HP Opens European RFID Solutions Centre

On July 23rd,Hewlett Packard unveiled an RFID Solutions Centre in Milan, Italy. The new centre will provide HP partners and customers with access to RFID resources to develop and test integrated solutions, host projects in a single, secure environment and share technical knowledge.

Frank Lanza, worldwide RFID director of HP stated that “The opening of the HP RFID Solutions Centre is a milestone in driving widespread RFID adoption. By integrating innovative RFID solutions throughout the entire business process cycle, HP can help customers gain improved visibility into their infrastructures to respond rapidly to business demands, mitigate risk and lower costs.”

Key services at the facility include:

• Integration Centre: Partners can test and integrate HP technologies to develop comprehensive solutions.
• Project Hosting: A single, secure environment enables the development and testing of a multitude of RFID projects.
• Demo Lab: HP customers and partners use demo areas to collaborate on new services and learn about implementations in specific industries.
• Training Centre: Internal HP staff, customers and partners convene to exchange technical knowledge.
• BEA Systems, Microsoft and SAP are among the companies that provide software for RFID technology at the centre.

HP also announced that it has been designated a strategic RFID technology provider to Euro Pool System, the number one provider of returnable packing for fresh products in Europe. The Euro Pool System owns more than 88 million containers that rotate at a minimum of 414 million times per year. HP have worked with Euro Pool System to meet requirements, such as the ability to read RFID tags in environments with high-pressure water and dust, in order to accommodate daily deliveries by waterways, road and rail.