News | October 25, 2008

CYBRA's EdgeMagic Replaces IBM RFID Software Solution At Shop-Vac

CYBRA Corporation, the developer of award-winning MarkMagic™ Bar Code Labels, RFID Tags, and Electronic Forms Software for IBM Power Systems (formerly known as System i), recently announced that Shop-Vac® Corporation, a Walmart top 600 vendor, has successfully deployed its EdgeMagic® RFID Control Software for IBM Power Systems at its Williamsport, Pennsylvania, manufacturing location and is currently in testing. Shop-Vac Corporation, the recognized world leader in wet/dry vacuum cleaners, replaced an IBM WebSphere RFID Premises Server installation and selected EdgeMagic to track cases of vacuum cleaners and accessories destined for End Caps and other special point of sale programs of its trading partners such as Walmart.

Customer Preferred Native RFID Solution

According to Mike McConnell, Programmer Analyst at Shop-Vac, "When we first investigated RFID for EPC compliance there was no native IBM System i solution on the market. As a result we installed IBM WebSphere RFID Premises Server which does not run on the IBM midrange server. When I learned of CYBRA's native solution I became convinced that EdgeMagic offered Shop-Vac a more fully functional System i implementation. We run Infor BPCS and Manhattan Associates Transportation Execution products on the IBM System i and EdgeMagic interfaces directly with these products. The EdgeMagic product supports Alien fixed readers, Symbol mobile readers, and Zebra RFID printers, the same hardware as WebSphere RFID Premises Server so by replacing the IBM product with the CYBRA product we gained a significant amount of flexibility particularly with regard to System i application software integration. EdgeMagic allows my team to add new functions with ease."

According to Harold Brand, CEO of CYBRA, "EdgeMagic seamlessly integrates RFID technology with the core IBM Power Systems business applications that run the bread and butter of manufacturing and distribution worldwide. Moreover, it is the framework for turning process data into real time, actionable business information at the point of activity. "

Brand continues: "CYBRA recently conducted a survey of more than 500 System i shops to learn of their plans for RFID. When asked "On which computing platform would you prefer RFID systems to be based?" The response was 63% for System i and only 16% for Windows. Of customers who run their WMS (Warehouse Management Systems) on the System i, the numbers are dramatic: only 10% of System i WMS customers prefer to run their RFID systems on a Windows, Linux, or Unix platform, while 79% prefer the System i."

Brand concludes: "System i customers overwhelmingly prefer the System i to PC for RFID for obvious reasons. The things that the System i excels at: generating EPC codes, printing RFID smart labels, generating manifests, defining business rules, and storing configurations are easier to manage on the System i because that's where the order and product information is. Add the System i's superior high availability, security, simplified systems management, and server consolidation, and long time System i customers see RFID as a business application that needs to be hosted on the same platform. Shop-Vac recognized this value and replaced the IBM WebSphere RFID Premises Server with EdgeMagic precisely because it runs on the IBM System i server."

About EdgeMagic Integrated RFID Control Software
EdgeMagic™ Integrated RFID Control Software for the IBM System i is designed to manage edge devices, read RFID tags easily integrates with System i ERP/WMS applications. EdgeMagic runs on application servers such as IBM WebSphere or Apache Tomcat, and although optimized for the IBM System i, EdgeMagic runs on other major computing platforms such as Microsoft Windows and Linux. Among the features included are:

  • Control of Readers and Edge Devices — EdgeMagic controls fixed and handheld RFID Readers, light stacks, sensors, message boards, and other edge devices. Supported readers include the Alien 9800 and 9860 Fixed Readers, the Intermec IF family of fixed readers, Motorola/Symbol XR440 and XR450 Fixed Readers and the Motorola/Symbol MC-9090G Mobile RFID Computer.
  • Complete Tag Commissioning — EdgeMagic includes EPCGlobal Gen 2 SGTIN-96, SSCC-96, DOD-96 and other RFID Tag encoding without programming.
  • MarkMagic Print Engine — EdgeMagic includes the award-winning MarkMagic print engine which supports RFID smart label printers and printer applicators from Avery Dennison/Paxar/Monarch, Datamax, IBM, Intermec, SATO, Printronix, and Zebra.
  • Business Logic Engine — EdgeMagic includes a Business Logic Engine to filter what information ERP and WMS applications need from the raw stream of RFID reads.
  • RFID Tag Validation and Association of Cases to Pallets — EdgeMagic manages pallet and case relationships to retain the integrity of transport units with load units.
  • Major ERP/WMS Package Interfaces — EdgeMagic retrieves item, pack, and order information from such leading ERP/WMS packages as Infor BPCS, VAI S2K Enterprise Management Software and JD Edwards to generate SGTIN-96 and SSCC-96 carton and pallet tags, and verify cartons and pallets to order details.
  • Geiger Counter Function — EdgeMagic includes a Handheld Geiger Counter function for locating missing assets. As the operator gets closer to the RFID tag, the handheld beeps louder and louder to lead the operator to the correct tagged item.
  • Google Map and Google Earth Integration — EdgeMagic includes tools for extracting geospatial data from RFID data (combined with ERP and WMS data) to integrate with Google Maps and Google Earth and allow customers to see where orders are in the supply chain (or where tagged assets are located) on a map or satellite image.

About CYBRA
CYBRA Corporation is a world leader in bar code and RFID technology for IBM midrange systems. An IBM Business Partner and Motorola/Symbol Partner, CYBRA is represented by a network of value added resellers throughout the United States and has international sales and support offices.

MarkMagic™ Bar Code Labels, RFID Tags and Forms Software is used by thousands of AS/400 and System i customers worldwide, and has been selected as the bar code print engine of such leading System i software developers as Manhattan Associates™, Infor™ and VAI™.

CYBRA's latest product, EdgeMagic™ is the only integrated RFID control solution for the IBM System i, but is not only for the System i. EdgeMagic helps customers comply with the full range of RFID mandates as well as closed loop RFID applications.

CYBRA Corporation is located at One Executive Boulevard, Yonkers, NY 10701. Product information is available toll free at 1-800-CYBRA-88. CYBRA's web site is located at www.cybra.com. To request information via e-mail, write to: info@cybra.com

About Shop-Vac
Shop-Vac® Corporation is the recognized world leader in wet/dry vacuum cleaners. For more than 40 years, Shop-Vac® Corporation has manufactured innovative, high quality vacuum cleaners and accessories. Shop-Vac® Corporation offers the most complete line of vacuum cleaners and accessories available for consumer, industrial and commercial applications. Customers associate the Shop-Vac® brand with dependability and the ability to handle the toughest cleaning jobs.

Product information is available at (570) 326-0502. The company's web site is located at http://www.shopvac.com

SOURCE: CYBRA Corporation