The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
6/3/04
CONTACT: Nancy Gores, (608) 265-3299, nagores@wisc.edu

RFID CONFERENCE TO DRIVE STATE TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION

MADISON — Ever since Wal-Mart and the U.S. Department of Defense decided that their product suppliers must integrate radio frequency identification (RFID) into the supply chain by 2005, companies have been scrambling to learn how.

The Wisconsin RFID Conference, scheduled for Thursday, June 17, in Waukesha, will teach business and technology leaders how RFID technologies are poised to revolutionize inventory tracking through the supply chain. The conference will be held at the Country Inn Conference Center.

RFID uses tiny computer chips, or “smart tags,” to transmit wireless data. The technology offers the potential to communicate from the moment a product leaves a manufacturer’s warehouse until it is purchased by a consumer.

RFID communication will help businesses to cut costs, and to boost productivity and the flow of products through the supply chain — a fundamental shift in the way that industry currently tracks, traces and manages assets. Given its potential for the manufacturing, retail, transportation, distribution, healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, among others, even businesses that are not yet mandated to implement RFID technology want to learn more about it.

The Wisconsin RFID Conference is sponsored by e!nnovate, a premiere association for technology professionals based in Milwaukee, and the UW E-Business Institute, a campuswide initiative to help enhance economic development of Wisconsin industry clusters through adoption of e-business strategies, technologies and practices.

The conference will feature RFID practices and technologies on the national level. Speakers from International Paper, Rockwell Automation and other businesses will participate. Two parallel business and technology tracks will help companies identify when best to adopt RFID, discuss case studies based on industry pilots and share practical strategies developed by the UW E-Business Consortium RFID Industry Workgroup.

The workgroup was formed in 2003 to help Wisconsin companies understand the issues and challenges associated with RFID implementation. Many of the group’s 30 companies will be represented at the conference.

A pre-conference workshop, scheduled for 8 a.m., will provide basic knowledge of RFID fundamentals. The main conference will be held from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

For more information about the conference agenda and to register, visit http://www.uwebi.org



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