TrueDemand To Provide New Integrated RFID Applications Developed On Middleware

For Manufacturers, Retailers and Trading Partners

Atlanta - TrueDemand Software, Inc., a pioneer in the development of RFID-enabled enterprise applications, today announced at the EPCglobal US Conference that it is working with IBM to develop next-generation EPC-enabled supply chain solutions on IBM's WebSphere middleware. The two companies will provide integrated solutions that take advantage of this new RFID data and deliver both immediate and tangible long-term results to their customers. As a result, joint customers will be able to gain greater value from their RFID investments.

The first solutions are focused on reducing out-of-stocks, improving new product introductions and promotions as well as retail order replenishment. The TrueDemand solution will also provide powerful analytics tools to analyze and interpret the new RFID data. A demo of the first solutions will be shown in both the IBM and TrueDemand booths at EPCglobal. It will show the power of an integrated solution and demonstrate how to start using EPC data across the entire supply chain.

"We are proud to be an IBM EPC-enabled enterprise application Business Partner," said Raymond Blanchard, vice president of business development, TrueDemand. "The depth and breadth of capabilities that IBM is providing to facilitate the creation and deployment of our RFID applications is unparalleled. Equally important is IBM's long-term experience and commitment to EPC-enabled solutions, deep industry and domain expertise and ability to deploy comprehensive and scalable solutions. Working together, we are creating solutions that will enable companies to better anticipate and proactively remedy supply chain problems before they occur."

By leveraging the IBM and TrueDemand solutions, organizations can integrate and utilize RFID and non-RFID data to create a complete RFID application platform. IBM WebSphere enables TrueDemand to provide a single RFID application environment for manufacturers, retailers and third-party partners to help prevent common problems that involve multiple stakeholders such as product out-of-stocks, promotion management and new product introductions. To ensure interoperability and scalability, the applications are based on Service Orientated Architecture (SOA) and a J2EE application environment. In addition, TrueDemand's EPC-enabled applications complement and integrate with legacy enterprise applications such as SAP and Oracle.

Through the solution, IBM and TrueDemand will provide:

• Software packages that will include TrueDemand's RFID promotion management, new product introduction and analytics solutions, as well as IBM MQ, IBM WebSphere Application Server and the IBM WebSphere Portal Server.
  
• Hosting services to communicate, manage and secure data required for TrueDemand pilots, as well as host the TrueDemand applications.

In addition to leveraging IBM middleware, TrueDemand and the IBM Business Consulting teams are collaborating to create packaged RFID pilot solutions for retailers and manufacturers that will range from initial EPC data integration and data management to application testing and simulations to prove the business value of the applications to operational deployments and process change management.

SOURCE: About TrueDemand