Checkpoint Systems, Impinj and Reva Systems Enable World's First End-to-End UHF Item-level RFID Shopping Experience for METRO Group

Checkpoint Systems, Impinj and Reva Systems Enable World's First End-to-End UHF Item-level RFID Shopping Experience for METRO Group

September 20, 2007

Galeria Kaufhof Unveils End-to-End Apparel Inventory
Solution with Unified UHF Gen 2 RFID Infrastructure


    HONG KONG, Sept. 20 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Leading
radio frequency identification (RFID) solution providers
Checkpoint Systems, Impinj, Inc., and Reva Systems today
announced a breakthrough item-level tagging retail apparel
implementation. The companies joined forces in METRO
Group's Future Store Initiative to enable the first
complete supplier distribution to in-store point-of-sale
RFID deployment using UHF Gen 2 standards-based systems.
The implementation for METRO Group's high-end Galeria
Kaufhof department store in Essen, Germany is a milestone
for the retail industry, delivering consumer-facing RFID
applications that are integrated from the distribution
center to retail smart shelves and cashier checkout
stations.

    This deployment addresses METRO Group's vision of
real-time inventory management at Galeria Kaufhof stores
and is the next step in years of pioneering RFID effort and
successful collaboration among RFID innovators. It is the
first live RFID implementation to use the full suite of
evolved EPCglobal standards, including Gen 2 tags &
readers, fixed and handheld readers running low-level
reader protocol (LLRP) for communications with the local
network, and application level events (ALE) to pass clean
formatted RFID data to the application layer, which uses an
EPCIS implementation to facilitate RFID data sharing, mining
and analytics.

    Galeria Kaufhof has been using RFID in logistics and
warehouse pilots since 2003, and is determined to leverage
its wealth of item-level tag data to deliver an improved
retail shopping experience. This significant implementation
covers a wide breadth of applications including: 

    * Inbound goods receipt

    * Back room real-time inventory management

    * Fixed and handheld readers tracking real-time sales
floor inventory

    * A Smart Mirror showing complementary clothing choices
or accessories 

    * Smart Shelves with monitors indicating available
garment size and 
      style choices

    * In-aisle product information triggered by scanning
items 

    * RFID-enabled point-of-sale terminals delivering
efficient checkout

    The store's integrated solution elements and features
include:

    * At METRO Group's Neuss warehouse, tagged goods are
read and recorded by 
      Checkpoint Systems' RFID/UHF hanging conveyor and
packing table antennas, 
      as well as Checkpoint UHF dock-door portals.  Once at
the Galeria 
      Kaufhof store, garments are tracked using Checkpoint
portals in the 
      receiving area and stock room. Checkpoint has also
deployed its dual 
      EAS/RFID antennas for security monitoring at the
entry/exit and fitting 
      room areas, as well as point-of-service deactivation.
In addition, 
      Checkpoint will provide its system integration
expertise for the trial.

    * The Galeria Kaufhof RFID solution uses Impinj
Speedway(R) readers 
      exclusively for all in-store fixed read points, and
Impinj Monza(TM) tag 
      chips to power all tags used in the store.  Impinj
near-field UHF RFID 
      reader antennas in the smart shelves continuously
gather data from 
      tagged garments and accessories on the retail floor,
and Impinj point-
      of-sale displays provide immediate product
information to store 
      personnel at all sale terminals. 

    * Reva Systems provides centralized management
capabilities for Galeria 
      Kaufhof's RFID operations with the Tag Acquisition
Processor (TAP) 
      network infrastructure product. Reva's TAP is used to
centrally control 
      distributed RFID components including roughly 60
fixed and handheld 
      readers from different vendors; it also integrates
the RFID system with 
      multiple applications and back-office systems,
optimizing data capture 
      across all of Galeria Kaufhof's RFID operations. 

    "Galeria Kaufhof's deployment is the first
large-scale application of near-field UHF RFID to track
retail merchandise from distribution through
point-of-sale," said Michael Liard, Research Director,
RFID & Contactless, ABI Research.  "The newly
available EPCglobal standards support a unified UHF Gen 2
RFID infrastructure and, combined with innovative
technology, make such a real world solution
possible."

    "With this pilot we demonstrate how a department
store fully equipped with RFID on the item level can
work," said Dr. Christian Plenge, Head of Research and
Innovation of MGI METRO Group Information Technology.
Customers can see the benefits of item-level tagging in
consumer-oriented store applications such as intelligent
shelves, intelligent dressing rooms and product-aware
information kiosks. "The business benefit to us as
retailers is that an end-to-end RFID infrastructure at the
item level can fill the data void that exists between
products being received and products being sold,"
Plenge said. "We can now see products also in those
steps of our process chain which so far weren't illuminated
by the inventory management system."

    About Checkpoint Systems

    Checkpoint Systems, Inc. is the leading supplier of
retail shrink management solutions. Checkpoint's global
team helps retailers -- and their suppliers -- reduce
theft, increase inventory visibility and provide consumers
with greater merchandise availability through the company's
rapidly evolving RF technology, expanding shrink management
offerings and Check-Net labeling solutions. Checkpoint has
more than one million RF devices installed in stores today,
and since the advent of the modern retail age has secured
more than 100 billion products. Scaling cost-efficiently,
Checkpoint's solutions provide increased revenues and
profits to a fast-growing community of successful
retailers, and a superior experience for their consumers. 
Listed on the NYSE (NYSE: CKP), Checkpoint operates in
every geographic market and employs 3,200 people worldwide.
For more information, visit http://www.checkpointasiapac.com
.

    About Impinj, Inc.

    Impinj, Inc. is a semiconductor and RFID company whose
patented Self-Adaptive Silicon(R) technology enables two
synergistic business lines: high-performance RFID solutions
and semiconductor intellectual property (IP). Impinj is the
leading technical innovator in developing UHF RFID
solutions for both item-level and supply-chain tagging
worldwide. Impinj draws on its technical expertise and
industry partnerships to deliver the GrandPrix(TM) RFID
solution comprising high-performance tags, readers,
software, antennas, and systems integration. Impinj also
licenses innovative IP products to leading semiconductor
companies worldwide, allowing them to seamlessly integrate
crucial nonvolatile memory (NVM) alongside analog and
digital functionality on a single chip. Impinj's IP
products include the popular AEON(R) family of embeddable
cores, which provide rewriteable NVM technology in logic
CMOS manufacturing. For more information, visit
http://www.impinj.com .
    
    About Reva Systems 

    Reva Systems develops RFID network infrastructure
products that enable customers to rapidly deploy scalable
solutions using fixed and handheld readers from multiple
vendors in any environment. Reva's standards-based Tag
Acquisition Processor (TAP) products facilitate improved
system performance, manageability and accuracy while
significantly lessening implementation time and complexity.
RFID networks based on Reva TAPs deliver accurate data and
location information down to the plan-o-gram level in
retail, dock-door level in distribution and workstation
level in manufacturing facility implementations.  Reva
products are delivered by a global network of partners and
deployed worldwide by enterprises leveraging innovative
RFID applications to generate value in diverse industries.
Reva's corporate office is headquartered in Chelmsford,
Mass. with an EMEA headquarters in Dusseldorf, Germany. 
For more information, visit http://www.revasystems.com .

    Impinj, Speedway, Self-Adaptive Silicon, GrandPrix,
Monza, and AEON are either registered trademarks or
trademarks of Impinj, Inc. Reva, Reva Systems, and Tag
Acquisition Processor are registered trademarks of Reva
Systems Corporation. All other trademarks or registered
trademarks are the property of their respective owners.  


    For more information, please contact:

    Checkpoint Systems, Inc.
     Asia Pacific
     Natalie Chan
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]
     Web:   http://www.checkpointasiapac.com