Quantum aims its RFID solutions at auto market

Quantum ID Technologies, which announced the opening of its India research and development office here on Monday, said it will focus on the country's fast growing automobile sector as well as sectors such as pharmaceuticals, defence and retail, with its end-to-end radio frequency identification (RFID) solution.

Quantum ID's chief executive officer Milind Tavshikar told media that the company will work with Indian companies engaged in these sectors and help them save substantially in terms of logistics and inventory costs.

"We assess the clients' needs and offer both the hardware and software necessary for them," he added.

Automobile sector is getting increasingly competitive and cost-conscious necessitating cost savings that give greater return on investments, he said.

Quantum ID solutions will help optimise specific functions in auto manufacturing such as the paint shop automation and despatch management, he elaborated.

The company will also pitch for business with the defence sector with the promise of cutting down the costs of tracking, locating and moving the different equipment or spares which can be critical in the times of an emergency, he informed.

The pharma sector also offers a significant scope for RFID applications as it can help check the element of spurious drugs that is a major threat to peoples' health.

Tavshikar said the manufacture and distribution of pharmaceuticals is being increasingly brought under safety regulations and it is a matter of time before even the retail drug stores will use RFID to ensure they are stocking the right drugs.

The company's chief technology officer Rory O'Conner said RFID is a technology that has limitless applications and Quantum ID's strength would be to help clients make the right selection of technology and hardware which will have a major impact on the project costs.

Tavshikar said the company has plans to invest over $1 million in the next two years to open centres in Singapore and Europe.

He said the global market for RFID solutions is about $3 billion in which India has a very small share. With the varied applications it has, the market may explode as security of information is getting more and more keen attention across sectors.