Impinj
Canvas Category Machinery : Operational Technology : IIoT : RFID
Some people imagine the Internet of Things as a network of powered electronic devices. We think bigger. We’re expanding the internet’s reach by a factor of 1,000 — to apparel, packages, pallets, airline baggage, medical supplies, food, and so much more. Together with our partners, we’re driving efficiencies, reducing waste, enabling the circular economy, and ultimately, we hope, improving people’s lives.
Assembly Line
Avery Dennison Expands RFID Adoption in Grocery Retail Industry
Avery Dennison (NYSE: AVY) announced it will begin working with The Kroger Co. to build a better associate and customer experience through RFID inventory automation technology. This collaboration makes item-level digital identification possible, enabling more frequent and more accurate inventory information to maximize freshness, reduce waste and improve the associate experience.
This strategic collaboration will begin in the bakery department, implementing RFID-embedded labels on each item, providing significant time savings and valuable data to automate inventory management and freshness optimization. It is a foundational step in delivering a more seamless customer and associate experience across all fresh categories long term.
UPS Delivers Next Phase in Smart Package/Smart Facility Initiative with RFID
After building RFID reading functionality into more than 1,000 distribution sites across its network, tracking millions of “smart packages” daily, global logistics company UPS is expanding its Smart Package Smart Facility (SPSF) solution.
UPS is in the process this summer of equipping all its brown trucks to read RFID tagged packages. A total of 60,000 vehicles will go live with the technology by the end of the year, with another approximated 40,000 coming into the system in 2025.
The smart vehicles installation is Wave 2 in a four-phase deployment of SPSF, one part of UPS’ wide scale Network of the Future (NoF) digital transformation initiative. UPS’s NoF will introduce end to end automation in its sortation facilities, including robotic systems. Within NoF is the SPSF system, for which RFID feeds data into a platform leveraging Generative AI and Digital Twins. With RFID tags on packages and reader antennas in facilities and vehicles “we’re moving from a scanning-based logistics network to a sensing-based network,” said Bell.
The average UPS sorting facility has about 155 miles of conveyor belts, sorting over four million packages every day. The seamless operation requires tracking, routing and prioritizing packages. By building the RFID sensing technology into its facilities, the company has eliminated 20 million barcode scans from daily operations. For the RFID industry, UPS’ sheer volume of packages shipped daily may make this initiative the largest implementation of UHF RAIN RFID technology to date.
Walmart's RFID Mandate is Lighting the Way for Retail
RAIN RFID allows retailers like Walmart to precisely track inventory and quickly restock shelves, with cost-saving implications and logistical improvements that boost efficiency and customer satisfaction. Tagging products with RAIN RFID chips like those made by Impinj allows Walmart to monitor exactly what merchandise is on its shelves or in backrooms, and track items in real time as they move through supply chains.
Walmart’s RAIN RFID expansion into new merchandise categories is part of an ongoing digital transformation across the industry. Retail experts say Walmart is doubling down on RFID to improve efficiency as it competes with online retailers like Amazon and strives to capture reinvigorated foot traffic after the Covid-19 pandemic.
It appears big-box retail’s embrace of RAIN RFID will eventually widen to include health and beauty products, and even grocery items. While retailers worldwide are already using RAIN RFID to power their digital transformations, Walmart’s mandate expansion — and its work creating tag performance standards — showcases the power of the technology, sets an example for the industry, and illuminates a pathway for adopting and deploying RAIN RFID solutions.
Avery Dennison’s Intelligent Logistics Solutions Optimize Supply Chains
RAIN RFID inspires new use cases in many industries every day. Few have been as creative as Impinj gold partner Avery Dennison, which has made impressive additions to its range of RFID solutions for use in supply chains.
Avery Dennison is invested in every step of the supply chain, from source to store. With its suite of Intelligent Logistics Solutions — a collection of IoT devices, connected cloud, identification solutions, and services — Avery Dennison delivers seamless efficiency at every step.
Avery Dennison uses Impinj RAIN RFID readers, Impinj reader chips, and a variety of Impinj RAIN RFID tag chips for packages, labels, and other elements within the Intelligent Logistics Solutions. Companies can use any combination of Avery Dennison’s offerings to bring the power of RAIN RFID to their workflows.
In a distribution center, warehouse, or manufacturing center, a full complement of RAIN RFID readers have the scanning range to cover every inch of space, from floor to ceiling, removing blind spots where counting errors and shrink are most likely to occur.
Impinj Raises $22M to Accelerate RFID Product Development
Impinj, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company developing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solutions for supply chain and logistics automation, announced that Mobius Venture Capital, Unilever Technology Ventures and the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund have joined the company’s previous investors, ARCH Venture Partners, Madrona Venture Group and Polaris Venture Partners, to provide $22 million in third-round funding. Impinj also announced that Aaron Cheatham, a Principal at Mobius Venture Capital which led the financing round, has joined Impinj’s board of directors.
Impinj will use the proceeds of this financing to move into volume production of its RFID products and to expand operations both at its Seattle headquarters and at its Orange County, California facility opened this January.