Globalisation of RFID boosts Advanced ID sales
Canadian developer Advanced ID (AID) has received in recent months.
The company is involved in installing the technology in countries
as diverse as Thailand, Argentina, Taiwan and Australia.
"Our company continues to make significant progress towards the global commercialisation of our RFID livestock technology," said Advanced ID president Barry Bennett. "We are very encouraged by our progress to date as we have been able to secure revenues from our new RFID livestock technology well in advance of our expected time horizon.
"We believe that our ability to secure revenues much sooner is a direct result of a strong global need to employ an identification and trace back system to minimise or eliminate the spread of disease, and thus ensure food safety."
In Argentina for example, the company recently completed its first order for 100,000 RFID tags, and is currently in discussions for an additional order of 400,000 RFID tags for the identification of all remaining cattle located in the state of Salta. The Argentine bovine market is numbered at just over 50 million head and represents potential revenues of up to $40 million per year.
Thailand has also expressed its desire to implement an RFID system as soon as possible as a result of the recent Avian influenza outbreak. AID has been asked us to assist the government with an assessment of the country's current infrastructure.
And in Taiwan, the firm is set to work with government officials to help satisfy their objective of deploying an identification and trace back system for their entire livestock industry. AID says that it will implement a final large-scale trial, through its Taiwanese distribution partner LKIT, to aid in developing the requisite parameters for the establishment of such a system.
The Taiwan Government has indicated their intent to enact legislation to ensure mandatory identification of livestock and we will be participating in an advisory role to the government in this process. The Taiwanese market represents potential revenues of up to $25 million per annum.
In Australia, the company is set to meet with leaders from the hog and sheep industries to establish field demonstrations of our RFID technology. It is estimated that the Australian sheep market alone represents potential revenues approaching $200 million. Preliminary discussions with sheep industry officials are also underway in New Zealand, where the current population of sheep in New Zealand is estimated at 40 million.
"In other initiatives, we are currently in discussions to secure distributors for Brazil and China," said Bennett. "We will endeavour to keep our shareholders informed especially as we secure expected new sales. We have a very bright future, and we want to ensure that our shareholders have the facts they need to make informed decisions."
Stringent legislation, consumer concerns about food safety and growing pressure from retailers have forced food producers and manufacturers to look at every possible means of ensuring traceability and efficiency throughout the supply chain. RFID has been identified as a key enabling technology.
In the EU, legislation on food traceability is coming into force in January 2005 that will enforce food traceability through the supply chain. This will become a legal responsibility of manufacturers, and under the new laws, food producers must be able to identify products by batch, lot or consignment numbers.
Major retailers such as Wal-Mart have also been highly significant in attempts to standardise the technology. This, they hope, will help them mitigate the financial, technical and business risk associated with adopting the new technology.
