NXP to Supply RFID Smart Label ICs to Metro Group

NXP Semiconductors has announced that retailing company METRO Group has selected smart labels using NXP’s UCODE G2XL RFID chips without user memory for supply chain management. The retailer will use UPM Raflatac RFID tags powered by UCODE G2XL chips on pallet level in its operational RFID rollout of Metro Cash & Carry wholesale stores in Germany. The chips will also be used in METRO Group’s case- level trial in Germany.

“Together with the European EPC Competence Center (EECC), we thoroughly tested the NXP UCODE G2XL chips in supply chain management scenarios, and we welcome the lean version of the chips,” said Dr. Gerd Wolfram, managing director of MGI METRO Group Information Technology. “This product without user memory absolutely fits our strategy of using EDI and EPC standards. Moreover we found that transponders using the NXP chips delivered best-in-class performance, providing the best sensitivity on a very broad variety of materials.”

Dr. Wolfram added, “Item-level tags using the NXP UCODE G2XL chips also demonstrated the best performance when used in close proximity to each other – a key requirement for several applications. We’ve been particularly pleased with the support and insight we’ve gained through the NXP Reference Design Center in Austria, an outstanding facility that has enabled us to evaluate and optimize our RFID solutions, by recreating real-world scenarios.”

“With unsurpassed UHF performance in real-world environments, the NXP UCODE G2XM and G2XL chips are steadily gaining momentum with companies throughout the supply chain,” said Steve Owen, vice president, sales and marketing, Identification, NXP Semiconductors. “We are extremely pleased to see METRO Group, a leader in international retail, actively implementing smart tags and labels based on our industry-leading UCODE G2XL devices, for both pallet-level and case-level tagging.”