February 2021 - rfxcel.com
Rfxcel Logo

Month: February 2021

rfxcel Enters into Acquisition Agreement with Antares Vision Group

Posted on by rfxadmin

The combination of rfxcel’s industry-leading traceability software platform and Antares Vision’s solutions for intelligent track and trace will create significant value for customers.

Reno, Nevada, Feb. 19, 2021 (EINPRESSWIRE). rfxcel, a global leader in digital supply chain traceability solutions, today announced that it had entered into an acquisition agreement with Italy’s Antares Vision Group, a leading global provider of intelligent track and trace, inspection, and smart data management solutions for the life sciences and food and beverage sectors.

rfxcel CEO Glenn Abood said the agreement marked the start of an expansive era for the company he co-founded with Chief Strategy Officer Jack Tarkoff in 2003. “This is an exciting new chapter for rfxcel,” he said, “a time for the company and our customers to look to the future.

“Becoming part of Antares Vision Group will give us new ways to strengthen our relationships with our customers and provide them with enhanced solutions as they do their important work in the life sciences, food and beverage, consumer goods, and government industries. Plus,” Abood continued, “the integration of our companies’ capabilities will enable us to drive into new markets and geographies as the undisputed leader in supply chain track and trace solutions. It really is a ‘win-win’ for our global teams and our customers.”

The Antares Vision Group will leverage rfxcel’s capabilities and signature rfxcel Traceability System (rTS) software suite to help customers accelerate their transition toward digital and sustainable supply chains characterized by full transparency and visibility. Together, the companies will provide a full stack, end-to-end digital supply chain solution that will optimize and streamline customers’ operations while providing complete end-to-end visibility, from product ingredients and raw materials to the end customer experience.

rTS is a digital supply chain visibility platform comprising up to eight discrete solutions that work in concert to harmonize, optimize, automate, and monitor virtually every aspect of supply chain operations, including serialization, regulatory compliance, Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled monitoring, and raw materials and finished goods traceability. rfxcel also offers a Mobile Traceability app that extends the power of rTS to users at every node of the supply chain, from remote fields and warehouses to retail outlets.

Emidio Zorzella, chairman and CEO of Antares Vision, said he and co-founder Massimo Bonardi were “delighted” about the agreement with rfxcel. “Demand for traceability and serialized products and services has increased significantly over the last few years,” he said, “and this transaction accelerates our ability to offer best-in-class propositions in all our key reference sectors, life science and food and beverage. We look forward to welcoming the management and employees of rfxcel to the Antares Vision Group and working together to serve our customers across the world.”

Abood added that both companies shared the same goals and Antares Vision would help rfxcel accelerate its plans. “The rfxcel management team is delighted to join with Antares Vision to offer customers the most complete end-to-end solution for track and trace on the market today.”

For more information about the acquisition agreement or the companies’ solutions, contact Herb Wong, rfxcel’s vice president of marketing and strategic initiatives, at hwong@rfxcel.com or 925-824-0300.

About rfxcel

Founded in 2003, rfxcel provides leading-edge software solutions to help companies build and manage their digital supply chain, lower costs, and protect their products and brand reputations. Blue-chip organizations in the life sciences (pharmaceuticals and medical devices), food and beverage, worldwide government, and consumer goods industries trust rfxcel’s signature Traceability System (rTS) to power end-to-end supply chain solutions in key areas such as track and trace, environmental monitoring, regulatory compliance, serialization, and visibility. The company is headquartered in the United States and has offices in the United Kingdom, the EU, Latin America, Russia, India, Japan, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region.

About Antares Vision

Listed since April 2019 on the AIM Italia market of the Italian Stock Exchange, Antares Vision Group guarantees the protection of products, people and brands through inspection systems for quality control, track and trace solutions for anti-counterfeiting and supply chain transparency, smart data management tools for maximized efficiency and digitalization of the supply chain, from the point of production to the end consumer. The Antares Vision Group is active in the life science sector, including the pharmaceutical, medical device, and hospital segments, as well as in other industries, including, primarily, food and beverage, cosmetics, and in consumer-packaged goods. The Group reaches over 60 countries worldwide with complete and flexible solutions, hardware, and software, with related services: it has five offices in Italy (Brescia, Parma, Piacenza, Latina and Vicenza), 15 foreign branches (Germany [2], France [2], USA [3], Latin America [2], India, Russia, Hong Kong, China, Croatia, and Serbia), three Innovation and Research Centers (Italy) and a worldwide network of more than 40 partners. With the 20 years of experience in vision technologies of the two founding partners, the Antares Vision Group is the supplier of 10 of the 20 leading pharmaceutical companies in the world (by turnover), with more than 25,000 inspection systems, which ensure everyday product safety and quality, 6,500 quality controls, and more than 3,500 serialization modules on lines installed all over the world. With the aim of continuing and supporting the growth and development strategy, during 2019, Antares Vision finalized participation agreements with T2 Software, a Brazilian company specialized in smart data management solutions, and Orobix, an Italian company leader in artificial intelligence services, and acquired 100 percent of FT System, leader in control and inspection in the beverage sector. In 2020, Antares Vision acquired 82.83 percent of Tradeticity, a Croatian company specialized in software management of traceability and serialization processes, 100 percent of Convel, an Italian company specialized in automated inspection machines for the pharmaceutical industry, the assets of Adents High Tech International, a French company specialized in software for serialization and traceability, and 100 percent of Applied Vision, a global leader in inspection systems for glass and metal containers in food and beverage. In 2019, Emidio Zorzella and Massimo Bonardi won the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” award for innovation. For more info: www.antaresvision.com.

What Does the EU COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Plan Look Like?

Posted on by rfxadmin

The EU announced its COVID-19 vaccine strategy on June 17, 2020. Among other things, it called for ensuring the quality, safety, and efficacy of vaccines, securing quick access to vaccines, and ensuring equitable access to an affordable vaccine as early as possible. It also called for adapting the EU’s regulatory framework and taking advantage of regulatory flexibility to address the urgent need.

Let’s take a look at what the EU has said about its COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan and answer some frequently asked questions about its vaccine administration.

What vaccines are being used in the EU?

The European Commission says it wants to “build a diversified portfolio of vaccines based on different technologies, to increase the chances that one or more of the vaccine candidates are approved by EMA.”

The EU authorized the BioNTech-Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on December 21, 2020, and the Moderna vaccine on January 6, 2021. It did this after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) assessed their safety, quality, and efficacy.

On January 8, the Commission reported that it had concluded contracts for 600 million doses of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine and 160 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine. It also reported securing contracts for millions of doses from AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK, Johnson and Johnson, and CureVac, and that it had concluded “exploratory talks” with Novavax and Valneva.

Then, on January 29, the Commission announced that AstraZeneca agreed to publish the redacted contract it signed on August 27, 2020, and that CureVac agreed to publish the Advance Purchase Agreement with the EU.

The Commission says it has secured more than 2.3 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines, adding that if all the vaccine candidates are found to be safe and effective, EU Member States could donate part of their doses to lower- and middle-income countries.

Who will receive the vaccine and when?

As of January 8, the EU said that all Member States would have access to COVID-19 vaccines at the same time, based on the size of their population. On January 29, the Commission enacted a measure requiring Member States to authorize vaccine exports, stating this will “ensure timely access to COVID-19 vaccines for all EU citizens and … tackle the current lack of transparency of vaccine exports outside the EU.”

The Commission says the number of doses will be limited during the initial stages the immunization effort and before production can be ramped up. As in other countries, authorities have said that there will not be enough doses to vaccinate everybody right away; it will take time.

Most members have defined who will get the vaccine first and are further refining sub-groups to assign priority. Frontline healthcare professionals and people over 80 years old top the lists. For more insight about the rollout, see this December 2020 report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control about preparedness in the EU, the European Economic Area, and the UK. The Centre also has a useful “Situation Update” page that tracks the pandemic in the EU.

Vaccine supplies will increase over time, the Commission says, and all adults should be able to get vaccinated during 2021. It predicts that at least 80 percent of people over the age of 80 and 80 percent of health and social care professionals should be vaccinated by March 2021. By this summer, the Commission says 70 percent of the EU’s adult population should be vaccinated. These projections, however, are probably optimistic, as the rollout has been slow and fewer doses than expected have been delivered.

Final thoughts

As we said in our blog post about COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the United States, the world is in an “all hands on deck” situation. We like to think we’ve been part of the effort since the pandemic began.

In April 2020, we joined the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition, offering our Accurate Immunization Management (AIM) and rfxcel Integrated Monitoring (rIM) solutions. rIM is a real-time environmental monitoring solution that uses Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled devices to monitor products while they’re in transit; it’s a powerful, ideal solution for the pharma cold chain, which is vital to vaccine distribution.

AIM ensures that the right person gets the right vaccine at the right time. It can track COVID-19 vaccines — indeed, any vaccine — in any supply chain, monitor inventory, and facilitate safe, timely delivery to any location. We designed AIM to be fast, flexible, and compliant in any country. At a time when the world is depending on supply chains to function at peak performance, AIM is a tool to help get vaccines properly delivered and dispensed.

Furthermore, our signature rfxcel Traceability System has proven itself in the pharma supply chain, helping ensure products are safe and legitimate and that consumers know exactly what they’re getting. Contact us today to learn more our solutions and how we can help you secure your supply chain, no matter what industry you’re in or where you do business.

How the COVID-19 Vaccine Track and Trace Systems Work in the United States

Posted on by rfxadmin

On December 11, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization for a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. The Pfizer vaccine was the first vaccine made available to the public, followed by Moderna’s vaccine.

There are many challenges for U.S. track and trace systems monitoring COVID-19 vaccine shipments. There’s also the additional challenge of keeping tabs on who receives the vaccine and when, especially as the program is being conducted through both state and federal data networks.

Let’s take a look at how the United States is implementing its track and trace systems and address the unique challenges of vaccine distribution.

What track and trace systems are the United States using?

The United States is using federal immune registry systems and connecting them with a new project called the Immunization Gateway, or IZ Gateway. Put simply, the system enables providers, consumers, and other stakeholders to exchange immunization data. It’s sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Immunization Information Systems Support Branch and led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Chief Technology Officer.

IZ Gateway connects 64 Immunization Information Systems (IIS), which consolidate and “deduplicate” immunization information. IIS also have forecasting algorithms that can help people stay current on their vaccines. The IZ Gateway’s centralized technical infrastructure facilitates data exchange through an intelligent message router that connects the IIS to one another, connects large multi-jurisdictional provider organizations to the IIS, and connects the IIS to consumers.

The HHS says the IZ Gateway “aims to increase the availability and volume of complete and accurate immunization data stored within IIS and available to providers and consumers regardless of their jurisdictional boundaries.” Prisons and veteran’s affairs hospitals are also connected to the system.

The main challenge to the U.S. track and trace system

As we know, tracking and tracing the COVID-19 vaccine isn’t an easy task. There have been a variety of concerns, including securing pharma cold chain infrastructure and providing track and trace technology with real-time environmental monitoring, such as our rfxcel Integrated Monitoring solution.

However, two challenges have remained at the forefront of the conversation: the sheer scale of the immunization effort and the two-dose requirement. Although the IZ Gateway creates a nationwide network that can track if a person has received more than one dose, government, providers, and every other vested stakeholder should anticipate mistakes and inaccuracies and do everything within their power to optimize vaccine distribution and administration.

rfxcel’s Accurate Immunization Management (AIM) is one solution that can help. AIM is an automated, cloud-based solution that tracks the dispensing of vaccines in the supply chain. It seamlessly integrates with IIS, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Allscripts, Nextgen, Urochart, Meridian, and iSalus, adding another layer of track and trace protection to vaccine distribution.

Final thoughts

COVID-19 vaccine distribution is an “all hands on deck” situation. Our signature rfxcel Traceability System has proven itself time and again in the pharma supply chain, helping ensure products are safe and legitimate and that consumers know exactly what they’re getting.

Now, AIM ensures that the right person gets the right vaccine at the right time. It can track COVID-19 vaccines — indeed, any vaccine — in any supply chain, monitor inventory, and facilitate safe, timely delivery to any location. We designed AIM to be fast, flexible, and compliant in any country. At a time when the world is depending on supply chains to function at peak performance, AIM is a tool to help get vaccines properly delivered and dispensed.

Contact us today to learn more about AIM, our rfxcel Traceability System and rfxcel Integrated Monitoring, and our other supply chain solutions.

rfxcel Ready to Help Dairy Industry Comply with Russia’s 2021 Serialization Regulations

Posted on by rfxadmin

rfxcel’s track and trace solutions ensure companies operating in Russia’s dairy market can comply with dairy serialization regulations being rolled out in 2021

Reno, Nevada (Feb. 11, 2021). rfxcel, the global leader in digital supply chain traceability solutions, today announced that it was prepared to ensure companies operating in Russia’s dairy market could comply with serialization regulations being rolled out in 2021.

Mandatory serialization of cheeses and cottage cheese and ice cream and food ice is set to begin on June 1, 2021. These are the first dairy products required to be serialized in Russia’s National Track and Trace Digital System, known as Chestny ZNAK. Companies were allowed to begin labeling these goods as early as January 20, but the regulations will not go into full effect until June.

Furthermore, dairy products with a shelf life of more than 40 days and fewer than 40 days are required to be serialized beginning September 1 and  December 1, respectively. The regulations apply to several product categories, including milk and cream, buttermilk and fermented milk products, and dairy products for baby food.

rfxcel CEO Glenn Abood said the company had been preparing for the dairy regulations since an industry pilot was announced in 2019. “The long and short of it is that we’re always prepared to help companies in any industry navigate Russia’s strict and complex regulations,” he said. “We committed ourselves to being the leader in Chestny ZNAK compliance when the system was created a little more than four years ago, and our team in Moscow has followed its rollout, the evolution of the regulations, and the pilots for different industries, including dairy. We knew what was coming, so we’re ready to go.”

The dairy pilot ran between July 2019 and the end of 2020. During that time rfxcel earned official partner status in 10 of the 11 industries for which the Center for Research in Perspective Technologies (CRPT), which operates Chestny ZNAK, had chosen partners. It also tripled the size of its Moscow-based team and continues to be one of only a few solutions providers with active implementations in Russia.

Abood said the CRPT designations and success of the Moscow team had solidified rfxcel’s status as the leader in Russian compliance. “We’ve taken our rfxcel Traceability System, which includes solutions for serialization and compliance, into Russia and enabled companies in the pharmaceutical and consumer goods spaces meet deadlines, adapt to changes, stay compliant, and keep their supply chains moving. It’s been quite exciting, actually, and we’re looking forward to helping dairy companies have the same kind of success.”

Enacted by Federal Law No. 425-FZ on December 29, 2017, Chestny ZNAK was designed to protect consumers by keeping fake and substandard products out of the market. As envisioned, by 2024 it will transform the Russian supply chain and affect virtually every industry, from pharmaceuticals to baby food.

To learn more about rfxcel’s operations in Russia and its solutions for dairy, pharma, consumer goods, and other industries, contact Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Initiatives Herb Wong at hwong@rfxcel.com and visit rfxcel.com.

About rfxcel

Founded in 2003, rfxcel provides leading-edge software solutions to help companies build and manage their digital supply chain, lower costs, and protect their products and brand reputations. Blue-chip organizations in the life sciences (pharmaceuticals and medical devices), food and beverage, worldwide government, and consumer goods industries trust rfxcel’s signature Traceability System (rTS) to power end-to-end supply chain solutions in key areas such as track and trace, environmental monitoring, regulatory compliance, serialization, and visibility. The company is headquartered in the United States and has offices in the United Kingdom, the EU, Latin America, Russia, India, Japan, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region.

rfxcel and Digimarc Partner to Innovate and Improve Digital Supply Chain Capabilities

Posted on by rfxadmin

Partnership expands solutions for track and trace, brand protection, consumer engagement, and sustainability

Reno, Nevada, and Beaverton, Ore., Feb. 2, 2021 (EINPRESSWIRE). rfxcel, the global leader in digital supply chain traceability solutions, and Digimarc Corporation (Nasdaq: DMRC), a provider of software and services for automatic identification, today announced a partnership to provide a robust digital supply chain solution for track and trace, brand protection, personalized consumer engagement, and sustainability.

The partnership will leverage the Digimarc Platform, featuring Digimarc Barcode, in support of rfxcel’s signature Traceability System (rTS) and Mobile Traceability app.

Digimarc Barcode is a proprietary method for imperceptibly enhancing packaging, labels, corrugate, and other materials with data that can be detected by devices such as phones, computers, barcode scanners, and high-speed inspection systems. Data is redundantly applied across an entire product package or label, for example, dramatically increasing scanning speed and success rates.

rTS is a digital supply chain visibility platform with discrete solutions for serialization, compliance, Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled monitoring, and raw materials and finished goods traceability. rfxcel’s Mobile Traceability app adds unique data capture features such as barcode scanning, geo-location, audio, and video, and extends the power of rTS to users at every node of the supply chain, from remote fields and warehouses to retail outlets.

“At the heart of it, our partnership with Digimarc is about innovating the digital supply chain,” said rfxcel CEO and Co-Founder Glenn Abood. “We live in a world of connected products and people; Digimarc Barcode and our rTS platform deliver the ‘one-two punch’ of truly optimized data capture, then using that data for real-time track and trace and to safeguard products, boost brand protection and awareness, and connect with consumers.”

rfxcel has integrated Digimarc’s data capture software into rTS and its Mobile Traceability app, enabling accurate, complete, and timely data to be delivered to supply chain decision-makers. Digimarc’s scanning software easily handles challenging scanning situations such as glare and reflection, motion blurring, low contrast, and poor camera alignment.

“We are excited to partner with rfxcel to help customers transform their business with automatic identification and detection,” said Digimarc Vice President Sales and Business Development Brian O’Sullivan. “rfxcel and Digimarc help consumer brands, industrial goods manufacturers, and similar companies protect their products from counterfeiters, streamline their supply chain operations, reach their sustainability goals, and reduce risk from product recalls.”

Working together, the companies’ technologies will improve data capture and product security, allowing users to build an indelible provenance for virtually any product in any location. The accuracy and flexibility of their solutions create a powerful system that yields better data and better insights, delivering on the promises of a digital supply chain, including:

  • Providing an imperceptible code for brand protection that is difficult to counterfeit
  • Delivering faster and more accurate scanning for track and trace, recall management, and other supply chain operations
  • Reducing waste and ink usage to help meet sustainability goals
  • Yielding personalized customer engagement

For more information about the rfxcel–Digimarc partnership or the companies’ solutions, contact Herb Wong, rfxcel’s vice president of marketing and strategic initiatives, at hwong@rfxcel.com or 925-824-0300.

About rfxcel

Founded in 2003, rfxcel provides leading-edge software solutions to help companies build and manage their digital supply chain, lower costs, and protect their products and brand reputations. Blue-chip organizations in the life sciences (pharmaceuticals and medical devices), food and beverage, worldwide government, and consumer goods industries trust rfxcel’s signature Traceability System (rTS) to power end-to-end supply chain solutions in key areas such as track and trace, environmental monitoring, regulatory compliance, serialization, and visibility. The company is headquartered in the United States and has offices in the United Kingdom, the EU, Latin America, Russia, India, Japan, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region.

About Digimarc

Digimarc Corporation (Nasdaq: DMRC) is a pioneer in the automatic identification of media, including packaging, other commercial print, digital images, audio and video. The Digimarc Platform takes industry beyond the barcode, providing innovative and comprehensive automatic identification software and services to simplify search and transform information discovery through unparalleled reliability, efficiency and security. The Digimarc Platform enables applications that benefit retailers and consumer brands, national and state government agencies, media and entertainment industries, and others. Digimarc is based in Beaverton, Oregon, with a growing supplier network around the world. Visit digimarc.com and follow us @digimarc to learn more about The Barcode of Everything®.

rfxcel is part of
Rfxcel Logo

© 2024 ANTARES VISION S.p.A. - Via Del Ferro, 16 - 25039 Travagliato - Brescia - ITALY Tel.: +39-030-7283500 / Fax.: +39-030-5109958 / info@antaresvision.com - C/F PIVA: 02890871201 Registro Imprese di Brescia C.C.I.A.A. di Brescia (REA) n. 523277