SML expands RFID education with global technology centers

The RFID Solution Innovation Center is described as a ‘complete RFID resource’ by SML-RFID, a subsidiary of SML. It houses RFID tag testing, and RFID hardware/software demonstrations and application, including the ability for retailers to test RFID in the configurations they require for their own use.

The opening of the RFID Solution Innovation Center in Germany follows similar developments in Shanghai, which opened in October, and in Plano, Texas, which opened in August and is housed in the new SML-RFID headquarters. These three facilities complement existing RFID Innovation Centers in Clayton, North Carolina and Corby, England.

SML chose these locations because of their proximity to major apparel brands’ headquarters and distribution centers. 

The company has also staged pop-up events in New York and London in 2016, with temporary stores hosting retailers and brand owners to demonstrate the potential of RFID in general and the capabilities of SML's RFID technologies.

Dean Frew, chief technology officer and senior vice president, RFID Solutions at SML, commented: ‘Whatever question a retailer has about RFID, they’ll find the answer at our innovation centers. In 2015, only six percent of retailers used RFID systems, but the massive RFID retail rollouts coming in 2016 and 2017 mean more companies will move forward following their peers. They’ll be looking for answers.’

SML operates the largest network of RFID service bureaus for imprinted and encoded RFID tags and labels to specification, wherever they are needed for manufacturing. It plans to host further pop-up events as it seeks to meet the potential for growth in RFID in the apparel and footwear market, which is detailed in an interview with Frew in L&L issue 2, 2016, and can be read here.

‘With successful deployments of SML’s Clarity software in many of the largest retailers in the world, the next wave of retailers will need information. In addition to the new RFID Innovation Centers, we will continue to have SML roadshows like the pop-up retail stores in New York and London in October where the latest RFID tags, RFID equipment and Clarity software were demonstrated and enabled retailers and brand owners to experience the technology in a real store environment.’