Checkpoint names Mr Prasad Putta GM of OATSystems RFID Division

Checkpoint Systems Inc announced that Prasad Putta, co-founder and former head of business development for the company, has been named Vice President (VP) and General Manager (GM) of OATSystems, which Checkpoint acquired in June 2008.

In this role, Mr. Putta is responsible for leading OATSystems' strategy and operations in its new structure as a division of Checkpoint Systems. He was instrumental in establishing the company's initial vision, recruiting the management team in support of that vision, developing key strategic partnerships, and serving in a leadership role in growing the company to over 100 customers worldwide and a dominant position in the RFID industry.

"Prasad is highly respected in the RFID industry and has tremendous experience at OAT via his long-standing executive roles there," said Rob van der Merwe, president and chief executive officer, Checkpoint Systems Inc. "We are very pleased and proud to have him lead this important division."

"I am excited to continue to work with the team we have built over the last seven years to fulfill OATSystems' mission to provide value-based solutions to retail, consumer product, and industrial manufacturing customers," commented Mr. Putta.

"Together with Checkpoint, we provide a differentiated, complete, and compelling solution to our retail and apparel customers. In addition, we continue to build our existing strategic partnerships to drive growth in the industrial asset tracking and retail markets.

" Checkpoint also announced that Dr. Sanjay Sarma, who was OATSystems' co-founder and chief scientist, has been retained as Checkpoint technology advisor and a member of the Checkpoint Innovation Council. Dr. Sarma is a recognized leader in the RFID industry, having co-founded the MIT Auto-ID center that is dedicated to developing and promoting global industry standards enabling organizations to put RFID to work easily and cost effectively.

He is also a board member of EPC Global, which develops the electronic product code standards that are driving worldwide adoption of RFID. In his role on the Innovation Council, Dr. Sarma will help lead Checkpoint's innovation strategy across all of its operations.

"We are honored and very pleased to have Dr. Sarma's expertise and thought leadership on the Innovation Council," continued van der Merwe. "This is yet another way in which our new relationship with OATSystems is strengthening our entire organization."

Checkpoint Systems Inc

Aim Global Elects Intermec Executive

AIM Global, the trade association recognized as the worldwide authority on automatic identification and mobility, announced the election of Intermec President and CEO, Patrick J. Byrne to its Board of Directors.

As a not-for-profit industry organization, AIM Global’s mission is to expand the understanding, adoption and use of data collection technology by driving international standards, providing timely, unbiased and commercial-free news and educational resources. Board representatives are elected by the AIM Global membership for a two-year term.

The current board also includes executives from ACURA Technologies, ADC Technologies, Avery Dennison, Datalogic Scanning, FEIG Electronic, Honeywell Imaging and Mobility, Lowry Computer Products, Motorola, Sirit, TAGSYS, Texas Instruments, and Zebra Technologies.

“As an industry association, we are seeing an increasing convergence of automatic identification and data collection technologies that is revolutionizing how business is conducted worldwide,” said AIM Global president Dan Mullen.

“Data collection technology and mobile computing touches every enterprise, from healthcare to industrial manufacturing and beyond. Mr. Byrne has the background and global expertise required to augment the current Board as they define strategic goals for continued growth in our industry.

”Mr. Byrne joined Intermec as President and Chief Executive Officer and was also elected to the company's Board of Directors in July, 2007. Byrne is a 24-year veteran of Hewlett Packard and Agilent Technologies where he held increasingly responsible positions in Research, Engineering, Marketing and General Management.

He was most recently Senior VP of Agilent Technologies Inc and President of Agilent's Electronic Measurement Group, and prior to that he was VP and General Manager of Agilent's Wireless Business Unit.

Byrne received his BS degree in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and his MS degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University. He currently serves on the Board of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn University.

AIM Global

Ekahau’s Wi-Fi tags support two-way communication

Ekahau Inc, a leading provider of Wi-Fi-based Real Time Location Systems (RTLS), at RFID World introduced four new Wi-Fi tags that expand the functionality of its real-time location tracking solutions.

The tags, which were designed in response to customer demand in a number of vertical markets, include a personnel badge tag that offers the industry's first two-way Wi-Fi pager capabilities and other solutions for industrial, retail and temperature sensitive environments.

"Many of our potential customers understood the value of real-time location tracking, but had unique needs that exceeded the capabilities of our T301A and T201 asset tags or T301-B badge tag." said Arttu Huhtiniemi, director of Product Management at Ekahau.

"With the new additions to our product line, we are addressing those customers' demands and delivering the functionalities to support a wider variety of applications."

All of Ekahau's tags support two-way communication, enabling the tags to both send and receive information for communication and remote tag management across any brand or generation of Wi-Fi network.

Ekahau's newest Wi-Fi tags include:

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  T301BD - Building upon Ekahau's proven personnel badge technology, the T301BD is the first RTLS tag to offer Wi-Fi pager functionality. It enables users to send messages, status updates and alarms.

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  It also allows them to receive and acknowledge text messages and location-based alerts on a bright display screen that uses the latest OLED technology. The T301BD also is a cost-effective solution for replacing legacy paging systems and services as it leverages an enterprise's own Wi-Fi network.

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  T301i - A locatable industrial tag with two-way signaling and a call button, the T301i is a wireless replacement for the traditional hard-wired factory call buttons, which are used for plant floor part replenishment, service requests, status updates and quality alerts. It is an ideal solution for any applications where remote call requests and two-way acknowledgement are required.

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  T301T - By integrating a temperature sensor, the T301T can automatically report temperature readings in a remote location and notify users if the temperature exceeds a predefined threshold range.

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  Designed for automated monitoring of refrigerators, freezers and any Temperature sensitive areas in hospitals, retail stores and industrial applications, this tag's Wi-Fi capability enables it to support multi- party cold chain monitoring and management applications.

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  The T301T supports an optional remote platinum temperature probe with a temperature measurement range of -200C to +200C for applications that require monitoring at extreme temperatures.

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  T301Ex -Intended for use on oil and gas rigs, and in petrochemical refineries and chemical plants, where certification is required for hazardous or volatile environments.

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  The T301Ex can be used for asset tracking and status notifications, as well as supporting employee safety applications for reporting the location of personnel in accident or disaster situations.

Ekahau's complete line of tags deliver the broadest functionalities of any Wi-Fi tags on the market and offer enterprises the flexibility to leverage their existing Wi-Fi networks without installing proprietary readers or chokepoints.

The tags support two different modes of operation. The first is a full associating mode, in which the tag functions as would any standard Wi-Fi client, enabling it to operate and roam over Wi-Fi infrastructure from any vendor.

The second is a beacon mode. Using Wi-Fi networks from supporting vendors, the tag sends RF beacons to the Wi-Fi infrastructure without associating, enabling longer tag battery life. The tags also can leverage both modes in parallel.

Ekahau will be showcasing its tags, as well as the full Ekahau RTLS solution, at Booth 514 during RFID World, Sept. 8-10 in Las Vegas. Samples of all tags are available now and volume shipments will begin in the fourth quarter of 2008. Pricing is available upon request.

Ekahau Inc