Honda Italia ups RFID deployment

Honda Italia is employing a combination of active and passive RFID to track components of the motorbikes it produces, reports RFID Journal.

The move is being described as one of Italy's first active ultrawide-band (UWB) RFID applications since the country's government amended a law in early 2008 to allow for use of the technology.

Italy had previously blocked the use of UWB RFID on the grounds that it could interfere with frequencies utilised by the Italian military.

RFID vendor Digital Angel has developed a new, battery-powered animal identification tag that can be read from up to 100 feet away, states RFID Journal.

Digital Angel says the r.Tag allows more efficient, accurate livestock tracking than is presently available using other tags.

The tags must be located within a few inches of an interrogator in order to be read, however, requiring livestock producers to force animals to move through narrow checkpoints to be counted, and making it impossible to read the tags of a large number of animals simultaneously.

The Hawaii department of agriculture and the Hawaii Farm Bureau have partnered for a three-year pilot RFID programme designed to promote food safety, by enabling product visibility throughout the supply chain, says RFID News.

The Hawaii Produce Traceability initiative uses RFID technology to track fresh produce down to the farm, or even field, level.

The initiative offers a win-win situation for consumers and participating growers. When a food safety issue arises, product recalls can be enacted within an hour.