Sirit Partners with VendingTechnology and Scopra to Deliver UHF Item Level Tracking Solution
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AmeriSource Bergen using RFID to track real-time use of high value medicines
LAS VEGAS, May 2 // -- Sirit Inc. ("Sirit") (TSX: SI) a leading provider of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, in partnership with VendingTechnology Inc., a developer of advanced item level transaction and dispensing solutions, and Scopra Inc., a developer of enterprise scale commercial software, has delivered an initial order of a customized UHF RFID item level tracking solution for the pharmaceutical industry.
The solution which incorporates Sirit's high performance UHF reader technology, VendingTechnology's engineering solutions, and Scopra's software designed for application and network management of RFID-enabled devices, is being used by ASD Healthcare (ASD), a division of AmerisourceBergen Corporation, among the world's largest pharmaceutical distributors, to monitor and track consigned inventory, namely pharmaceuticals within hospitals.
Initially, ASD in collaboration with VendingTechnology devised the consignment program to allow hospitals access to high dollar hemophiliac medicines otherwise unavailable due to their high inventory cost. VendingTechnology approached Sirit to deliver an RFID-reader for the heart of the specialized refrigeration unit known as CUBIXX, which acts as the consignment device, and enlisted Scopra to deliver the software comprising the entire application. When the medicine is removed from the unit for administration to the patient, the reader senses the specific medication removal and triggers the Scopra-based real-time billing and inventory management processes for completion.
"We believe that the results of this partnership will become the foundation of new and specialized distribution practices outside the current 'just in time' methods used today," said Andrew Fausak, President, VendingTechnology Inc. "RFID technology brings the power of now to inventory control and management. Gone are the days of not knowing where something currently is, or in what quantities. The RFID solution we have demonstrated with ASD Healthcare can be applied to any instance where real time inventory management is essential. We believe that RFID can revolutionize the supply chain - driving warehousing literally to the point of sale."
Results of the initial testing, which has seen over 100 units deployed to date with an additional 60 scheduled by the end of June, has been so successful that ASD plans to use these consignment devices for the majority of their specialty drugs including those used to fight cancer.
"It's a tremendous accomplishment to create a solution which can impact people's lives in such a profound way and deliver a proven ROI within months of installation," commented Norbert Dawalibi, President and CEO, Sirit Inc. "This is yet another example of the real benefits that RFID technology can deliver, granting access to medicines otherwise not available, and we believe that this is the first of many applications for this important collaborative solution."
Additional applications of the Sirit/VendingTechnology/Scopra solution that are under development outside the pharmaceutical market including a transaction-based RFID dispensing cabinet with programmable and inventory responsive video content and power control to address retail, advertising, inventory-driven-sales and specialty lines.
"We're thrilled to be part of this team delivering an RFID solution that has so many applications," stated George Clopp, Chief Technology Officer, Scopra Inc. "It has been our experience that the greatest failure of MRP/ERP implementations is the issue of data integrity for the inventory regarding both location and quantities. When data becomes fuzzy, human interpolation adds more errors. Having RFID running in real-time with a network managed solution eliminates all of those data error opportunities. Data is accurate, current, and usable with no need for human intervention. Further, by networking all the RFID devices within the organization, the ability to monitor and manage an entire inventory supply chain from a single point, increases the efficiency and effectiveness of real time decision making and subsequent implementation. Scopra is uniquely positioned to enable application of this total technology solution set."
About VendingTechnology
VendingTechnology (VT) is a Texas corporation with facilities in Dallas, Texas, San Jose, California and Chenna, India. VT is privately owned leading producer of Intellectual Property related to transaction-oriented and fast time-to-market solutions with specific strategic advantages and market barriers over competition. VT has been licensing specialized solutions to the vending industry since 2002 and recently incorporated in 2005 when it began focusing in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology worldwide. VT partnered with Sirit and Scopra for the purpose of creating a line of products and software applications that satisfy supply chain, logistics tracking and content distribution issues in pharmaceutical and retail spaces. Some of VT's products include VTsense, VTvend VTpay, TxRFID, RDP-based-POS-terminals that enable supply chain and logistics tracking, cash/cashless payment, access control, inventory, asset management and tracking. For more information, visit www.VendingTechnology.com.
About Scopra
Scopra, is located in Dallas, Texas with development staff in Cologne, San Jose and Dallas. Scopra is the state-of-the-art enterprise scale commercial provider of application and network management software for computing devices. Any computing device connected to the network is a viable candidate for Scopra's Montioring and Management software, such as embedded systems like PDA, RFID-Readers, ThinClients and PC's. Scopra supplies its main- stream product under the name ScopraSoft. Scopra can be used as a stand-alone product for event monitoring and software distribution in a network environment. The software is extremely easy to customize through its powerful message-based business engine. Application specific functionality, like RFID supply-chain logistics can be realized by adding more rules appropriate for the desired source and destination controls. In such an instance, Scopra provides a core engine that can be tailored to each distributed application. For more information, visit www.ScopraSoft.com
About ASD Healthcare
ASD Healthcare is a division of AmerisourceBergen Corporation. AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical services companies serving the United States, Canada and selected global markets. Servicing both pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers in the pharmaceutical supply channel, the Company provides drug distribution and related services designed to reduce costs and improve patient outcomes. AmerisourceBergen's service solutions range from pharmacy automation and pharmaceutical packaging to pharmacy services for skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, reimbursement and pharmaceutical consulting services, and physician education. With more than $54 billion in annual revenue, AmerisourceBergen is headquartered in Valley Forge, PA, and employs more than 13,000 people. AmerisourceBergen is ranked No. 27 on the Fortune 500 list. For more information, go to www.asdhealthcare.com or www.amerisourcebergen.com.
About Sirit Inc.
Sirit Inc. (TSX: SI) is a leading provider of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology worldwide. Harnessing the power of Sirit's enabling-RFID technology, customers are able to more rapidly bring high quality RFID solutions to the market with reduced initial engineering costs. Sirit's products are built on more than 12 years of RF domain expertise addressing multiple frequencies (LF/HF/UHF), multiple protocols and are compliant with global standards. Sirit's broad portfolio of products and capabilities are easily customized to address new and traditional RFID market applications including Supply Chain & Logistics, Cashless Payment (including Electronic Tolling), Access Control, Automatic Vehicle Identification, Inventory Control & Management, Asset Tracking and Product Authentication. For more information, visit www.sirit.com.
Source: Sirit Inc.
CONTACT: Lorelei L. Luchkiw, Sirit Inc., (416) 367-1897 x249,
(416) 669-8390, lluchkiw@sirit.com/
