PART ONE of a talk with Bob Scher, CEO of Dynasys in Clearwater, Fla., Auto ID system integrator and leading distributor of Texas Instruments RFID products.
Bob, I know you have been in the RFID business longer than many others out there. Have you seen the mission applications looking for change over the years?
SCHER: Yes. I think the requests for them are becoming more realistic.
In the past, people would read these superficial articles on what they thought RFID could do and had unrealistic expectations. What they were expecting to happen for their price point wasn’t realistic. Today, I believe the potential customers are more in line with the realistic expectations and price points.
Are people now saying, “I would like to do such and such and I think RFID would help me?” Or is it more, “I have a problem, can you help me?”
SCHER: Yes to both. I have always been approached by both types of customers. I really prefer a customer that says I have a problem; you have the solution. If the customers come at me with, “I want to use RFID,” I try to back them out of that and qualify what they really want to do.
How do you describe your company?
SCHER: We call ourselves automatic data collection. And that could be anything. It could be bar code, magnetic stripe, or touch memory, RFID, various other technologies. What we do is we collect data automatically through any means by which we can and then process that information.
What types of people recognize that they have a need for automatic data solutions, you know, someone who says I need that?
SCHER: Well, they don’t normally come to me and say; I have an automatic data collection problem. You know, they typically will come to me and say, I need to track X; or I am losing equipment; or I have a theft and security problem; or I need a more efficient way to track and trace.
Those are typically the type of words they would throw at me rather than saying, hey, I have an automatic data collection problem, which they do.
I know that recently you have gotten involved in some unique activities involving data collection and laboratory animals. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
SCHER: You know, in medical research it is a well known fact that laboratory animals are used for experimentation, for helping come up with cures for diseases, and testing for pharmaceuticals, different consumables that people use.
These laboratory animals, they are not the type of animals you find in a pet store. These are genetically engineered clones. They are very carefully engineered animals. These are basically animals that are specifically generated, produced, manufactured for a particular need.
If you are doing a test on, say a certain type of blood cancer, they would create a genetically engineered strain of mice that would be susceptible to certain types of diseases. And they would manufacture thousands of exactly that mouse – clones. These animals now are used for the testing.
These animals have to be housed somewhere. These universities, research facilities, pharmaceutical companies, they literally have tens of thousands of mice being housed in animal care facilities; and they have to track them.
Now are you injecting these critters, like they do with the lost dogs?
SCHER: No, these are not injectable transponders.
We put RFID transponders in their cages. There are literally hundreds, maybe a thousand cages per room, with many rooms in the facility. Some of these facilities are five story buildings. They are like giant five star hotels for animals.
And these cages, specifically rodent cages for genetically engineered mice and rats, each cage has its own individual air conditioning system. They don’t breathe each other’s air. They are totally isolated in these sterile environments. Each mouse is being tracked to make sure that they are fed properly, are cleaned and they have a proper stable environment, that they have fresh air and their air is not cross contaminating with other mice.
Now are there sensors involved in this?
SCHER: We don’t get involved in sensors. They are certain sensors and the investigators that are doing the research may use printed sensors that could monitor blood pressure, or other biometric parameters of the animal, itself.
I don’t do monitors. And sensors are not on my tags.
How, if you have a number of rodents in one of these cages, in one particular cage --
SCHER: No, no, there are typically individual rodents in each cage.
So, with one rodent in a cage, the tag would say what type of breeding or species it was. But, what about changes in the data? Does it record different data during the course of the experiment?
SCHER: The tag, itself is a license tag, just like is on your car, that has a unique number. That number is associated in the database with all the data with that animal.
That particular number is very specifically called a protocol. This protocol is related to a specification and a procedure that is adhered to. And this is a protocol that comes down from the funding agency that is funding the research.
Sure.
SCHER: And the principal investigator, the doctor, who is performing this research has to follow the procedure to the letter on what procedure he is going to use on that animal; how that animal is going to be treated; how he is going to collect the data in his experiment; how he is going to report the data. Everything from the beginning to end of his research has to follow the exact procedure.
Therefore, you might have a rodent in one cage that is test group; and then the other cage gets a particular serum; and maybe the third cage gets a particular diet; is that the type of information that they put on the tag?
SCHER: No, it is not on the tag. The tag is nothing more than a protocol number. Like a license tag.
Who manages the database?
SCHER: All of the data that is accumulated is either in the database itself, or the researcher is keeping that data in his own records; but it is all associated back to that particular cage number.
Part Two tomorrow will discuss the problems solved and the business gains from this track and trace process.
