Ken Laing, VP of Sales at Magellan Technology Pty Ltd in Australia, sows how RFID can even make sense after centuries of tradition.

What is PJM?

PJM stands for Phase Jitter Modulation and is a method for modulating a carrier wave to allow for the signaling of data. It can be thought of as similar to Frequency Modulation (FM, as used on a radio) however it is far more efficient and allows for much faster data rates.

What distinguishes it from other RFID apps in the same frequency?

Other RFID technologies operating at 13.56MHz were designed for applications where single tag reads were required, such as access control. Magellan developed PJM specifically for item level tagging where the application would require many hundreds of tags to be identified – both read and write almost simultaneously; and also where the likelihood of tags touching, overlapping or stacked was very high. This is important in some of the markets we’re in like gaming, jewelry, health and document management

Either PJM is already a “category of” technology or you expect it to be. How do you position it?

Our experience is that it is very difficult to sell RFID; people must see a need in their business and then come looking for the solution. Health and life sciences is a good example. One company realized RFID could greatly improve the stock management of medical implants sent to hospitals on a consignment basis.

We are now dealing with all the major players in that market as PJM is the only RFID technology that will do the job. The market is developing by word of mouth, from one customer to another, however it does take time

We have written about some jewelry apps, but I have never asked: where do you put the tags?

For diamond stones, tags are placed inside the envelopes they are stored in and for rings, necklaces or bracelets, the tag is folded around the piece,

Is this always for internal asset tracking? Do you see retailers, wholesalers or manufacturers using it?

Magellan’s RFID is currently in use in the diamond industry in New York and Antwerp with tagged packets of diamonds moved between manufacturer to wholesaler and then onto the retailer. This system has been in place for four years, however the industry guards its privacy and little publicity exists. I am confident that as RFID becomes more widely adopted its use in the retailing space will become more common.

Do you ever see a day where there is so much use in commercial jewelry that it goes from asset tracking to supply chain?

As I mentioned, this has already happened in select jewelry markets such as diamonds. The jewelry supply chain is no different to any other supply chain. They all contain a retail component and the retailers will always say that they have no money for new technology.

Retailers need to be convinced that not only will RFID provide better stock management and control by leveraging off their IT investment, but they can also save money. As soon as the CFO or finance director is prepared to sign off, then the deals get done. This will happen for RFID; but it will just take time.

Being a New Yorker by birth and inclination, I can’t help but ask, what kind of reactions do you get from the Hasidim on 57th Street, center of the diamond trade?

I have mentioned the diamond industry a few times and I am very familiar with 57th Street, having spent many hours being searched before being admitted into an office. The reaction is quite amazing when surrounded by such tradition.

The business of buying, cutting, polishing and selling diamonds has not changed for many years. These old practices relied on handwritten stock records and when the average wholesale diamond merchant has 20,000 stones, stock management is almost impossible.

The introduction of our RFID technology allowed for individual stones to be tracked throughout the factory. Manifests of diamond stocks could be checked in seconds by putting the boxes in the small tunnel reader, instead of the many hours it used to take. A full stock take takes 3 hours in lieu of 3 days. I am treated like a respected old friend when I visit.