[07/31/07]
Alien Technology Corporation, an industry leader for RFID products and services, in partnership with Simet, proudly announces the world's first EPC-compliant fabric roll tracking application at Griva S.p.A. Based in Torino , Italy,
Griva is one of the world's leading textile manufacturers. As a result of implementing the Alien RFID reader and tag system almost 10 months ago, a 30% return of investment has been realized in the form of time management savings and increased traceability of the fabric rolls.
Griva is a textile industry leader which produces over three hundred thousand rolls of fabric every year, provides finished fabrics for upholstery, drapery to leading European retailers such as Leroy Merline, and Quelle.
"An improvement in our productivity was critical to our ongoing competitiveness," said Gualtiero Casalegno, president/CEO and owner of Griva. "Until recently, we could not accurately control the contents of the roll using bar code technology. By implementing an EPC-compliant fabric roll RFID tracking solution, we have reduced expenses, saved time and improved customer satisfaction with our finished products. In less than one year, we have seen an ROI of 30% in just over nine months."
Griva transforms the raw thread materials from suppliers into fabric, which is then washed, dyed and dried. Once the fabric is finished using weaving machines, the automation process must assure that the correct fabric roll undergoes the correct treatments and processes. The solution involved Alien Technology's Alien 8800 UHF passive reader/writer and EPC-compliant Gen 2 Squiggle tags. The Alien tag and reader combination offer optimal read range and read consistency performance. Simet also provided the reader-to-ERP interface middleware to Griva's ERP software. As a result, Griva can now trace the fabric roll at the onset of the production process right until shipment.
The RFID implementation overcame all the problems Griva had to face in order to guarantee traceability during the phases of production and logistics. With regard to logistics, the tag passed the "plastic film" test that previous methods hadn't been able to pass because the film hid the bar code. This method therefore made it possible to track pieces that are already packaged and ready for delivery; saving time and providing customers with more accurate information.
"The environment of a textile manufacturing process is very challenging due to high temperature at the shrink wrap stations, water and high humidity levels, and harsh chemical agent present during the dying phase." Said Claudio Bertoldo, Marketing Manager at Simet. "Griva needed a robust RFID system with complete fabric roll traceability, but without being intrusive to the production process, something that Alien Technology was able to deliver to Simet and Griva."
"With Simet's help, Griva has discarded their bar code systems and is now using RFID tags and readers exclusively to track their fabric rolls," said Stephen Crocker, Director of Channel Sales for EMEA and India for Alien Technology. "Simet's integration expertise has made the Griva a showcase for RFID success within the textile industry."
About Griva
Griva S.p.A is a leading textile company, producing approximately 300.000 rolls of fabric per year. It was founded in 1955 and today employs 70 people. The annual turnover is around 14 million euros, 60% coming from the domestic market and 40% from the foreign market. Griva S.p.A produces and distributes 500 pieces of fabric, equal to 20.000 meters, per day. The main centre is based in Riva near Chieri ( Turin ) and covers a surface area of 5.000 square metres plus a completely automated warehouse of 1.000 square metres. For more information, please see www.grivaonline.com
About Simet
Simet operates in the industrial automation field and manufacture of products for computer and telematic applications. Founded in 1982, the company is focused on the development of new products and services for data collection and tracking operations with RFID technology. The organization characteristics and quality standards are proven by the Quality System adopted since 1997, and certified according to the standard UNI ISO 9001. For more information, please visit www.simet.com
About Alien Technology
Alien Technology is a leading provider of RFID products and services to customers in a wide variety of industries. Organizations use Alien's RFID products and services to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and security of their supply chains, logistics and asset tracking operations. Alien's products include RFID tags, RFID readers and related training and professional services. Alien's patented Fluidic Self Assembly (FSATM) technology and related proprietary manufacturing processes are designed to enable the manufacture of high volume, low-cost RFID tags. Alien was founded in 1994. The company's facilities include corporate headquarters in Morgan Hill, CA; an RFID tag manufacturing facility in Fargo, ND; the Alien RFID Solutions Center in the Dayton, OH; and sales offices in the US, Europe and Asia. Alien is a member of EPCglobal. More information about Alien is available at www.alientechnology.com
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