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SilverLining Partners LLC received recent notification from the Department of Veterans Affairs that SilverLining Partners has been validated and added to the verified Veteran business database at www.vetbiz.gov. This recognition will allow SilverLining to participate in Veterans First Contract Program opportunities with the VA.

SilverLining Partners was selected in March 2009 as a supplier of computer based training services to Electric Boat of Groton, CT a division of General Dynamics.

SilverLining Partners is proud to be a subcontractor to Lockheed Martin as one of 6 Primes on the Naval Education and Training Professional Development and Technology Center (NETPDTC) Contract awarded in August of 2008.  The value of the contract award to Lockheed was $35M over 5 years.

UID and RFID

UID and RFID Integration from SilverLining Partners

SilverLining’s unique capability of having both a business and technology grounding makes it a logical choice to assist your company with the introduction of UID and RFID. Our 75+ combined years of technology experience, coupled with the reach-back engineering and software application expertise of our partners makes us a very cost effective, experienced and formidable solutions provider of UID and RFID technology.

Whether you are in manufacturing, health care, materials management or inventory control, the most challenging aspect of UID and RFID does not lie in the micro-technology but rather in the horizontal reach of this technology across internal business responsibilities. Both large and small companies struggle to find the most responsible internal person or department to design, deploy and manage this new technology – usually with little success. Multiple skills, multiple disciplines are required to integrate and adapt this emerging technology effectively. Therein lies the crux of design and implementation disappointments of this new and exciting asset tracking management solution.

Why Integration is Critical?

First, think back to the early introduction of networking into your company’s operation. Certainly, the technology was new and evolving. Standards were not available. Even when you understood the network components, every department and employee workgroup was impacted differently. What was the right printer for the finance group? What server was needed to handle both current traffic and into the future? What applications needed run over the network and when was the high traffic peak? How do I get access? What happens if the system fails? Who will add, delete or change the network components as business needs increase? And the final big question – can it be affordable? If these issues were not tackled properly, the project failed.

UID and RFID share similar issues.

There really are not many differences integrating an AutoID system.

First, the UID/RFID solution needs to be designed properly – from accurately locating the tag and antenna read equipment to determining the correct software application and its network accessibility. Short of “slap and ship”, the solution needs to adapt into your existing workflow. Or your processes need to be modified, documented and re-engineered. Our experience has shown there are no less than 10 variables to be assessed in each AutoID project design.

Next, the tag needs to be properly “selected and programmed” to ensure you can store, retrieve and manipulate the data and you can read the data into the system. Each corporate department (finance, customer service, manufacturing, shipping, receiving, materials handling and warranty service) will need UID and RFID data integrated into their existing working applications to (i) fully realize the benefits of the technology and (ii) to manage the business.

Regardless of the size of your business, you probably don’t have the luxury of having a staff member that understands AutoID technology; logistics; IT hardware and software applications equally well. Forget the intricacies of workflow analysis, tag engineering-compliance and programming standards to meet your management’s expectations. And if that person exists, can he take the time to implement it? Of course, you can always purchase a low cost, one-size-fits-all solution but that still leaves you as the implementation guru. And will it work after all?

SilverLining has developed an overall solution delivery process that will remove the complexity of integrating this new technology into your corporate environment. It is called “Smart Material Environment” or S.M.E:

More specifically, here are ways we can assist:

      Architecture Program:.

• Sorting technology; Single or hybrid solution,
• Merging barcode with passive and active RFID applications
• Upgrading and/or integrating with legacy RFID hardware and software.
• Environmental; e.g. handling potential interference or noise and noting the sensitivities of the marked/tracked item’s material to radio frequencies
• Infrastructure; Wired and/or wireless connectivity deploying geographically diverse solutions
• Resiliency and back-up
• Integration - extending the smart environment into back office processes (ERP)
  harmonizing internal marking policies across multiple customers
• Service and support
• Documentation and educational services
• Program and project management

Design Program:

        AUDIT

• Lock down business objectives as the primary guide to selecting appropriate technology options
• Identify and document objectives, timelines, and budget relating to appropriate solutions - ranging from simple, practical, and modular to complex and fully client integrated
• Support identified contributors within your organization to obtain buy-in and address concerns, workflow etc.
• Perform site analysis – e.g. check if your existing company infrastructure and practices are Smart Environment friendly

ASSESS AND REPORT

• Determine basic technology direction e.g. tag/reader characteristics based on current environment and the target item’s material characteristics
• Determine optimum degree of integration with enterprise resource planning (ERP) to maximize return on investment
• Refined the statement of AutoID business objectives
• Identify all the principal technologies to be integrated
• Map the material flow and processes
• Outline the budget
• Create the timeline

Integration Program:

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Define workflow with any workflow process changes
• Create schedule and identify milestones and objectives
• Manage project kick-off
• Provide on going status and risk analysis
• Produce pilot report and required actions
• Review/modify business objectives
• Review/modify budget
• Review modify schedule

SOLUTION DELIVERY

• Manage and implement phased roll-out
• Obtain agreement on performance criteria for each phase
• To the extent possible, design rollout to occur in off-peak periods
• Implement a planned “hold period” for revision upgrades
• Provide staff stationed at key points
• Upgrading existing process flow

• Redesign process management
• Define and document techniques relating to physical material flow and label placement
• Determine optimal reader placement
• Forklift/truck procedures (if a warehouse)
• Tag verification and validation procedures introduced
• Trial techniques for improving read accuracy
• Hardware placement efficiencies
• Effect of multiple, physically adjacent, readers
• Interpreting “read” events
• Document diagnostic and maintenance procedures
• Integrate hardware upgrade procedures

Lifecycle Support Program

• Create lifecycle information database
• Provide:
• Upgrade policies
• Customized Maintenance Program
• Software Update policy
• Training Materials

Our 6 Stages are scalable to meet the needs of our clients. If you have plotted your course (Stages 1 and 2) we can review your plan (Stage 3) and implement your design (Stage 4-6) quickly and efficiently. Need to validate or financially justify the project, Stages 1 and 2 will provide you with a report that outlines the deliverables, risk assessment and ROI review.

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A Client of the Connecticut Technical Assistance Program