Auto-ID Lab, Cambridge University

Cambridge Auto-ID Lab is one of seven labs world wide leading research efforts in the area of Automated Identification and tracking / tracing of objects in the supply chain. The Lab has been involved in this area since 2000 when it joined the ground breaking Auto ID Center project (1999-2003) which has driven numerous industry mandates in the adoption of RFID technology. Auto-ID Labs at Cambridge is a part of the Distributed Information and Automation Laboratory, which is based within the Institute for Manufacturing within the Department of Engineering of the University of Cambridge. The lab focuses on the integration of RFID, other ID technologies and fine-grained traceability information into industrial environments. Specific research themes include: Reduction in the uncertainty of RFID deployment Methodologies for tracking and tracing objects Management of product information networks Quantification of the impact of RFID introduction RFID integration with sensing and automation systems The Cambridge Lab is involved in projects examining these issues in the context of the industrial supply chain and automated management of industrial assets. The Lab works closely with other labs based at MIT (USA), St Gallen/ETH Zurich (Switzerland), Keio, KAIST (Korea), Fudan (China) and Adelaide (Australia). History of Auto-ID Labs Founded in 1999, the Auto-ID Center was a unique partnership between almost 100 global companies and seven of the world's leading research universities; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, the University of Cambridge in the UK, the University of Adelaide in Australia, Keio University in Japan, the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, Fudan University in China and KAIST (formerly ICU) in Korea. Together with the GS1 EPCglobal community and industrial partners, they are creating the standards and assembling the building blocks needed to create an "Internet of things." Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a simple concept with enormous implications. Put a tag - a microchip with an antenna - on a can of Coke or a car axle, and suddenly a computer can "see" it. Put tags on every can of Coke and every car axle, and suddenly the world changes. No more inventory counts. No more lost or misdirected shipments. No more guessing how much material is in the supply chain - or how much product is on the store shelves. Since 2003, the Auto-ID Labs work with the GS1 EPCglobal community and industrial partners to design, build, test and deploy a global infrastructure - a layer on top of the Internet - that will make it possible for computers to identify any object anywhere in the world instantly and gather and exchange information related to that specific object. This network will not only provide the means to feed reliable, accurate, real-time information into existing business applications; it will usher in a whole new era of innovation and opportunity.