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New company formed to support RFID growth

Some of the strongest forces in the South African radio frequency identification (RFID) market ranging from product supply, technical skills to implementation and support have pledged their support to a new company, Harmonic RFID, that has been formed to meet anticipated growth.

Along with the Harmonic Group, its holding company, Harmonic RFID will also be supported by DarkStar SA, Evolving Management Solutions (EMS), Alliance SA. They will supply product, skills and support while continuing to operate as separate entities.

The new company will provide working solutions.

Sheldon Henen, newly appointed technical director of Harmonic RFID, says uses of RFID technology are as wide as the imagination, but many customers have either been misinformed or are using the incorrect products for their specific needs.

Harmonic RFID is a subsidiary of the Harmonic Group, which specialises in mobile computing and its MD, Barry Baetu, and Henen jointly own the new company.

Henen is a director at Allied SA, which has been providing RFID solutions in SA for more than a decade.

"There are two forms of RFID - passive and active - and each has a distinct use. Passive RFID is used to prevent shrinkage or theft such as clothes from shops or assets in an office or home, while active RFID is used for applications such as high value asset tracking, tracking of containers on a global scale, baby tagging in hospitals and so forth. We offer both technologies because of the wide ranging applications that can be achieved with RFID," says Henen.

He believes the RFID market in SA will enter an enormous growth phase and this is noticeable already with the numerous requests for proposals and tenders that are being sent out calling for either RFID solutions or systems that would perfectly suit RFID technology.

"Once people understand the technology and the numerous applications that RFID can address, then we will see a huge uptake in its use with companies taking advantage of the cost effective business benefits," he concludes.

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