Nedap has recnently announced that the patent application is pending in over 120 countries for !D Cloud’s latest functionality: Virtual Shielding™. This smart allocation technology in the Nedap !D Cloud software platform allows store staff to read RFID tags easily by using RFID handheld devices and automatically determine the actual (sub) location within a store of RFID tags in an accurate way. This solves the problem of reading RFID tags through walls. The industry has long denied the feasibility of reliably determining individual tag locations without physical shielding; however, Nedap has reportedly cracked the code on this.
“Our main competitive edge is that we are more than willing to invest in research and development,” said Rob Schuurman, managing director of Nedap Retail. “We are convinced by doing so we add more value to our solutions and help our customers to become more successful in their business. Last year alone, we spent over 25 million Euros at Nedap in R&D, resulting in many new technological breakthroughs. One of them is Virtual Shielding. In our view, this is another breakthrough to make it easier and more cost-effective for retailers to deploy RFID. We are proud to say that our first customers have already successfully implemented this technology, saving significant amounts of money.”
Proven technology, redefined
RFID is a proven technology to raise the stock accuracy and quickly get insights on the available stock items in a retail store. However, RFID also has its challenges when it comes to determining the correct (sub-)location of stock items in the store. That means that retailers need to apply physical shielding, like aluminum foil or metallic paint, to prevent ‘leakage’ and to ensure reliable insights regarding what stock is available on the sales floor and which stock-items are available in the stockroom.
Virtual Shielding eliminates the need for physical shielding and allows for faster RFID roll-outs across the globe. The patent-pending Virtual Shielding technology developed by Nedap lowers the RFID deployment and investment costs. This significantly increases the ROI of RFID-projects and aims to make RFID financially feasible for more retailers.
Virtual Shielding was officially launched during NRF’s BIG Show, which was held January 13-15 this year.
For more information, visit nedap-retail.com.