Tag Helps Track Reusable Containers, Shipments

Compiled ByDeborah Austin A new radio frequency identification (RFID) tag -- for mounting on reusable plastic containers -- is designed to help shippers, packaging companies, and retailers track the containers' movements through a distribution system. The Intellitag Reusable Plastic Container tag, made by Intermec Technologies Corp., operates at 915 Mhz frequency band, with single-antenna range of up to 12 ft. Its dynamic read/write capabilities allow continual update of tags' information, using low-power wireless signals that don't need line-of-sight-like laser scanners and conventional bar codes. Everett, Wash.-based Intermec -- a UNOVA Inc. company -- provides supply-chain solutions and makes automated data collection, Intellitag RFID, and mobile computing systems. UNOVA, headquartered in Woodland Hills, Calif., is a $2 billion industrial technologies company.