University of Florida Research Center Launches RFID Pilot to Improve Fresh Produce Supply Chain

Gainesville, FL August 22nd, 2005. The University of Florida IFAS’s Center for Food Distribution and Retailing (CFDR), Gainesville, FL today announced the launch of a research pilot featuring RFID technology and network-based information exchange to improve the distribution of fresh produce. The pilot, named Visibility Validated (V2), will measure the impact of improved supply chain visibility between suppliers and retailers. The V2 project is focused on the publishing of observation events to a virtual test bed simulation of the EPCglobal NetworkTM. It is the hope of the V2 project participants to show how EPCglobal-based RFID technology will and can provide valuable supply chain visibility. The V2 project is being conducted in cooperation with its participating members; suppliers, a retailer, and technology providers.

“Each step of the distribution chain is duplicated in the CFDR laboratory at the university and serves to set the benchmark of the ’ideal conditions’. These results will be analyzed and compared to those obtained from real shipments between suppliers and the Publix Distribution Center. Also, the CFDR staff will be carefully studying any discrepancies between what was shipped and what was read at reception,” stated Dr. Jean-Pierre Emond, co-director of CFDR and the lead investigator of V2.

Publix Super Markets, Inc., Lakeland, FL has volunteered to be the retailer for this project. Publix is the largest and fastest-growing employee-owned supermarket chain in the United States. All tracked shipments will be received at the Publix distribution center in Lakeland.

“Publix has been watching the RFID arena for some time now and joined EPCglobal in June, 2004”, said Terri Crawford, Publix Business IT Manager. She added that, “Publix supports the adoption of RFID and the EPCglobal Network within the supply chain and wants to help its suppliers to be successful in its adoption, but we are not mandating RFID compliance at this time. Our interest in this study is to assess the impact and benefit to the business processes, for both Publix and our suppliers.”

Produce suppliers involved in this project are: Del Monte Fresh Produce, N.A., Inc., Coral Gables, FL, Tanimura & Antle, Inc., Salinas, CA, and DUDA, Oviedo, FL. Each supplier was selected for their leadership in the produce industry as well as the types of produce they handle, and for their interest in acquiring more knowledge and experience in integrating RFID technology into the fresh produce supply chain.

“This program affords Del Monte Fresh Produce a great learning experience, whereby we will have the information to help us support better the needs of our customers,” said Thomas R Young, Ph.D., Vice President Research & Agricultural Services, Del Monte Fresh Produce Company. “Working closely with University of Florida IFAS’s CFDR we anticipate to have a clearer understanding of the RFID operational process and how it will affect the distribution channels; as well as surmise the value of the data gathered and its future use to facilitate the supply chain process.”

Technology supplier members for V2 are divided into four categories: RFID hardware, software, network system, and others. RFID hardware members are Alien Technology Corp., Morgan Hill, CA and Symbol Technologies, Inc., Holtsville, NY. Both agreed to provide RFID readers to the CFDR laboratory and to the Publix distribution center, and tags for the suppliers. The RFID software members are Franwell Inc., Plant City, FL, GlobeRanger Corp., Richardson, TX, and RedTail Solutions, Inc., Westborough, MA. VeriSign, Mountain View, CA, will provide network services to ensure secure, timely access to information about physical supply chain events to the University of Florida, Publix and its suppliers.. Another technology supplier is Ingersoll-Rand Climate Control Technologies, Bridgeton, MO, providing technical support related to potential interference within the climate controlled environments.

"Alien Technology is excited to be participating in the project. The University of Florida has pulled together some of the industry's best and brightest. This project will help us all learn more about how to utilize the EPCglobal Network and expand the value of RFID for retailers and their suppliers." - Patrick Ervin, Vice President of Retail Business Development for Alien Technology.

“Symbol supports the University of Florida’s innovative pursuit of the information supply chain that RFID brings to light,” said Larry Blue, vice president and general manager, RFID Tag Business Unit, Symbol Technologies. “While many of our customers see a clear return on investment (ROI) from real-time asset management using RFID, some are very often surprised by the increased visibility that RFID information brings to their supply chain processes. The V2 RFID project will no doubt produce some great results for us all to learn from.”

Finally, the harmonization of all the technology suppliers is provided by Franwell. Franwell assures that all of the technology members are compatible as well as coordinating and expediting the set up of the RFID systems at the suppliers’ shipping facilities and at the distribution center during the testing phase.

“We expect the technology and process issues associated with implementing RFID to be highlighted and addressed by the V2 project, and that any roadblocks that we encounter will be overcome in the course of testing at the CFDR lab. However, we are not validating the technology. There are many efforts underway to validate and improve the technology. Our goal is to show the value of shared visibility using real data events published to the globalNetworkEPC network,” said Franwell CEO Jeff Wells.

“It is the belief of the V2 participants that this visibility will shape the way supply chain partners conduct business in the near future” added Dr. Emond.

About the University of Florida IFAS’s Center for Food Distribution and Retailing (CFDR). The UF/IFAS Research Center for Food Distribution and Retailing is the first Research Center of its kind worldwide to focus on perishables distribution and retailing. Located at the University of Florida in Gainesville, the Center includes more than 25 faculty researcher plus associated students and staff involved in research and development involving the entire perishable distribution system from product source to retail shelves.

Publix is owned and operated by its 129,500 employees, with 2004 sales of $18.6 billion. Currently Publix has 858 stores in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee. The company has been named one of Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For in America” for eight consecutive years. In addition, Publix’s dedication to superior quality and customer service is recognized as tops in the grocery business, most recently by an American Customer Satisfaction Index survey. For more information, visit the company’s Web site, www.publix.com.
Contact: Dr. Jean-Pierre Emond: jpemond@ufl.edu, 352-392-1864 ext 229

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About RedTail Solutions, Inc.
RedTail Solutions, Inc. is a privately held company, located in Westborough, MA. It enables suppliers to compete at the highest level in today’s supply chain by providing a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform for b2b collaboration. This advanced platform provides a suite of hosted services via the internet that can integrate seamlessly with middle-market systems like Microsoft Great Plains® to enterprise back office systems such as SAP®. Through this hosted and integrated platform, suppliers can connect and trade through a single solution with their key customers as well as third-party logistics providers in warehousing and transportation. There are more than 500,000 suppliers that participate in the global supply chain today that can gain immediate benefits by using RedTail’s fully integrated and automated electronic collaboration through a single interface, helping them to eliminate transaction errors, reduce penalties for non-compliance and ultimately to streamline business processes. For more information, visit www.redtailsolutions.com.
For more information, visit www.redtailsolutions.com.

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George Cohen
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