St. Louis, Mo., APRIL 30, 2013 – RF Controls LLC, a leading provider of advanced radio frequency
identification (RFID) smart antenna hardware and software, today announced that it has received a
foundational patent for its Intelligent Tracking and Control System (ITCS®) – a bi-directional,
electronically steerable phased array antenna technology for the long-range tracking of ultra-high
frequency (UHF), passive RFID tags.
RF Controls real-time location systems are the only products in the world capable of tracking UHF
passive RFID tags in real time, with accuracy of 12 inches. The company’s (ITCS®) product is based
on sophisticated military tracking technology and “smart antennas” which deliver precise three dimensional tag location information. RF Controls achieves tag location accuracy with an operating range up to 350 feet, depending on which product and the type of tag used. ITCS solves the
fundamental business process problem of automatically and accurately locating arbitrarily placed items with passive RFID tags, which is crucial to efficient inventory and asset management.
“The ITCS technology is significant because it makes expensive active tags, hand-held readers,
portals, distributed systems and cumbersome short-range architecture obsolete,” said RF Controls’
CEO, Tom Ellinwood. “It acts as a permanent infrastructure to monitor wide area zones, eliminating
human intervention and much of the time and cost involved in managing inventory as it moves through the supply chain.”
Although RF Controls’ technology has a variety of uses across multiple industries, the company’s initial focus is on supply chain management where it sees enormous and immediate potential to reduce labor costs, inventory and eliminate capital expenditures.
Dramatic labor savings are enabled through the automation of frequent warehouse tasks such as
receiving, shipping, stocking and cycle counting. Instead of scanning items with a handheld reader, the process is entirely automated, taking the data collection burden away from warehouse workers and allowing them to transport products faster and more accurately.
By providing real time data, RF Controls’ technology helps companies cut millions of dollars in inventory by making production and replenishment decisions based on the inventory they actually have versus what they think they have. The ITCS system can reduce capital costs as well, by eliminating the need to purchase expensive dock door portals, handheld and overhead readers.
According to Graham Bloy, RF Controls co-founder and inventor of its technology, the company
launched its first generation of FCC/ETSI/HERO certified technology in 2006. Now well proven, the
company’s second generation products are currently being used in global supply chain applications for item sorting and tracking, in retail applications for item movement and inventory management, as well as for asset tracking in large government agencies.
“To date, we’ve invested tens of millions in R&D and in-market testing with some of the world’s largest and most influential companies,” says Bloy. “With the foundational patent in hand, we now plan to aggressively market the technology across the supply chain.”
Enabling the Internet of Everything
The company strongly believes that its patented technology is the key enabling element to help
enterprises benefit from the burgeoning “Internet of Everything.”
According to a report by Cisco, the next wave of dramatic Internet growth will involve the connection of people, processes, data and things, resulting in the “Internet of Everything.” Cisco estimates that 99.4% of physical objects in the world are still unconnected. They believe that the knowledge created by connecting with these things can generate $14.4 trillion in value (higher revenues and lower costs) in the next 10 years, including a $2.7 trillion opportunity within the supply chain.
According to RF Controls’ Ellinwood, the company’s technology identifies, locates and tracks
unconnected “things” without the need for human intervention. “We provide the metaphorical electricity that powers the Internet of Everything,” he concludes.
About RF Controls
RF Controls, LLC, a leading provider of advanced radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, was
founded in 2006 by businessman and entrepreneur, Tom Ellinwood, and Chief scientist and technology developer, Graham Bloy. The company’s patented Intelligent Tracking and Control System (ITCS®) provides real-time location system (RTLS) functionality, using only passive, ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to identify, locate and track items. The system is now in use at some of the world’s largest and most influential companies. For more information about RF Controls, contact Todd A. Spence, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations, at 314-720-0895