January 18, 2021 – Seattle – Swiftsure Group affiliate rfidCollect’s personnel tracking system tracked hundreds of workers, contractors, vendors and visitors at a classified Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) site during more than a year of construction.

Skanska, one of the largest construction and development companies in the US, selected rfidCollect to provide the automatic personnel tracking system throughout construction of a building addition at APL in Laurel, MD.

The tracking system, EdgeCollector, delivers a cloud-based, on-premises solution with real-time reporting of worker movement. Multi-location tracking at entrance and egress gates transmits alerts about workers in restricted zones, allowing organizations to quickly address noncompliance. EdgeCollector ensures that only pre-screened, pre-authorized individuals have access to designated areas, with automatic security alerts.

“EdgeCollector enabled Skanska to provide crucial security measures that APL required during construction,” said Swiftsure Group’s Bruno Riegl. “It provided flawless safeguards and supporting documentation for real-time security and potential forensics.”

RFID System Protects Restricted Site from Unauthorized Entry

EdgeCollector documents who is where

APL is Johns Hopkins University’s scientific and engineering research and development division that spans 453 acres with more than 20 buildings at the Laurel site. Its often top secret projects for the US military, NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) make detecting and tracking unauthorized personnel at the facility a top priority, including at its construction sites.

The EdgeCollector personnel tracking system used hybrid RFID/barcode-embedded identification badges, readers and event management software to track workers and others at the APL site in real-time from the main campus entry gate into any of the construction site gates. It followed the process in reverse as individuals exited the construction site to campus egress locations.

When pre-screened personnel and visitors reported to the main campus entry gate and were authorized to enter, their ID badges were scanned with a fixed location RFID reader to verify their identity. A clock started running for a predetermined period of time during which ID badges were read at the designated entry gate to the actual construction site. If a tag was not seen after that time, EdgeCollector sent a text alert to a supervisor or to security personnel to locate the person.

When leaving the site at the designated exit gate, a worker or visitor’s ID badge was automatically read to ensure that it was seen again within a certain period of time at one of the other exit gates, or back again at the main gate. If a tag was not seen, the system sent an alert to the appropriate supervisor or security personnel.

EdgeCollector Tracks Workers on the Move

EdgeCollector enables easy worker enrollment at onsite stations or via web interface, using photo IDs for enhanced identification. All ID badge read events are logged into a permanent record with associated badge number, time, location and direction of movement, such as when a worker enters or leaves an ID badge read zone.  This information is housed on a secure off-site server, with web access granted to appropriate personnel.

The solution provides real-time visibility into single and cumulative event worker movement, documenting worker location by zone, viewable on a web dashboard. It sends notifications and alerts for approaching time limits within zones, and auto-generates reports by date and time, individual worker, group and subcontractor.

QuickStart Kit Makes Implementation Fast and Easy

The Swift-ID SID400 reader powers the QuickStart Kit

EdgeCollector uses the  QuickStart Kit, a fully functional RFID system that avoids complex on-site installation and disruption to end users’ operations.  The system incorporates rfidCollect’s fully integrated, FCC approved UHF RFID reader, on-board computer with store-and-forward tag data transfer, and cellular connectivity.  The kit comes with pre-installed 6-foot antenna cables and a surge protected, grounded 120 VAC power cord.  A 12VDC 3A converter supplies power to the reader and computer.

The SID400 reader is a USB-connected EPCglobal UHF Gen 2 RFID reader and writer powered by Impinj’s Indy RS2000 SiP. It incorporates a 16-pin terminal block with four GPIO ports, and 5V and 12V outputs for powering ancillary devices. The reader’s system functions can be monitored through on-board LED status displays.

The SID400’s GPIO capabilities enable the reader to control a variety of devices such as cameras, locks, light bars and audible alarms.  It delivers read rates of up to 500 tags per second. In addition to the device’s primary function of automatic asset/personnel identification, it provides a platform for related information distribution and alerts.  It delivers read rates of up to 500 tags per second depending on tag populations, power settings and data parameters.

The QuickStart Kit includes a powerful embedded computer enabling the system to remotely process actionable data on the network edge and forward RFID and sensor-derived data to users’ backend systems.  The system has a quad-core 64-bit ARM processor and supports 2.4 and 5.0 GHz IEEE 802.11B/g/n/ac 2ireless LAN, Bluetooth 5.0 and Gigabit Ethernet.

The device has a full array of communications and connectivity capabilities including POE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and an optional 3.75HSPA+ cellular module with antennas for use where Wi-Fi and Ethernet are not available. Two external USB ports and an SD card slot provide peripheral device and expansion functions.

About Swiftsure Group

The Swiftsure Group is a systems developer and integrator specializing in RFID- and sensor-based technologies for inventory, asset and workflow management. Since 1998 it has provided consulting services, turnkey solutions and project management for automatic data capture, resource optimization and business process improvement.

About Skanska

Skanska USA is one of the largest, most financially sound construction and development companies in the nation, serving a broad range of clients including those in transportation, power, industrial, water/wastewater, healthcare, education, sports, data centers, government, aviation and commercial. Headquartered in New York, with offices in 28 metro areas, Skanska USA has more than 9,000 employees with expertise in construction, civil infrastructure, public-private partnerships and commercial development initiatives.

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Sept. 13, 2019 – Columbia, MD – Maryland State and county officials saw a demo of new RFID- and sensor-based technology at the lab of Swiftsure Group affiliate rfidCollect this week at the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship in Howard County’s Innovation Center.

Officials get hands on during demo of RFID and Sensor Tech

rfidCollect’s Tim Buckley demos edge computing device

Maryland Lieutenant Governor Boyd Rutherford, Howard County Executive Calvin Bell and Larry Twele, CEO of the Howard County Economic Development Authority, learned about the advanced data collection company’s solutions that automate and enhance data capture.

rfidCollect’s Tim Buckley showed officials the latest in RFID and sensor technology by using readers, antennas and tags to automatically track items. He explained how the company’s hardware and software improve asset and inventory management, security, virtual geo-fencing, workflow management and telemetry.

New technology, innovative solutions improve data management

The group got a sneak peek at rfidCollect’s new prototype RC4-IOT, a network edge processing platform for IoT. The device improves front-end data collection for end users’ back-end resource management applications that require localized, automated, actionable data sourcing.

Prototype edge computing device

It improves the speed and accuracy of identifying items and environmental conditions affecting them by eliminating the requirement for human readable and barcode labels. The new reader also supports temperature sensing for critical facilities like data centers that must effectively manage power usage.

(L to R) Maryland Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford, rfidCollect’s Tim Buckley, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball and Larry Twele, CEO of the Howard County Economic Development Authority

rfidCollect is in its third year of residency with the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship (MCE). The MCE is an initiative of the Howard County Economic Development Authority. It provides a community of innovators, entrepreneurs, investors and advisors collaborating to ignite innovation and launch high-growth companies.

The MCE is located at the Innovation Center, part of a Howard County and state-wide initiative to develop technology, cyber and innovations communities in the Baltimore-Washington Corridor.

rfidCollect’s RFID- and sensor-based solutions are used in environments ranging from pharmaceuticals and healthcare to food services and construction.

More about rfidCollect

Swiftsure Group affiliate rfidCollect, LLC, is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and developer of RFID- and sensor-based advanced data collection solutions. Its main offices are in Seattle and Columbia, MD. The company’s tagging, hardware and software applications are used to track and manage products, assets and people. Its customers have substantial regulatory compliance requirements and/or need enhanced inventory management and environmental controls for product efficacy and safety. Learn more at www.rfidcollect.com.

Update: Successful SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of AMOS-17 satellite at 7:23 pm EDT

August 6, 2019 – Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL – CEO Bruno Riegl swapped his Swiftsure Group business card for press credentials this week as he joined the media pool covering Spacecom’s AMOS-17 satellite aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The launch is scheduled for tonight from 7:23-8:21 EDT.

After a week of volatile storms and delays, hopes are high for a weather window without views of thunderclouds and lightning, despite strong wind and rain roiling through the area just an hour before ignition.

A one-man camera crew at launch

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the satellite was cleared for go from SLC-40 (launch pad 40) as it was in September 2016, when the rocket carrying predecessor AMOS-6 exploded during prep for a static fire test, destroying the payload and pad.

Watch the launch live tonight at 7:23- 8:21 EDT

Spacecom‘s AMOS-17 mission carries a cost of $250 million. The rocket that will blast the Israeli company’s 6.5 ton payload into orbit is expendable, meaning it won’t land for re-use.

With its extensive abilities, flexibility and reliability, AMOS-17 will support broadcast, mobility and data services throughout the African continent. It will be deployed to the 17E orbital position, 22,000 miles over the equator above central Africa to optimize service in a region hungry for enhanced telecommunications.

AMOS-17 will operate in the C, Ku and Ka bands, with a digital channelizer to provide fixed high throughput (HTS) C-band coverage to Africa, steerable HTS Ka-band coverage to anywhere from China to Brazil, and extensive Ku-band coverage throughout Africa, with additional coverage in Europe, the Middle East, China and India.

AMOS-17 points toward orbit on launch pad

The satellite’s digital processing capabilities provide connectivity between AMOS-17’s beams in all available bands in any combination. These capabilities also support interference suppression, flexible capacity allocation and other digital processing features for improved service. All command and control channels as well as telemetry are encrypted for additional maximum security.

AMOS-17 is planned to operate a minimum of 20 years, enabling long lasting and stable service.

AMOS stands for Affordable Modular Optimized Satellite and is also an allusion to the prophet Amos.

Bruno is at the AMOS-17 launch representing SatNav Publishers.

Feb. 27, 2019 – Seattle and Columbia, MD – Tim Buckley, co-founder of rfidCollect, today gave testimony in favor of a funding bill before the Maryland House Ways and Means Committee in Annapolis, MD.

Passage of House Bill 0668 would mean that certain proceeds from video lottery terminals (VLTs) would continue to be distributed to the state’s small, minority and women-owned businesses in 2020.

Mr. Buckley told the committee that the VLT fund had helped rfidCollect, an OEM and developer of RFID- and sensor-based resource management solutions, bridge hardware and software development costs to fulfill customer orders. The funds, he said, also went to hire temporary resources and staff for business and sales development and to execute proofs of concept and pilot programs.

Mr. Buckley pointed out that in 2018 four of the contracts rfidCollect generated were Maryland based and utilized two Maryland manufacturers.

rfidCollect’s Maryland projects included developing an advanced data collection system for a refrigerated pharmaceuticals distribution and dispensing company, conducting a proof of concept for food temperature tracking of in-hospital patient food delivery at Georgetown Hospital, and designing and implementing an RFID-based construction worker monitoring system at a large classified R&D facility in Laurel, MD.

About rfidCollect, LLC

Swiftsure Group affiliate company rfidCollect, LLC, is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and developer of RFID- and sensor-based advanced data collection solutions. Its main offices are in Seattle and Columbia, MD. The company’s tagging, hardware and software applications are used to track and manage products, assets and people. Its customers have substantial regulatory compliance requirements and/or need enhanced inventory management and environmental controls for product efficacy and safety. rfidCollect’s target markets include pharma research and production, food production and distribution, data centers, healthcare, warehousing and logistics.

Feb. 27, 2019 – Seattle and Columbia, MD – Swiftsure Group affiliate company rfidCollect, an OEM and provider of advanced data collection solutions, today announced completion of three successful pilot programs using its RFID and sensor technology.

Based in Seattle and Columbia, MD, rfidCollect developed and implemented systems that improved inventory management, increased resource visibility, boosted regulatory compliance and reduced product loss for customers in the pharmaceutical and manufacturing sectors.

For a global New Jersey-based pharmaceutical manufacturer, rfidCollect developed an open-source management solution that provides a closed-loop system to digitize costly, error-prone manual processes. The system automatically collects accumulated time out of environment (TOE) data for refrigerated substances used in pharma production. Temperature-sensitive products were affixed with either barcodes or RFID tags to collect externally hosted data accessible via a web console for real-time visibility. The system generates customer documentation as well as alerts and notifications for products outside of established time and temperature limits.

A second pilot involved engineering and implementing an insertable RFID module with an embedded reader, antennas and software for automated data collection inside refrigerated pharmaceutical dispensing cabinets. The easily replicateable, low-cost units enabled the Maryland-based cabinet manufacturer to retrofit existing cabinets to simplify reading and reporting of RFID tag data for safe storage and distribution of temperature-sensitive vaccines and injectables.

The third customer needed to locate and track graphite electrodes used in steel manufacturing, a challenging environment with extreme heat and radio-wave deflecting metal.  rfidCollect developed and installed a rugged system using RFID tags and antennas implemented inside the customer’s Indiana steel plants to document material’s usage and provide time/date stamps for product movement. Collected information is transmitted through a serial communications protocol that delivers data in real time to the company’s backend management system.

“All three paid projects demonstrated the viability of rfidCollect’s solutions to improve accuracy of front-end data collection necessary for actionable data analytics and IoT applications,” said Bruno Riegl, co-founder of rfidCollect.

Sept. 26, 2017 – The Swiftsure Group will demonstrate its temperature excursion solution that integrates RFID with sensor technologies at the 15^th annual Cold Chain Global Forum September 27–29.

The forum, at Chicago’s McCormick Place, highlights technical and regulatory developments in temperature controlled environments for pharma and life science supply chains. More than 800 cold chain professionals are expected to attend the event’s exhibition, conference and workshops.

RFID and sensor technology – protecting the cold chain for pharma and life sciences

The Swiftsure Group’s data capture and information management system enables users to monitor, track and receive alerts regarding time out of environment (TOE).

The system, developed with Swiftsure partners rfidCollect and RFID Ready, uses data capture and information management software with commercially available third party or proprietary RFID readers.

The Swiftsure Group’s demonstration will show how the TOE solution tracks and records temperature excursions using Smartrac temperature sensors. The system is currently being deployed in pilot projects, including pharmaceutical product manufacturing.

Swiftsure will demo the TOE solution in Smartrac’s booth #706.

The Swiftsure Group is a systems developer and integrator specializing in RFID- and sensor-based solutions for healthcare, pharma, government, transportation, construction and other markets that require effective, reliable compliance, audit and safety management. Its proprietary software and hardware products include TOE solutions for cold chain as well as automatic data collection for tracking and verifying condition, maintenance and cleaning of IT and medical equipment.

Read more about Swiftsure’s pharma cold chain solutions.

March 9, 2017 – Swiftsure Group has launched a solution for pharma to track temperature excursions when drugs and biologics deviate from specified ranges during storage, manufacturing and/or transportation. The company developed the solution for a multi-billion dollar client that produces more than 70 billion doses of product annually for approximately 7,000 customers worldwide.

Swiftsure Group’s turnkey solution uses passive UHF RFID and temperature sensors to track and record products’ time out of refrigeration (TOR), also known as time out of environment (TOE). The solution automatically identifies product, dwell time, location and environmental conditions. The aggregated data is used to both track products and automate notifications when temperature variances or critical lapsed TOR events occur or are anticipated.

RFID and sensor technologies boost pharma safety, compliance and profit margins

Swiftsure Group’s solution combines its proprietary RFID reader based on Impinj’s Indy RS2000 with EPC Gen-2 RFID/temperature sensor tags. When fully integrated with the client’s ERP system, Swiftsure’s solution will replace a mainly manual process for tracking products’ TOR during storage, staging and processing of formulation activities.

Swiftsure’s client engages in drug formulation, analytical testing, clinical and commercial manufacturing and clinical packaging. The FDA strictly regulates the company’s activities and processes, which are also subject to regular audits by customers for whom it produces encapsulated pharmaceuticals and biologics. Given the highly regulated environment in which Swiftsure’s client operates, the solution also provides an enhanced ability to provide timely, accurate data retrieval for forensics in case of product recalls.

While a pilot and subsequent implementations will initially focus on US production facilities, the solution is expected to expand to international locations using region-specific RFID tags and sensors. Automation of TOR-related data capture and integration with the client’s ERP system is expected to generate substantial savings in labor costs and improve operating margins.

Swiftsure Group is a systems developer and integrator specializing in RFID- and sensor-based solutions for healthcare, pharma, government, transportation, construction and other markets that require effective, reliable compliance, audit and safety management. Its proprietary software and hardware products include time out of refrigeration (TOR) solutions for cold chain as well as automatic data collection for tracking and verifying condition, maintenance and cleaning of IT and medical equipment.

February 17, 2017 – The Swiftsure Group will join 1,200 exhibitors and 45,000 healthcare IT attendees at HIMSS17 in Orlando February 19-23.

The annual HIMSS conference and exhibition brings together health IT professionals, clinicians, executives and vendors from around the world.

The nation’s largest healthcare convention, HIMSS presents noted speakers, health IT products and networking opportunities. More than 300 educational programs feature thought leader sessions, roundtable discussions and workshops, plus a full day of pre-conference symposia.

Swiftsure Group is a systems developer and integrator specializing in RFID- and sensor-based solutions for healthcare, pharma and other markets that require effective, reliable compliance, audit and product safety management.

The company’s proprietary software and hardware products include time out of refrigeration (TOR) solutions for cold chain as well as automatic data collection for tracking and verifying condition, maintenance and cleaning of IT and medical equipment.

HIMSS is the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. It is a global, cause-based, not-for-profit organization focused on better health through information technology (IT). HIMSS leads efforts to optimize health engagements and care outcomes using information technology.

• Uncovering the Real Value of HIMSS Exhibition

April 26, 2016 – The Swiftsure Group will be at RFID Journal Live, the world’s largest RFID exhibition and conference, May 3-5 in Orlando. This year’s event will include more than 200 industry exhibitors as well as educational and networking opportunities.

The exhibition’s keystone sponsor is Swiftsure Group partner Zebra Technologies.

The exhibition hall will host leading technology companies and radio frequency identification solution providers. Technologies will include passive low-frequency (LF), high-frequency (HF) and ultrahigh-frequency (UHF), as well as active RFID and real-time location system (RTLS).

Swiftsure Group integrates industry-leading RFID hardware and software

Solution providers will introduce new applications designed to make RFID deployments easier and less complex:

Avery Dennison – the AD-680, an addition to the company’s slotted-loop (sloop) family of UHF RFID inlays

NXP Semiconductors – products designed for the secure connected vehicle, security and privacy, and smart connected solutions markets

Omni-ID – new on-metal RFID labels featuring more product options and greater printer compatibility and performance reliability

PAL Robotics – StockBot, a robot that performs autonomous inventory counts at retail stores and warehouses using RFID

In addition to the exhibition, RFID Journal Live will feature:

• ›  Industry how-to conference tracks
• ›  In-depth preconference seminars and workshops
• ›  Post-conference seminars
• ›  Fast-track training
• ›  RFID Professional Institute’s certification exam
• ›  RFID Journal Awards
• ›  Three co-located events: the Internet of Things Conference, IEEE RFID 2016 and the Last Mile Consortia Forum

April 16, 2016 –

Most of us don’t give a second thought to what’s in our printers. We should think again.

Racist, anti-Semitic rants recently spewed out of printers at more than a dozen colleges across the country, from Princeton to the University of California, Berkeley.

As a New York Times article pointed out, the hater hacker didn’t mean to print his manifesto on every campus. He intended to print it from every single publicly accessible printer in the US.

An April article in Slate Magazine also discussed the dangers of using sophisticated, often shared printers and other devices over wireless networks.

Fret about the real threat

The flier frenzy, launched by an American neo-Nazi in Abkhazia near Russia, was a disturbing reminder of how vulnerable our interconnected devices are.

Zombies and the undud – devouring resources and storing sensitive data

The Swiftsure Group recently shared some insight about the role of total asset lifecycle management in mitigating risks of the IoT.  The focus was on data centers, where zombie servers devour resources, and healthcare facilities, home to the undud – fully functional but unaccounted-for equipment.

Printers, servers, monitors, scanners and copiers all transmit, and store, data. Organizations often overlook them, and the information they contain, exposing themselves to data loss, heavy financial penalties and costly regulatory noncompliance. (HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley come to mind.)

Most trolls and hackers aren’t looking to hijack equipment to broadcast radical views. They want to steal data.

While encryption, firewalls and remote access safeguards are crucial to security, data-containing devices can’t be protected if they can’t be located. That’s why a sound asset management system must track assets from acquisition through end of life and equipment destruction. An accurate, reliable, affordable solution uses sensor technology such as RFID to automatically identify and locate at-risk assets.

May 31, 2016 – The results are back for the Mayo Clinic emergency department’s passive RFID-based resource management system.

The solution boosted operational efficiency while improving workflow and patient care at the St. Marys Hospital ER, the clinic’s largest. The solution uses passive radio frequency identification technology to track equipment, patients and providers. 

The Mayo Clinic recently published its assessment of the RFID project, which was fully integrated into the ER in Q4, 2015. (Read the Harvard Business Review article here.)

RFID-based location systems track equipment and people

The clinic turned the ER into a living lab to learn about the system’s effectiveness and impact. An array of overhead readers collects data from RFID chips in wearables and tags to create a real-time location system (RTLS).

The clinic used an interdisciplinary, interdepartmental approach to designing and implementing the solution – a critical step in planning and deploying any successful resource management system.

How RFID checked out

ER staff showed some resistance to being tracked – a common reaction among workers concerned about surveillance and its possible misuse, such as in job reviews. Worries about privacy faded with reassurance that data would not be used against personnel and that the system was, in fact, a tool to help them perform their duties and provide better care.

Most patients, on the other hand, did not express concern about being tracked, with most already assuming they were.

Many trials and real-life implementations have shown that RFID has no affect on devices or overhead communications systems. The clinic’s testing confirmed that the technology did not interfere with ECG machines, monitors or other equipment, and did not disrupt communications.

Among the RFID system’s benefits were:

• Reduced search time for staff, patients and equipment
• Better data capture of CMS-reported metrics, such as wait times and length of stay
• Retrospective mapping of adverse events
• Identification of system constraints in patient flow and equipment location
• Integration with existing IT systems

The RFID initiative’s team included doctors, nurses, scientists, engineers and IT personnel. It gained input from all stakeholders invested in change management, risk mitigation, compliance and process improvement – from HR and clinical practice to legal and compliance.

This year the Mayo Clinic plans to use the system to automate reporting to government agencies, and to trace staff exposed to infectious diseases. It also hopes to expand it to general hospital use.

Virtual RTLS is a healthy option

RTLS can be complex and costly. With hospitals operating on thin margins, these systems are often difficult to justify from the perspective of return on investment.

Strategically placed RFID portals provide virtual RTL of equipment containing ePHI

In less frenetic hospital environments, an affordable, effective virtual RTLS can achieve a healthy ROI. It uses passive UHF readers at select read points to track equipment and people to specified locations – instead of continuously tracking actual movement.

Virtual RTLS provides automatic equipment identification with tag data containing a universal ID (UID) for use within and between departmental information management systems. It also collects high-quality data for CMS and helps providers comply with Joint Commission and HIPAA regulations regarding equipment cleaning, maintenance and status.

A virtual RTLS using passive RFID automates data collection and improves risk mitigation by tracking and managing the full lifecycle of assets that contain sensitive electronic protected health information (PHI or ePHI).

Whether opting for an RTL system or a virtual RTL solution, healthcare organizations can avoid costly missteps and obtain better results if they first consult a systems integrator with expertise in RFID-based asset and workflow management.

July 30, 2015 –

The Utah Transit Authority is moving full steam ahead with deployment of an RFID-based automated data collection and asset management solution to track and conduct predictive maintenance on its revenue service vehicles.

The expansion follows a successful pilot project of the technology, which uses passive UHF RFID tags, antenna arrays, readers and software to capture information and generate reports about vehicle and equipment use. Its first phase will include all UTA TRAX light rail cars – a fleet expected to grow to 146 in 2015 – and their components.

Swiftsure’s Bruno Riegl tests read rates of RFID tags on passing UTA rail cars

Systems integrator Swiftsure Group helped UTA implement and manage the pilot, with four light rail cars passing through an RFID read zone at the agency’s Jordan River Service Center maintenance yard in Salt Lake City. Each Siemens S70 light rail car has at least 20 tagged components, from gear and pantograph controller boxes to couplers and traction motors.

RFID gets real for rail         

UTA next wants to tag its 75 commuter-rail vehicles – and up to 35 items on each – as well as its 700 buses and 400 vans. It expects to use about 2,500 tags by the end of this year.

The system enables UTA to conduct maintenance on vehicles and equipment based on actual use instead of preset schedules that unnecessarily remove equipment from revenue service. It also helps UTA meet federal mandates to monitor the condition of and make timely repairs to railcars and equipment components, reducing breakdowns and ensuring efficient, safe operations.

The solution provides UTA a platform to track the health of components by associating life miles, life hours and rebuild history throughout the useful life of equipment. By incorporating this previously unavailable data into its asset management model, UTA can perform asset lifecycle analytics.

RFID on a roll

UTA installed RFID read zones at the entrance to its main railcar service facility so the authority could identify specific vehicles and critical components to track usage cycles. Each zone has a

RFID antenna and reader array at UTA

set of RFID antennas installed on a signal gantry to read roof-mounted equipment, and a set of between-the-rail antennas reading tags on equipment installed on the underside of vehicles. Data collected at each read zone is transmitted to a dedicated UTA server hosting resource management software, which records and links the information to event notification modules. (For more information, read the recent article about the UTA project in RFID Journal.

The pilot showed that passive RFID tags attached to equipment had a 100% read rate as they traveled at 15 mph through the read zone. It also demonstrated that the system boosted accuracy of asset auditing, reduced man hours, lowered labor costs and freed staff for other tasks. In addition, the system lets UTA optimize spare parts stocking by eliminating the need to overstock for unexpected repair and maintenance, and allowing parts to be ordered as needs are anticipated.

About the Swiftsure Group

Since 1998 the Swiftsure Group has provided an independent perspective on planning and implementation of operations process improvement. The company’s RFID and system integration experts combine best practices in inventory, asset and resource management to improve asset lifecycle and inventory management for clients worldwide.

June 30, 2015 – Conducting equipment inventory is a costly, distracting, ongoing challenge for healthcare providers. Swiftsure’s partner Verephi now makes it simple and affordable to perform 24×7 automatic, accurate, timely inventory verification using its RFID-based workstation solution. Verephi unveiled its system at the recent AAMI expo, where it gained fans among the record crowd of 2,032 healthcare technology professionals.

Workstations become automatic inventory takers

Inventory the automatic way

Healthcare workers use stationary and mobile workstations all the time. Verephi retrofits them with RFID technology, turning them into inventory taking machines that automatically collect high-quality data for input into CMMS. IT departments don’t have to do a thing. Clinicians don’t have to lift a finger. They don’t even have to give it a thought as the solution works invisibly in the background. So it doesn’t require any time, effort, distraction, disruption in care or disturbance to patients.

Workstations with Verephi’s solution have RFID readers that collect and temporarily store information about critical or high-value equipment. Data is buffered locally in a storage device on workstations and uploaded either wirelessly or by a periodic connection to the network, depending on service providers’ requirements and procedures.

More accurate than barcode, more affordable than RTLS

Verephi launches inventory solution at AAMI

Verephi’s solution uses low cost, passive, standards-based RFID tags on equipment that retrofitted diagnostic carts and workstations can read to collect and record information, in patients’ rooms and in hallways. Verephi also offers new carts, workstations and stationary portals that collect inventory data and alert personnel to such issues as improper device disposal and maintenance history and requirements.

Many healthcare providers have tried barcode technology to capture equipment information. But barcode requires line of sight, leaving gaps as labels are overlooked, and is prone to human error. It requires staff time, often relying on clinicians who have much more crucial tasks than taking inventory.

Healthcare organizations have also found that RTLS technology is expensive and complex to implement. It consumes IT resources and needs network support as well as IT department buy-in, particularly when RTLS systems incorporate backend data management applications that overlap or necessitate replacing existing CMMS. It uses expensive active RFID tags that themselves have to be monitored for battery life and replacement, with lapses causing data collection failure.

Simple, low-cost, high-quality data collection

Verephi’s passive RFID solution provides inventory updates without requiring any significant infrastructure build-out or modification. It avoids issues endemic to often elusive, headache-inducing interoperability. Verephi’s system also provides information such as cleaning and calibration dates, cleaning methods used and upcoming maintenance dates of critical and high-value equipment. It reports the data to clinical engineering and verifies it for CMMS.

Verephi’s low-cost system collects high-quality data

Equipment inventory verification – not an elective procedure

Timely, accurate inventory verification is required for financial, operational, safety and regulatory compliance. The process is a daunting challenge for healthcare providers, especially since so many assets are mobile and their locations not predictable. They often transmit and store electronic protected health information (ePHI) that must be secured. Verephi’s RFID-based workstation system is the low cost, simple solution for high quality, accurate, timely equipment inventory verification.

For more information please visit Verephi.

June 6, 2015 –

It’s 10 o’clock. Do you know where your endoscope is?

If you’re on the receiving end of medical treatment – or are a healthcare provider – the effective management of equipment and devices that contain patient data is crucial. Swiftsure’s partner Verephi is at the AAMI Conference & Expo in Denver to launch its RFID-based solutions that help secure electronic protected healthcare information (ePHI) and ensure equipment maintenance.

The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation event is expected to draw more than 1,800 healthcare technology management professionals and over 200 equipment vendors to the Colorado Convention Center June 6-8.

Verephi is at booth 248 to demo its solutions that inventory, monitor and secure ePHI-containing devices – think scanners, pumps, faxes and tablets – and ensure authentication of equipment maintenance data. Its integrated software and automatic data capture system improves operating efficiencies, boosts safety related to equipment tracking, cleaning and service maintenance, assists with regulatory compliance and mitigates financial risk.

Verephi makes data capture simple and secure

At the expo Verephi is showing its solutions that write equipment maintenance records into passive RFID tags attached to medical services devices. The tags can also include unique equipment identifiers (UDI).

Verephi’s method of locally storing maintenance records on equipment means that a device’s history of usage and servicing can be retrieved at any time using a handheld or fixed-location RFID reader.

The system also alerts users about devices’ compliance status and makes sure that maintenance records are never disassociated from the devices. Verephi’s technology helps prevent use of non-compliant equipment that can compromise health delivery through failure or contamination and reduce lapses in securing devices that capture, store or transmit ePHI – problems that often lead to severe financial penalties.

Unlike RTLS solutions, which can be cumbersome, complex, expensive and draining on network resources, Verephi’s system is a simple, affordable way to conduct activities necessary to meet HIPAA and Joint Commission mandates.

Verephi is a member of AAMI.

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• Swiftsure’s view from the floor of HIMSS

May 12, 2015 – Everything about HIMSS 2015 was huge. More than 1,100 vendors. Over 43,00 healthcare industry professionals teeming through three million square feet of exhibition space in Chicago. There were also big ideas about hot healthcare topics, from information and data management, analytics and patient engagement to population health, mobile healthcare, interoperability and security.

Complex problems can have simpler solutions

Big sometimes seems overwhelming, especially when it comes to managing patient and equipment data to mitigate risk and comply with HIPAA and Joint Commission mandates. Flashy booths and whiz-bang apps grab the eye and imagination. But organizations often overlook relatively simple, user friendly, cost effective solutions to secure ePHI and ensure equipment maintenance for compliance and security.

True interoperability remains elusive, and maintaining consolidated databases to track and monitor equipment requires the buy-in and cooperation of diverse stakeholders with often differing objectives and priorities. These dynamics can lead to prolonged and fragmented implementation, leaving lapses that endanger patients and cause costly fines from failed OCR audits.

The Swiftsure Group, a systems integrator specializing in RFID automated data capture and advanced asset management, takes a different approach. Protecting ePHI requires first locating, tracking and managing information about devices that capture, store or transmit sensitive data. Pumps, printers, tablets, phones. If organizations don’t know where devices are – stranded in a storage closet, discarded in a former employee’s office – they can’t possibly secure them or their data.

HIMSS demo – for dummies

To help organizations get a real handle on ePHI security and equipment management, Swiftsure has partnered with Verephi, whose team has helped healthcare organizations around the world track and manage physical assets since 2003.

Services include equipment audit and verification that are crucial to assessing risks to and safeguarding ePHI. Using automated data capture technology, Verephi also offers systems that enable healthcare providers to monitor and validate equipment sanitation and maintenance histories.

Here’s how it works. Instead of relying on centralized databases to track ePHI-containing equipment and maintenance records, the records themselves accompany each device on an attached RFID tag in an electronic format that can be easily retrieved. Each tag contains up-to-date usage and maintenance records such as time and type of cleaning, recalibration dates and scheduled maintenance.

For audits or identification of potentially contaminated equipment, a low cost handheld RFID reader retrieves data directly from the equipment. Fixed location readers at cleaning or equipment storage rooms identify equipments’ compliance with maintenance schedules to ensure that non-compliant equipment is not used. Alerts notify clinicians about milestones and missed deadlines.

While a number of HIMSS vendors touted RTLS systems for managing equipment, the cost and complexity of deployment – and unsolved issues with interoperability – make them unattractive compared to the passive off-the-shelf UHF solutions with automated, local equipment information storage solutions that Swiftsure recommends.

For more information contact Swiftsure or visit Verephi.