White Paper: The High Definition Enterprise

The first wave of UHF RFID implementations 5 years ago proved the technology was limited, experimental deployments, often relying on manual tuning, custom middleware, and consulting help to get the job done. Most of these early projects overcame their challenges to demonstrate RFID solutions that tracked products, accelerate inventory flows, and boost productivity for big-box retailers, worldclass manufacturers, logistics providers and others up and down the supply chain.

But the early need to get the technology running in limited deployments postponed the full impact of what RFID could bring to a new enterprise process innovation revolution. Those early RFID implementations lacked the operational framework and rich software applications needed to turn raw information into actionable business intelligence—limiting the technology's contribution to ERP and other legacy information systems.

The second phase of UHF RFID is now underway. RFID solutions are maturing into a new generation of enterprise applications capable of managing the accelerated, higher fidelity, real-time needs that companies are demanding. Incorporating enterprise-spanning collaboration, analytic, and platform architectures, these applications are driving the emergence of what Xterprise calls the High-Definition Enterprise™ (HDE). The high-definition transformation occurs when an enterprise begins to capture granular data and use it to control and innovate critical processes in real time. By innovating business processes that extract maximum value from up-to-the-minute information, the High-Definition Enterprise creates, sustains, and continuously improves its efficiency and performance.