiac procedures.

The speediness of finding a particular product within healthcare is even more critical.

Getting the right stent or medical device is often a life saving procedure.

At Matrix Product Development we are interested in healthcare procedures because we use RFID technology to develop products to monitor asset tracking in hospitals.

Ask yourself if RFID technology be good for Hospital Cath Lab...

If you are tired of struggling with inventory control of high cost stents and other items used in surgery... then you might be looking for an easier way to track those items.  

Even worse, if you get frustrated with pulling expired inventory just when you need it, you might be looking for a system to notify you of the expiration date before you pull the item for surgery.

A system that tracks all that inventory so your staff can spend more time with your patients..

Be the first to know about a new system to stop all that craziness..

Get free details on how to save time and money. Click here: http://cathlabinventory.com

Doctors have fun in presenting the Medical therapy vs. interventional therapy for renal artery stenosis.Filmed by the Media Services Department at Winchester Medical Center in Winchester, VA and presented at the 2010 Cardiovascular Conference during a debate between James Warner, MD, EdD and Jeff Skiles, MD.

It's a fun look at the discussions within Cath Lab.

The reason we at Matrix Product Development are interested in information about Cath Labs is because we use the RFID technology to develop products to monitor asset tracking in Hospitals.

Can RFID technology be good for Hospital Cath Labs?

Are you tired of struggling with inventory control of high cost stents and other items used in surgery ? Looking for an easier way to track those items? Even worse you get frustrated with pulling expired inventory just when you need it? If so you might be looking for a system to notify you of the expiration date before you pull the item for surgery and a system to track all that inventory so your staff can spend more time with your patients.. then be the first to know about a new system to stop all that craziness.. Get free details on how to save time and money. Click here: http://cathlabinventory.com

This video is a Spoof on the Courage trial. Medical therapy vs. interventional therapy for stable coronary artery disease. Filmed by the Media Services Department at Winchester Medical Center in Winchester, VA and presented at the 2009 Cardiovascular Conference during a debate between James Warner, MD, EdD and Jeff Skiles, MD.

Its a fun look at the discussions within Cath Lab.

The reason we at Matrix Product Development are interested in information about Cath Labs is because we use the RFID technology to develop products to monitor asset tracking in Hospitals.

Can RFID technology be good for Hospital Cath Labs?

Are you tired of struggling with inventory control of high cost stents and other items used in surgery ? Looking for an easier way to track those items? Even worse you get frustrated with pulling expired inventory just when you need it? If so you might be looking for a system to notify you of the expiration date before you pull the item for surgery and a system to track all that inventory so your staff can spend more time with your patients.. then be the first to know about a new system to stop all that craziness..

Get free details on how to save time and money. Click here: http://cathlabinventory.com

Washing Hands is always in the news because it prevents the spread of disease especially in healthcare. I found an interesting article about hand washing and its relationship to removing stress.

At first glance you might think that the information is not directly related to preventing illness.... let me explain on how this might be motivation for healthcare workers to get and keep the hand washing habit.

The article is based on a study published in Science. You can read it here: http://www.npr.org

Here’s my take on the motivation part. Most people are inspired when he it relates to themselves. Now I know healthcare workers are a special group giving their time and talents to help others..... so I am not indicating that they are not willing to wash their hands at every occasion.

 But if someone can see other benefits to their own well being I just think it helps stay with the habit.

According the research, washing one’s hands gives one a positive feeling.... sort of washing away your worries.

Healthcare workers are under an enormous amount of stress.... if washing your hands help reduce stress, then lets do more of it.

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The reason we at Matrix Product Development are interested in hand washing is because we use the RFID technology to develop products to monitor hand washing and to track assets in Healthcare.

Can RFID technology be good for Hospital Cath Labs?

Are you tired of struggling with inventory control of high cost stents and other items used in surgery ? Looking for an easier way to track those items? Even worse you get frustrated with pulling expired inventory just when you need it? If so you might be looking for a system to notify you of the expiration date before you pull the item for surgery and a system to track all that inventory so your staff can spend more time with your patients.. then be the first to know about a new system to stop all that craziness..

Get free details on how to save time and money. Click here: http://cathlabinventory.com

Finding new ways to promote using bicycles within a city is becoming more popular.

B-cycle is the latest endeavor to provide easy access to bicycle use. If the program gets people to share a bicycle it could provide the latest way to help alleviate traffic congestion.

As RFID consultants, we were interested in the way the bicycle is tracked when a customer wants to use it. The above video showcases the first installment in Chicago. The use a RFID card keeps track of the complete transaction and provides the date needed to insure proper use. Just swipe the card you purchase to use bicycles at various locations.

If you want detailed information on how it all works, check out http://www.bcycle.com

If you have an idea or need for a similar use of RFID , we would like to hear from you. http://www.matrixpd.com/

Every year, RFID adoption picks up the pace, moving into different verticals and finding new applications. The burning question is: will RFID replace the barcode, and if so when? Heikki Seppä is a senior research professor with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, a nonprofit organization and the largest multi-technological applied research organization in Northern Europe. Jorma Lalla is CEO of Nordic ID, a mobile RFID reader manufacturer. See related article: http://issuu.com/mobilerfid/docs/mobile_rfid_magazine/4

By: Finley Bradfield

There are many ways in existence to track items and people as they go about their day-to-day business. For years, the bar code has been the standard way to identify products, and they have also been used on many identity cards, such as library or club membership cards. They are also even used on some store loyalty cards.

A bar code is a simple, machine readable representation of a series of numbers. Originally these were a series of narrow and wide printed parallel lines, but more modern versions, as often used by couriers who deal with millions of packages a day, are now concentric rings or dot patterns, to allow more information to be stored in a small area.

Bar codes are fantastic, and are now so accepted by society that you really don't even think about them any more. But, they do have their downsides. As an optical method, the bar code must be visually scanned by some kind of optical scanning device before the information can be used.  Typically this is a laser scanning device these days, connected to a computer which can interpret the pattern which is returned. It is so quick that in the blink of an eye, the information from the product or identity card can be read.

But if the bar code becomes damaged, scratched, bent or slightly ripped there is a problem. Even if just a small part of the code is covered by another label, or if there is dirt on the scanner unit, then a bar code can become unreadable. This is one of the major causes of frustration at a supermarket checkout, as the assistant repeatedly swipes the product and then eventually has to type in the code by hand. What a shame!

Many of the large DIY stores have an even worse time with bar codes. When a product is so large that it cannot easily be lifted, having the bar code on the bottom of a container is a real problem at the checkouts. Because of this, a number of leading stores have had to completely redesign their checkout area to accommodate packages, simply so that it is easier to get to see the bar code.

If only there was another way.... enter RFID.

The technology behind Radio Frequency Identification, has been around for nearly one hundred years. In a simple sense, there is a microchip which is embedded into a product or identification card. This chip does not need it's own battery power. When an RFID detector is brought near to the chip, it is energised and will transmit a very weak, but completely detectable radio signal of it's own containing typically a 127 bit unique identification number. This is 1.70141183 × 10 to the 38 possible combinations, a huge number.

These RFID chips have significantly come down in price, and are now well below the 50 cent per device mark. It is likely that a price of 5 cents is achievable in the near future.

With such a cheap technology, which is non contact and also non-visual, it is possible to uniquiely identify every single product which a company uses. In the case of identification cards, there is no shortage of possible ways that this technology could replace the bar code. Already, pet ID uses RFID technology - the animal is injected with the small chip and this then is used to identify the pet in case of emergency.

RFID opens up a whole world for identification, and we are only at the tip of the technology. It will not be long before the bar code is obsolete and every item is trackable from a distance using RFID techniques.

About the Author

F.Bradfield is a writer and web designer who provides content for 'The Cardnetwork' (http://www.thecardnetwork.co.uk), the best known producer of ID Cards, ID card printers and ID card supplies in Great Britain.

(ArticlesBase SC #552990)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Radio Frequency Identification and Its Impact on I D Access Cards

By: George Luker

Canadian Cattle will be leaping a little into the future shortly. Cattle producers in Canada will have to tag all of their calves and cattle with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) ear tags. The Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) has set a date of July 1st. 2010 as the day that all Canadian cattle must be tagged with a CCIA Approved RFID ear tag. Visual ear tags will no longer be used in the Canadian Livestock Tracking System (CLTS) for their national animal traceability system.

July 1st. is also Canada Day; so on Canada's birthday Canadian cattle go techno with RFID.

The Canadian Food and Inspection Agency (CFIA) will be enforcing the new mandatory regulation for livestock. Canada had made tagging cattle with RFID ear tags mandatory since September 2006, for all cattle leaving its farm of origin. The CCIA had allowed cattle producers time to change from visual ear tags to RFID ear tags.

The Canadian Cattle Identification Agency has six approved RFID tags to be used in their Canadian Livestock Tracking System, which enables the trace back of animals during a disease outbreak, such as Mad Cow disease.

Radio Frequency Identification is proving more and more to be a reliable, stable, and secure form of identification for livestock. One of the main benefits of RFID is the speed you could read head of cattle through a race way alley, and also the fact that RFID tags are error free in identification.

Canada, along with Australia, the UK, and Uruguay are among the leading countries in the world for animal traceability systems, which are RFID based systems.

About the Author

Livestock-ID: Animal Identification Resources, is a blog dedicated to helping producers and professionals with the various types of Animal Identification

List of CCIA Approved RFID Tags

(ArticlesBase SC #2583255)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Canadian Cattle Go Techno with RFID

By: Tom Gruich

New RFID systems can more easily resolve common meat processing plant issues that now come about because the extra handling of bar-code tags and hand-held readers are more likely to become contaminated with E. coli on the slaughter floor.

The current scenario requires that bar-code tags be removed from the carcasses, put into plastic bags, and pinned onto the carcasses as soon as they enter the so called clean side of the manufacturing plant wherever the meat is cut and processed. Workers who handle bar-code tags plus the handheld scanners need to change clothes and shoes when moving to the clean side of the plant so they do not spread the contaminants.

The new scenario changes that since RFID tags do not have to be in a reader's line of sight, they're handled much less, reducing the number of workers required and also the potential for contamination.

If the new system were adopted, all of the carcasses could be split in two and inspected. From that point on, RFID readers and handheld computing devices can be employed to collect details about each and every single carcass half, including quality in the meat, any instances of degradation to a carcass, and weight. The method would allow any processing plant to generate invoices rapidly.

RFID tracking of carcass halves could continue as they go to the cutting method, in which they could be cut into any number of pieces. Each and every piece of meat could also be given a unique ID, in addition to the animal's original ID. Particular cuts of meats can then be shrink-wrapped, with identifying details printed onto additional RFID tags. The pieces could then become divided by cuts and packed into cases.

As soon as the meat is unpacked at a distribution point, the trail ends. At this point, regulatory agencies are fortified with the knowledge that they could issue a recall because users of this RFID system have a record in their database of wherever each and every situation of meat was sent, who bought it, and data on each and every animal that went into that situation.

The process can be frequently tested in mock recalls. Any designated inspector could walk into any plant at any time and ask for a recall record of all animals killed 15 days ago. The software interface associated with the database can now go to work. The required reports could be produced in a matter of minuets.

About the Author

Tom Gruich is a professional database and software designer with 40 years experience in systems analysis and design of database software applications. For more database business mapping thoughts and design ideas please visit Database Software Design or his Smart Database website at => http://www.adaptcode.com

(ArticlesBase SC #2159640)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Rfid Driven Database Tracks Contamination Possibilities

By George Luker

Animal Identification is an important part of safety in our food supply chain. With an implemented animal traceability system, it enables authorities to effectively trace back animals to their point of origin. This is extremely important during a disease outbreak, such as Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or Mad Cow Disease, the affected livestock, whether it is beef cattle or sheep can be traced back to its original farm, and gives exact data of which animals the affected animal was in direct contact with, so those animals can be quarantined, and further tested.

This also proves to be cost effective, as an entire herd at a feedlot, does not have to be destroyed. An average feedlot at any given time has between 200 to 3000 heads of cattle, all depending on the size of the feedlot. This can enable a beef cattle rancher to segregate possibly just 50 heads of cattle for testing, instead of the entire herd. Even testing has a cost per head, with an average of $10 to $50 per animal.

Animal Identification can be done with several methods, the oldest and most cost effective to the beef cattle producer is the visual ear tag. Although there are other methods such as tattoo, metal ear tags (mostly for sheep and goats) and Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) ear tag.

The RFID ear tag is the most effective form of animal identification, and has many benefits for animal traceability, as well as cost effective benefits for the cattle rancher. RFID cattle ear tags have a unique identification number, which will never be duplicated, so this eliminates human error. The RFID ear tags can also be read at an extremely fast rate, with a hand held RFID reader, or fixed RFID reader.

RFID ear tags also give a wealth of information very quickly. When used with basic cattle management or livestock software, a ton of information can be recorded and retrieved quickly through the software. Information such as date of birth, vaccinations the animal had received, gestation period, etc., all can be retrieved by simply reading the RFID ear tag, and making a simple enquiry through the cattle or livestock software.

Many livestock producers have been against any form or type of Animal Identification Systems, claiming it is a violation of their rights, and added cost per head to their operations, and so on. But there is a great deal of benefits to producers. Livestock producers, just need to be educated more on the technology, and the benefits it could add to their operations, and the added value it could bring to their animals, on a per head basis.

Animal Identification is an important part of safety in our food supply chain. With an implemented animal traceability system it is beneficial to everyone, from livestock producers, to the customer who purchases meat products at their local supermarket.

About the Author

Livestock-ID, Animal Identification Resources is a blog dedicated to helping livestock producers with Animal Identification. From RFID wand readers to Cattle management software.

(ArticlesBase SC #2197764)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Animal Identification: The Basics of Protecting our Livestock