There are infrastructure vendors, software vendors, and those who combine both, according to Woods.
IBM: Big blue offers mainly infrastructure services for RFID for many industries, including: automotive, aerospace and defense, manufacturing, chemicals and petroleum, forest and paper, and electronics. It has been working closely with standards groups to develop standards for privacy issues, RFID tags, and readers. IBM works combines technology from partners with its WebSphere platform to manage data generated from RFID use.
Oracle: Oracle offers a Sensor Edge Server that is designed to integrate with Oracle Fusion Middleware 10g Release 3. It manages data from RFID tag readers, antennas, tag and printers. Oracle's Sensor Edge Server competes directly with SAP's Auto-ID program (see more about this program below) and also includes capabilities designed to manage data from various sensor-based systems.
Specialty Vendors:
T3Ci: T3Ci develops software that includes RFID analytics using EPC data as well as a suite of applications for retail suppliers, pharmaceutical companies, and major retailers. Applications include Out-of-Stock Management, Promotions Execution Management, Deductions Management, and Product Authentication. The software is sold as subscription services, software-as-as-service, and enterprise software; it is hosted either at the vendor's secure site or behind the customer's firewall.
OatSystems Inc.: OatSystems calls its OAT Foundation Suite 4.5 an RFID data management platform that captures and filters raw RFID data and adds business context and consistency logic to create an accurate record of inventory and goods movement in supply chain operations. Oat's software suite contains analytics and reporting capabilities, as well as adapters to import EPC data. Oat also sells software that provides a design environment to test RFID scenarios for a company's specific business processes.
TrueDemand Inc.: TrueDemand says it uses both point of sale and RFID data for analytics and reporting within its software suite. The software uses analytics to predict future orders and provide a mixture of promotion management, proactive analytics, and replenishment capabilities.
HOW TO BUILD A BUSINESS CASE FOR RFID
Home: Introduction
Getting started: What is RFID?
Getting started: Is RFID right for me?
Getting started: Why should my company bother with RFID?
Getting started: What types of vendors are out there?
Building the case: Is SAP incorporating RFID into its products?
Building the case: What other companies have tried RFID?
Building the case: What factors holds up RFID adoption?
Building the case: How do I calculate ROI for RFID?
