Everett, WA, April 7, 2005 -- The METRO Group, one of the world's largest retailers, and RFID pioneers Royal Philips Electronics and Intermec Technologies Corp today announced the industry's first demonstration of an EPC Generation 2 RFID (radio frequency identification) system at METRO Group's RFID Innovation Center in Neuss, Germany. During the demonstration, Intermec Intellitag® Gen 2 smart labels containing Philips Generation 2 RFID chips were read by an RFID-enabled Intermec IF5 reader.
The next step is to equip Metro's RFID Innovation Center with Generation 2 technology to test system performance. The companies also plan to update Metro's Future Store supply chain with Gen 2 capabilities to test the technology under real-life conditions.
By the end of 2005, more than 100 METRO Group suppliers are expected to migrate to Generation 2 RFID technology for improved asset tracking and inventory control. METRO Group, which has 2,300 stores in 30 countries around the world, launched its first RFID pilot project in November 2004. To date more than 100,000 pallets have been read using Metro's current RFID system.
"Generation 2 RFID is here now," said Dr. Gerd Wolfram, executive project manager of the METRO Group Future Store Initiative. "This demonstration meets a key METRO Group objective: we wanted to ensure that our existing RFID systems would seamlessly migrate forward to the ISO-based Gen 2 solution, and this was the first time to demonstrate that in the field."
"This real-world demonstration of a Generation 2 RFID system confirms that companies can now realize ROI benefits from RFID," said Intermec president Tom Miller. "Customers can now move forward with technology that fully addresses their application requirements without having to manage costly and complicated mixed-protocol environments."
"As a leading supplier of RFID technology, Philips partners with other industry leaders in order to allow us to be early to market with our innovations. This announcement is further proof of that strategy," said Jan-Willem Reynaerts, general manager for RFID at Philips Semiconductors.
The system is the latest step in the successful implementation of Philips RFID chips and Intermec RFID equipment at METRO Group's RFID Innovation Center, its Future Store and at several of its distribution centers. The company's largest and busiest distribution center, located in Unna, Germany, is equipped with Intermec IF5 Intelligent RFID readers and RFID tags powered by Philips chips and Intermec Intellitag technology.
