Technology Briefs - July 6 - July 11
The Latest Headlines:
- SmarTire Gets Backing for Expansion
- RFID Systems Are New Tools for Storage Management
- Schneider Names New CIO
- RFID Systems Are New Tools for Storage Management
SmarTire Gets Backing for Expansion
SmarTire Systems, a developer of tire pressure monitoring systems, said it obtained financial backing to develop new wireless sensing and control applications using its SmarTire technology.The company also said Al Kozak was named chief executive officer, replacing founder Robert Rudman, who would serve as non-executive chairman.
Cornell Capital Partners, an investment fund, would provide SmarTire with $11 million in cash, plus $160 million as part of a standby equity distribution agreement, SmarTire said. Transport Topics
RFID Systems Are New Tools for Storage Management
While most warehouse management systems depend on bar-code scanning to track inventory serial numbers, some have adopted another technology.“We’re experimenting with radio frequency identification technology,” said Chuck Langsbury, senior vice president of supply chain management for Ryder System. Ryder ranks No. 3 on the TT Logistics 50.
RFID tags on products provide data that can be picked up with a wireless device. The technology works in conjunction with a company’s existing warehouse management system, Langsbury said.
Ryder opened an RFID test lab April 12 in its 192,000-square-foot Dallas warehouse. The technology would be used to receive, store, inventory, ship and monitor products for its customers, the company said in a news release.
“It’s the next generation bar code,” said Langsbury. “It holds more information and it doesn’t have to be scanned.” He said more advanced information-management technology such as RFID would be necessary to manage warehouse operations as they become more and more complicated. Andrea Fischer
Schneider Names New CIO
Schneider National, the nation’s largest truckload carrier, said it named Judith Lemke its chief information officer.Lemke will lead Schneider’s technology, engineering and business transformation divisions, and will oversee the company’s trailer-tracking, customer service and driver-communication technologies for both Schneider National and Schneider Logistics, said company spokeswoman Janet Bonkowski.
Bonkowski said Lemke will play an important role in Schneider’s ongoing effort to develop new technology and support customers.
Lemke was most recently chief information officer at Capella University in Minneapolis.
Schneider, Green Bay, Wis., ranks No. 7 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
