TrueVUE Platform from Vue Technologies

In my research on the RFID middleware market, I came across a number of vendors that were new to me. In a series of articles, I will provide a short overview of these products. The seventh of these is Vue Technologies.

Vue Technologies were founded in 2001. Their headquarters are in Lake Forest, California, USA. They have no other offices in the world. Currently they have a partnership with a small number of hardware vendors that include: Alien, Avery Denison, and Motorola. Vue have an ISV partnership with Click Commerce. They also have technical partnerships with Verisign. Their main SI relationship is with IBM Global Services.

The TrueVUE Platfrom consists of the following components:

• VUEPoints: These “smart surfaces” combine UHF antennas with RF networking capabilities to create intelligent RFID read points throughout a location. They come in many form factors and are designed to provide visibility in different areas, including on shelves, in up stock or down stock locations, on counters, in receiving areas and more.
• TrueVUE RF Networking: these use a patented approach to manage readers and antennas, so that standard RFID readers can read across thousands of antennas.
• TrueVUE Site Manager: is Vue’s RFID Network, Device and Data Management software for use at individual site locations. Site Manager integrates planogram, product, and SKU data to support streamlining replenishment and misplaced workflows.
• TrueVUE Enterprise Manager: provides central management capabilities for a distributed RFID Network. Organisations can push network and device configuration to the sites. Data collected at individual sites is “rolled up” to Enterprise Manager, providing visibility into the RFID and workflow data across all sites.
• TrueVUE Exchange: provides a development interface layer to enable users to build custom applications, reports, and workflows based upon this RFID data. It uses standards-based technologies, including web services, JMS messaging and ALE interfaces.
• TrueVUE Essentials / Essentials Mobile: provides “out-of-box” RFID workflow and reporting applications, to the desktop or mobile devices. The workflows span key areas including receiving, returns, re-stocking, misplaced inventory correction, product searches and expiry monitoring.
• TrueVUE Commissioning: is centralised EPC commissioning application designed for use across numerous sites, companies, and products. It provides an EPC number management system and RFID tracking repository.

Key findings
In the opinion of Bloor Research the following represent the key facts of which prospective users should be aware:

• Site Manager goes further than the majority of RFID middleware products, in that it manages RFID infrastructure down to the individual antenna level.