Alien RFID Solution Center Receives GS1 EPCglobal Inc. Test Center Accreditation Certificate

Alien Technology, a provider of UHF radio frequency identification, or RFID, products and services, has received a Test Center Accreditation Certificate from GS1 EPCglobal Inc. With this, Alien Technology’s RFID solution center is now accredited for GS1 EPCglobal-certified services as well as core technical capabilities.

EPCglobal Inc. is a subsidiary of the global non-profit standards organization GS1. Its aim is to drive the adoption of Electronic Product Code (EPC) as industry-driven standards, in order to enable accurate, immediate and cost-effective visibility of information throughout the supply chain.

The EPCglobal Performance Test Center Accredition Program assesses as well as evaluates the capabilities of testing facilities around the globe, in order to perform tagged unit performance testing in various real-world environments that are common within the supply chain, says EPCglobal.

In a release, EPCglobal said that the performance test centers will be utilizing a standardized set of performance test profiles to simulate real-world conditions. This will test the readability of end-user products that are tagged with EPC/RFID tags.

"We want to make it easy for end users to ensure that their tagged shipments can be read before sending them through their global supply chains," said Chris Adcock, president of EPCglobal Inc., in the release. "The GS1 EPCglobal Test Center Accreditation Program will help end users be assured that an accredited third party has established that these shipments can be read."

Alien Technology’s RFID solution center – also called ‘Alien RFID Solution Center (Alien RSC)’- is located in the Dayton, Ohio area. This advanced facility brings the benefits of RFID technology to applications – especially those that enable improved asset visibility, enhanced consumer safety and security, as well as greater operating efficiencies.

The performance test center that has completed accreditation process will receive an EPCglobal Performance Test Center Accredition Mark, which is not only unique to their location, but also unique to the set of test profiles that have been accredited to perform.

With regard to Alien Technologies, the Accreditation Mark signifies that the Alien RSC has successfully completed the EPCglobal Test Center Reassessment Audit; and it utilizes a standard set of test profiles to simulate real-world conditions in testing the readability of end-user products that are tagged with the EPC.

In the release, George Everhart, CEO at Alien Technology, said "As an Accredited Performance Test Center, the Alien RSC is able to facilitate multiple RFID performance evaluations for clients and partners in a repeatable, standardized and trustworthy environment, helping clients more efficiently and cost effectively conduct their RFID analysis with the assistance of experienced RFID specialists."

The Alien RFID Academy educates thousands of industry professionals in proper RFID implementation techniques. This 23,000 square foot facility is designed to accommodate hands-on education and technology assessments - by imitating real-world environments. This enables clients to visualize RFID opportunities in their particular applications, says Alien Technology.