RFID Connect: Mark Roberti - Hong Kong RFID Awards 2010 Announced

RFID Journal Editor Mark Roberti's Blog

Hong Kong RFID Awards 2010 Announced

October 20, 2010

Last week, GS1 Hong Kong announced the winners of its Hong Kong RFID Awards 2010. The awards, modeled after the RFID Journal Awards, are co-organized by the Hong Kong R&D Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management Enabling Technologies (LSCM), the Hong Kong RFID Centre (SCIC) and the Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corp. (HKSTP).

The awards are given to individuals who have implemented RFID technology as part of their business or research efforts. They were created to encourage the adoption of Electronic Product Code (EPC) and radio frequency identification technologies by businesses in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region, in an effort to foster the development of new products and services.

The Hong Kong RFID Awards are given out in three main categories:
• Best EPC RFID Implementation
• Most Innovative Use of EPC RFID
• Most Innovative EPC RFID Product

Gold, Silver and Bronze awards are handed out under each category. This year's awards list also included 11 organizations that earned Merit Certificates for showing their commitment to adopting RFID technology in their business processes.

The Gold Award for Best EPC RFID Implementation went to LEO Paper Group, located in Hong Kong, for its use of an RFID-based real-time production line-monitoring system that allows the firm to track production with fewer resources, thereby leading to substantial cost savings while eliminating human error and improving customer service.

Luxon Data, as well as the Shanghai, China, branches of Medtronic Medical Appliance Technology & Service and Zuellig Pharma, shared the Gold Award for Most Innovative Use of EPC RFID. The three companies jointly developed the ZL-100 Plus RFID Cabinet, which uses an RFID-enabled smart cabinet to help distributors and health-care providers achieve greater operational efficiency, productivity gains and cost savings. The solution centralizes real-time inventory management, enhances security and localizes inventory reporting.

Megabyte's MegaTray, designed for jewelry and branded watch retailers, garnered this year's Most Innovative EPC RFID Product Gold Award. The jewelry display tray, with an integrated RFID reader and a Wi-Fi transceiver, provides security and monitoring capabilities for any valuable item placed on it. The innovative solution can also help users capture and better understand customer behavior.

To encourage more original EPC RFID application development by talented local students, the organizers created a special U-21 category last year. Hong Kong tertiary students were invited to participate and showcase their own innovative use of RFID technology. Teams from Hong Kong Community College and the University of Hong Kong shared the Gold Award for the Best EPC RFID Concept, while students from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University took the Most Innovative EPC RFID Application Gold Award.

"All of the winning applications and solutions this year mesh well with our mission to accelerate the innovation and implementation of RFID in both business and the overall community," says Anna Lin, GS1 Hong Kong's chief executive. "The innovations we have witnessed will certainly help accelerate creative technology and application development."

All award recipients will be invited to attend a prize presentation ceremony, to be held in conjunction with the 10th GS1 Hong Kong Supply Chain Excellence Summit, scheduled for Nov. 5, 2010.