Toshiba TEC Europe launches RFID@TOSHIBA

Toshiba, manufacturer of retail and industrial information systems, has launched a new strategy set up to ensure that RFID users are able to maximize the full potential of the fast-growing technology: RFID@TOSHIBA.

‘Our work with existing clients using RIFD technology illustrated an important issue – quite simply customers didn’t have the technical knowledge of what was really needed to integrate RFID successfully into their existing business processes. It also became apparent that when customers worked with a variety of RFID providers there was a lack of cohesion which led to incompatibility and ultimately made the whole process expensive and time consuming,’ explained Rob McGregor,  business development manager, Toshiba TEC.

As a supplier of RFID for warehousing and supply change applications, Toshiba has developed strong allegiances with companies working with RFID technology, a feature that was put to good use in the development of RFID@TOSHIBA.

‘It’s hard to go to market with a single component, clients prefer complete solutions. So it made sense to us to bring together like minded companies,’ added McGregor. ‘RFID@TOSHIBA was developed not only to enable us to share technological advantages with each other but importantly to offer customers a portfolio of RFID-products and services from what we call “best of breed” RFID vendor partnerships and channel partnerships.’

RFID@TOSHIBA will offer a complete end-to-end RFID infrastructure solution providing customers with the main components of an RFID implementation from consultancy right through to after sales service. As part of the consultancy service Toshiba will define the application and identify the correct technology, calculating ROI, deliver commercial proposals, propose suitable components and ensure that standards are met.  If the client chooses to go forward with the proposal the Toshiba RFID team will then provide project management which includes developing project plans, liaising with all the suppliers right through to piloting test results.

RFID@TOSHIBA will provide clients with a comprehensive selection of the different component parts needed for an RFID solution, from hardware through to software and consumables ensuring the correct style and specification of tags, identifying suitable readers, printers, encoders and middleware and importantly ensuring compatibility. And for clients who want a fixed range of low volume tags but do not require an RFID infrastructure, RFID@TOSHIBA offers the RFID Bureau Service. This will be typically used by clients who either have been mandated to supply goods into the supply chain and do not need to validate or read those who need to print and tag a large number of assets or documents at implementation.

‘As part of RFID@TOSHIBA we will provide trained engineers to implement and install and after completion of an RFID installation the RFID@TOSHIBA customer service team are there to provide support,’ concluded McGregor. ‘RFID@TOSHIBA is pretty unique and it’s probably the first time that this offering of an end-to-end RFID solution has been available in Europe.’