Ajax Meets RFID

Like every solutions provider, JackBe tries very hard to share practical uses of its software and real-world success stories. I recently got a note from one of JackBe's Project Managers, Dr. Jerrold Prothero, and I thought it was a great example of Ajax 'moving beyond the technology' and moving into real-world business use:

This week, the RFID industry is holding its major conference, RFID World, in Dallas. You’ve probably heard about RFID. It’s basically “barcodes on steroids”, the next generation of product-tracking that is currently revolutionizing the supply chain industry.

RFID allows product information to be read automatically in bulk from a distance. For the first time, it makes it practical to get detailed, real-time information about where things are as they move from manufacturing through distribution to retail outlets. RFID dramatically increases supply chain visibility. And the technology is now in mature adoption, with RFID tag prices having dropped 60-70% over the last 12 months.

An intriguing new marriage is now starting to emerge between RFID and Ajax. RFID makes product information available; Ajax makes it possible to visualize and interact with this information over the web. IBM gave an RFID World presentation, 'Edge Computing Platforms - Innovative Capabilities through Item-Level Visibility' that discussed this theme and referenced JackBe software as an example of what is possible.

When you think about it, the potential for enterprise-grade Ajax environments in supply chain applications is huge. Products such as those developed by JackBe promote the ability to maintain situation awareness, by supporting rapid configuration and presentation of live data feeds; information sharing, by supporting a secure common workspace for information display; and collaboration, by supporting information update with governance controls. All of these issues are critical for the supply chain industry, with its reliance on extensive and fluid partnerships spread around the world.

Ajax and RFID. Let the games begin!

Of course, a short blog post probably doesn't do this topic justice. If you'd like to chat more on Ajax and RFID, you can reach Jerrold at jerrold.prothero@jackbe.com.