7:00  Registration, Continental Breakfast

8:20  Welcome

George Gilfoil, Managing Director, CB Conferences

          Chairperson - Steve Halliday, President, High Tech Aid

8:30   Automatic Identification & The Supply Chain: Will Smart Label Technology Provide The Solution

John Hill, Principal, eSYNC International, will critically evaluate the operational benefits and challenges that confront the use of RF-based smart label technology in supply chain management.  As the basis of his discussion, John will outline the history of automatic identification requirements and solutions as experienced in the railcar, automotive, grocery and retail industries.  Using this historical background as a baseline, he will analyze today's supply chain requirements, benefits, hurdles and costs that will impact the future of smart label technology as a solution for improved supply chain systems.    

9:30  Smart Label RF Standards

Steve Halliday, President, High Tech Aid, will discuss smart label RF standards, where they are today, what new standards are being evaluated and/or under consideration as well as discuss relevant regulatory issues that might impact the use of smart labels.  His analysis will include frequencies at or below 135 kHz, 13.56 MHz, 860-935 MHz and 2.45 GHz with details of the operating features/application requirements for application categories.

10:15 Refreshments

10:45 The Common Ground For Successful Smart Label Solutions

 Katja Kienzl, Manager Segment Marketing, Tags & Labels, Philips Semiconductors will analyze the key criteria for successful smart label installations.  She will review a variety of current smart label applications in manufacturing and logistics niches, including automotive, retail and supply chain, to evaluate their present benefits and future potentials. By doing so, Katja will develop a format that end users may use to make the best choice of smart labels and project management team to ensure long-term success with this technology.

11:30 Smart Labels: How to Deliver the Right Part to the Right Place in the Right Time

Thomas Coyle, VP Business Development, Matrics, Inc. will detail how the use of smart labels in the distribution and movement of goods has the capability of transforming these processes from manual to 'people-free'.  He will trace the difficulties that RFID has experienced to meet end user requirements and will show how new UHF RFID systems are now able to satisfy industry automatic ID requirements. 

12:15 Lunch

1:30 Using Smart Labels in the Supply Chain

Bill Allen, eMarketing Manager, Texas Instruments, RFID Systems will use several pilot programs and operational installations as examples of successful smart label applications in the supply chain.  He will show how RFID is used to track items in the manufacturing through the distribution channels and into retail store environments.  These examples will be in retail apparel, automotive parts manufacturing and logistics management.

2:15 Smart Labels Used for Inventory Tracking and Billing of Surgical Components 

Mark Thomas, Marketing Manager, Escort Memory System, will review the use of smart labels in conditions that go well beyond the office and retail environments.  Actual case studies will be examined in which RF smart labels are key elements in extreme manufacturing processes.  Industries include electronics and building materials.

3:00 Refreshments

3:30  The use of Smart Labels in Automotive Manufacturing and Logistics

Larry Graham, Manager of Manufacturing Technology, General Motors will present an overview of the use of smart labels in automotive manufacturing and logistics.  He will describe where  this technology may best be used and evaluate the potential benefits.  Larry will discuss smart label characteristics that the automotive industry requires, especially to economically integrate into legacy information systems currently used in manufacturing and logistics.  The need for open global standards will be reviewed also.

4:15 RFID Evolution in the Retail Supply Chain

David Shoemaker, Vice President, New Business Development, Checkpoint Systems will describe how RFID will impact drugstore, supermarket and apparel retail industry niches.  As a basis for his discussion, he will describe the Checkpoint smart label system used in libraries to automate inventory control and self-check in & out.  Dave will then describe designs of the future for retail stores, including drugstores, supermarkets and apparel shops, that will use smart label based systems for total inventory control at the shelf level as well as for loyalty programs.

5:00 Using Low Cost Etched Aluminum Antennas for Smart Label Inlets and Their Use for Passenger Tracking at Airports and Document Tracking in Hospitals

Dr. Lukas Geiges, President/CEO, Lucatron Pacific, will describe the design and production process of aluminum inlets including a comparison of aluminum vs copper for the chip-mounting process.  He will discuss applications using aluminum antennas for passenger tracking at Zurich Airport and document tracking at hospitals.

5:45 Wine & Cheese