Industry Profiles

U.S. Companies in Japan (continued from page 3)

Hewlett-Packard
• August 2005 – Announced alliance with IIJ and IIJ-Tech of Japan to offer global real-time supply chain management (SCM) for intercompany and international logistics

OATSystems, Inc. – Waltham, MA
• Business:  RFID framework software
• September 2005 – Announced distribution agreement made with Sumitomo Corporation, who will distribute OAT's RFID framework solution in Japan
• Selected as one of the major platforms to be use within the "Future Store" demonstration project sponsored by METI.  As part of the demonstration, OAT's software will be deployed in Queen's Isetan, one of Japan's major supermarket chains

Impinj, Inc. – Seattle, WA
• Business: Supplier of Gen 2 RFID chips and readers
• April 2006 – Announced agreement with NEC TOKIN Corporation to co-develop RFID readers for the Japanese market based on Impinj’s Speedway™ Gen 2 platform

Tektronix, Inc. – Beaverton, OR
• Business:  Provider of test, measurement and monitoring equipment for global communications networks
• May 2006 – Announced that Sony Corporation has adopted its Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers (RTSA) and RFID analysis software developed for measuring and analyzing communication conditions between a reader/writer and a IC card equipped with Sony FeliCa contactless IC card technology

IBM
• June 2004 – Announced opening of RFID Solution Center in Japan
Facility enables IBM customers to build RFID systems and conduct simulation tests
• July 2004 – Announced trial in collaboration with Kureha Environmental Engineering Co., Ltd., a leading waste management company in Japan, to begin medical waste traceability testing intended to prevent illegal waste disposal
• April 2006 – Announced successful traceability demonstration of Japan's first RFID tag drug shipment to in-hospital medication

Companies like these in Japan are positioning themselves at the front of new developments as RFID technology gains wider adoption.  By expanding their business to Japan, such companies expose themselves to an ideal environment in which to develop and deploy RFID devices.