RFID tags when a pallet is picked up. The IV7 captures not only the location of the pallet pick up, but also through what doorway it passed, the path the forklift traveled and where the pallet will be placed. The vehicle-mount system provides flexibility when reading tags from areas that are not near the location of a fixed reader and offers cost advantages in environments where the number of dock doors is significantly larger than the number of fork trucks. The IV7 can individually control up to four antennas, giving it the ability to perform optimally in different RFID environments, including reading pallet tags for shipping/receiving applications, warehouse shelf-location tags for directed put away applications, case tags for pallet building applications and asset-tracking tags. "In early 2005, ABI Research detailed how multiple companies are looking at reducing repetitive tasks in order to reduce costs, by equipping forklifts with RFID in small end-user environments," said Erik Michielsen, director of RFID at ABI Research. "Given that reader networking, power and packaging issues are properly addressed for the specific end-user environment in question, RFID-enabled forklifts offer an opportunity for end-users to reduce investment in reader infrastructure without compromising capability." The IV7 increases operator productivity by eliminating manual scanning or keyboard entry. The reader also generates automatic, real-time confirmation of movement, reducing operator time and errors. Coupled with carton and pallet RFID tags, a vehicle-mounted IV7 reader can enable the visibility of mobile assets by a management system, thus increasing capital asset utilization. The Intermec forklift reader system incorporates SmartSystemsTM, the Intermec intelligent remote services delivery platform that communicates between an Intermec system console and devices to identify, track and manage supply-chain assets anywhere in the enterprise within a secure, smart and seamless environment. The IV7 supporting ISO 18000-6 is now available for shipment worldwide. A multiprotocol version supporting ISO, EPC Gen 1 and Gen 2 will be available in Q4 2005.
EVERETT, Wash., Intermec Technologies Corp. today announced the first-ever EPCglobal Generation 2 (Gen 2) RFID vehicle-mount reader. The new multi-protocol Intermec IV7 Intellitag® vehicle-mount RFID reader reads Gen 2 tags from multiple manufacturers in mixed populations of tags based on all major global RFID standards, including EPCglobal Gen 2, Gen 1 and ISO 18000-6b, with a migration path to the emerging ISO 18000-6c standard. The IV7 joins an expanding family of Generation 2 RFID readers from Intermec and is designed to interface serially to Windows-based, vehicle-mounted computers such as the Intermec CV60. Both the CV60 and the IV7 are built to withstand the rigors of harsh, industrial environments and are sealed to IP65 ratings. The wireless capability of the CV60 combined with the snappy reads of the IV7 mean that warehouse management systems can be automatically updated with location status as a truck moves through RFID tag-equipped zones and with shelf-location data as a pallet of goods is dropped off or retrieved. The CV60 can command the IV7, equipped with a location tag-sensing antenna, to scan for
