Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Las Vegas airport to implement RFID baggage-tag system

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 12:23:12 -0500

Las Vegas airport to implement RFID baggage-tag system

By LINDA ROSENCRANCE
NOVEMBER 06, 2003
http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/technology/story/0,10801,86909,00.html

McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas is implementing a 
baggage-tracking system that will use radio frequency identification 
(RFID) bag tags from Matrics Inc. to improve customer safety. The 
decision to implement the tracking system makes McCarran one of the 
first airports to use the RFID technology airportwide.

As part of the deal, Columbia, Md.-based Matrics will supply the 
airport with 100 million passive, nonbattery, disposable 900-MHz RFID 
tags over a five-year period for $25 million, or 25 cents per tag, 
according to John Shoemaker, vice president of business development 
at Matrics.

The entire project is expected to cost $125 million, with $94 million 
of that amount being paid for by the Transportation Security 
Administration (TSA), said Samuel Ingalls, the airport's information 
systems manager. The airport will pick up the rest of the cost.

The TSA is partially funding similar projects at other airports, 
including Denver International Airport and Los Angeles International 
Airport. Florida's Jacksonville International Airport has already 
implemented an airportwide in-line screening system for checked 
baggage but has only partially implemented an RFID tracking system.

The first phase of McCarran's new system, expected to be operational 
in May 2004, will automatically track all checked-in passenger bags 
through in-line explosive detection and screening equipment, 
according to Shoemaker. This phase will include use of a facility 
that screens off-site baggage coming from hotels and car rental 
companies, as well as two other screening facilities to handle 
baggage checked in at the airport's main terminal, Ingalls said. 
Travelers check in about 60,000 bags a day at McCarran.

Shoemaker said the first phase of the project will involve five 
airlines and 38% to 40% of airport travelers.

The process starts at the ticket counter or curbside check-in, where 
a regular baggage tag with an RFID chip and antenna imbedded in it 
will be printed out and attached to each bag, he said. Each tag will 
carry a unique identifier and will be read while the bag is 
transported on conveyors through the appropriate explosive-screening 
machine and onto the specific plane. If the bag doesn't clear the 
explosive-screening machine, it will be sent to a special facility to 
be checked by hand.

Information from the tags is passed to FKI Logistex's software 
controls. FKI, based in Danville, Ky., is providing the systems 
architecture and integration.

Shoemaker stressed the tags' 99.8% accuracy and noted that they can 
be tracked from a distance of up to 30 feet. Bar-code tags now 
commonly used must be in close proximity to a reader.

The use of RFID tags has been gaining in popularity this year as a 
supply chain management tool. The U.S. Department of Defense last 
month said it will require its suppliers to use the tags on all cases 
and pallets by January 2005 (see story). And Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 
June said it would require its top 100 suppliers to do the same thing 
(see story). One nagging issue has been the tags' cost. Although 
Matrics has promised to deliver them at 25 cents apiece, Jeff Woods, 
an analyst at Gartner Inc., was doubtful that it could hit that price.

"I would want to know what all the terms and conditions are before 
I'd say 25 cents is the going rate for tags," Woods said. "I'm 
skeptical of it."

Woods said, however, that he hopes Matrics can achieve that price, 
because doing so could speed the tags' adoption elsewhere.

Gene Alvarez, an analyst at Meta Group Inc., said he believes the 
RFID technology will work its way into more and more airports, not 
just for security but as a way to match bags with passengers and 
reduce delays.

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