GPIC scores $8m casino order

Gaming Partners International Corporation (GPIC) has secured two orders to supply casino chips and RFID technology to two casinos, each due to open in the middle of 2009, reports Trading Markets.

The total amount of the two orders for the casinos based in Macau and the Philippines exceeds $8 million (R81.7 million), with RFID chips accounting for approximately 80% of the total.

GPIC's RFID Casino Currency Control technology allows casinos to verify the authenticity and value of each chip, plaque and jeton almost instantly, which reduces the possibility of counterfeits, staff pilferage or errors in casino currency counts.

EarthSearch Kummunikazia is opening new international operations beginning this month, according to PRWeb.

The GPS and wireless solutions specialist will expand licensing opportunities to South America, Middle East and Europe by the end of first quarter 2009.

EarthSearch CEO and president Kayode Aladesuyi says the company is getting a lot of attention regarding the "AutoSearchRFID" solution in Europe and in North America. AutoSearchRFID is a unique application, which integrates GPS and RFID technology at the hardware level for security of assets in transit.

Wal-Mart's Sam's Club division has had a dramatic drop in its compliance penalties for failure to put RFID tags on pallets sent to its distribution centres, reports Supply Chain Digest.

The Sam's Club group announced a separate RFID strategy and compliance programme, from Wal-Mart, at the beginning of 2008. That programme called for pallet tagging of all solid SKU pallets sent to five of the 22 total DCs by the end of October 2008, and all the Sam's DCs by the end of this January.

Initially failure to meet these deadlines would result in chargeback penalties of between $2 (R20) and $3 (R31) per pallet in 2009. Sam's has dropped the penalty to a mere 12c (R1.22) per pallet, reflecting the incremental cost of adding a tag to a pallet that arrives at a DC without one.