www.morerfid.com
12/21/05

Staff at the Sun RFID Test Center in Carrollton, Texas, have joined a growing roster of Zebra printer/encoder users who have downloaded Zebra's free Gen 2 firmware and given the upgrade high marks for enabling a smooth transition to producing Gen 2-compliant smart labels.

The Sun experience echoes that of many Zebra's RFID customers worldwide who have downloaded the firmware and found the process to be easy and trouble-free.

"Sun's RFID Test Centers are geared to providing practical answers to the real-world issues companies face when deploying RFID technology," says Vijay Sarathy, director, RFID product marketing and strategy at Sun. "Our technology recommendations are based on first-hand experience, and we are pleased to report the ease with which we were able to upgrade our Zebra printer/encoders at the lab. We now can confidently validate to end-users that the Zebra Gen 2 upgrade is simple and works as promised."

Like the staff at the Sun RFID Test Center, customers who have Zebra R110Xi, R170Xi, European- and Asia Pacific-approved R4Mplus printer/encoders and R110PAX4 print engines, can access the Zebra Web site (www.zebra.com/firmware) to download the free Gen 2 firmware upgrade. These Zebra models do not require any costly hardware upgrades to print and encode Gen 2, or multiple downloads to support different transponder types.

"We believe that there will be a wide choice of Gen 2 media available soon with a corresponding diversity of features," says Bob Cornick, vice president and general manager of RFID at Zebra Technologies. "Because our Gen 2 solution supports all tags, customers will have the freedom to choose the transponders they need based on availability, cost, performance and ability to process data, and not be limited by whether their printer/encoders can support a particular tag type. We designed our products to protect our customers' RFID investments and help them create the best solution for their needs."

The Sun RFID Test Center in Texas was launched in May, 2004 to provide a controlled environment simulating the conditions of an actual distribution center or warehouse, as specified in compliance mandates from several retailers and the U.S. Department of Defense. The 17,000-square-foot test center is one of the largest of its kind, boasts a world-class conveyor system that can process cases at variable speeds up to 600 feet per minute, and has a pallet conveyor for repeatable testing. The facility is used to provide RFID education and performance testing, and to demonstrate Sun's solution capabilities ranging from simple scenarios with closed system integration to large deployments with open-systems integration and data-sharing.

"Companies who have to respond to RFID mandates are looking for solutions that can provide them with immediate answers," says Sarathy. Our goal is to stock our RFID Test Center with state-of-the-art equipment from best-of-breed companies, like Zebra Technologies, so our clients can test and verify that all the components of an RFID solution work - before they invest."

The Sun RFID Test Center showcases a wide variety of RFID-related products from Sun and other companies including: RFID tags, readers, printers/encoders, Sun Java System RFID software, and enterprise application integration, warehouse management, enterprise information system, and other management and application software.

"Zebra printer/encoders with Gen 2 functionality can interface directly with the Sun Java System RFID Software and can also be used as a component of Sun's RFID Industry Solutions such as the Sun RFID Industry Solution for Mandate Compliance," said Sarathy.

Zebra has been researching and developing RFID products for nearly 10 years. It was the first company to produce an integrated, on-demand RFID printer/encoder more than five years ago. Today, Zebra has the broadest printer/encoder product line for use in supply chain applications. Its RFID printer/encoders have been approved for use in 35 countries and more approvals are pending.

According to a VDC study, Zebra is the RFID market leader with more printer/encoder sales than any other company worldwide. An industry pioneer, Zebra first made its name helping customers harness the power of bar codes, and has now captured the largest installed base of both high frequency and EPC ultra-high frequency (UHF) models in every geographic region.

Zebra is a leading global provider of technical innovations for supply chain and business efficiency, supplying specialty printing products to 90 percent of the Fortune 500. Today, Zebra plays a key role in the development of RFID technology, standards, and applications based on its understanding of new industry RFID compliance programs and the adoption curve of new technologies. The company has first-hand experience with the positive financial impact RFID can have when applied strategically to internal business processes.