PRESS RELEASES
Kimberly-Clark Selects Alien Technology® Gen2 RFID Readers
Leader in Adoption and Implementation of RFID Technology Leverages Alien ALR-9800 Readers for Supply Chain Visibility
January 24, 2006, Morgan Hill, CA – Alien Technology today announced Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) has selected the Alien® ALR-9800 Enterprise RFID Reader as part of its logistics program to comply with retail industry mandates requiring the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in the supply chain. Kimberly-Clark chose the multi-protocol Alien ALR-9800 after conducting an extensive evaluation of EPC Class 1 Gen2 RFID readers at the company’s EPCglobal-accredited RFID research lab: the first end-user test lab to be certified by standards-body EPCglobal Inc. for testing RFID technology in supply chains.
“As we continue to move toward fully implementing RFID technology throughout our supply chain operations, it is mission-critical that we have the right RFID hardware equipment in place to meet our needs,” said Mike O’Shea, Director, Auto-ID Sensing Technologies of Kimberly-Clark. “We chose the Alien ALR-9800 for its exceptional read performance and scalability, easy-to-manage data collection, and its potential for low total cost-of-ownership.”
Kimberly-Clark will deploy Alien ALR-9800 Readers initially in key manufacturing and transport locations across North America. The ALR-9800’s will be located on conveyors and stretch-wrappers to automatically capture data from RFID-tagged packaged products, cartons and pallets, thus providing up-to-the-second information on the movement of products through the supply chain that can be leveraged by the company and its retail customers.
“Kimberly-Clark is well-known for its commitment to innovation and technology and for partnering with its retailers to enhance their mutual operations,” said Keith McDonald, Sr. V.P. Sales & Marketing, Alien Technology. “Hence we are extremely pleased that the ALR-9800 Enterprise Reader has been singled out by Kimberly-Clark for use in its own facilities, particularly after such a thorough and rigorous competitive evaluation under real-world conditions in an EPCglobal-accredited lab.”
About the Alien ALR-9800 Enterprise Reader
Introduced in August 2005 and certified Gen2-compliant in September 2005, the Alien ALR-9800 is the first RFID reader based on the Alien Enterprise RFID Platform, and designed from the ground up for compliance with the EPC Class 1 Gen2 specification. The ALR-9800 sets new standards for RFID readers through its enterprise-scalable architecture, high performance read capability across EPC multiple protocols, and superior dense reader management.
About Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark and its well-known global brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 150 countries. Every day, 1.3 billion people--nearly a quarter of the world's population--trust K-C brands and the solutions they provide to enhance their health, hygiene and well-being. With brands such as Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex and Depend, Kimberly-Clark holds the No. 1 or No. 2 share position in more than 80 countries. To keep up with the latest K-C news and to learn more about the company's 134-year history of innovation, visit www.kimberly-clark.com.
About Alien Technology
Alien Technology provides UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) products and services to customers in retail, consumer goods, manufacturing, defense, transportation and logistics, pharmaceuticals and other industries. Organizations use Alien's RFID products and services to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and security of their supply chains, logistics and asset tracking operations. Alien's products include RFID tags, RFID readers and related training and professional services. Alien's patented Fluidic Self Assembly (FSA) technology and related proprietary manufacturing processes are designed to enable the manufacture of high volume, low cost RFID tags.
Alien was founded in 1994. The company's facilities include: its corporate headquarters in Morgan Hill, CA; an RFID tag manufacturing facility in Fargo, ND; the Alien RFID Solutions Center, in the Dayton, Ohio area, and sales offices in the US, Europe and Asia. Alien is a member of EPCglobal. More information about Alien is available at www.alientechnology.com.
Alien, Alien Technology, the Alien logo, Squiggle and FSA, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Alien Technology Corporation in the United States and other countries. Copyright 2007 Alien Technology Corporation. All rights reserved.
