UPM Raflatac RFID tags help Touch Automation optimize self-service system CD and DVD rentals and sales

Touch Automation, an industry leader in developing automated dispensing solutions for movies, music and video games, exclusively uses UPM Raflatac RFID tags to optimize key supply chain and consumer processes. Found in more than 1,000 grocery stores and other retailing locations across the USA, Touch Automation’s systems provide consumers with an easy, convenient means to rent or purchase entertainment CDs and DVDs, while reducing the threat of theft and shrinkage. Touch Automation’s merchandising systems also enable retailers to capitalize on the growing DVD self-service kiosk market, a segment which is expected to exceed USD 3 billion in annual sales by 2009. Multiple system configurations, which hold between 550 and 3,500 units of inventory, are engineered and built with state-of-the-art technology including advanced robotics, wireless WANs and RFID-tagged merchandise to provide near-real-time insights into the availability and financial performance of each system, as well as its inventory.

Touch Automation uses UPM Raflatac’s Rafsec BullsEye tag, a round HF CD/DVD RFID tag with read-write capacity, to streamline critical inventory management processes. Each BullsEye tag is encoded with CD and DVD stock-keeping unit (SKU) information and other metadata. No personal consumer data is written to the tags. Tags are prepared generically so that RFID-tagged merchandise can be shipped to any system located within retailers’ enterprises. Using RFID enables retailers and Touch Automation to monitor and validate rentals, returns and purchases, while assessing inventory to fine tune stocking processes for higher revenue per system.

“We built our TE automated dispensing solution line to be state-of-the-art,” says Brian Fitzpatrick, Director of Engineering, Touch Automation, “and sought a partner who could deliver tags that would perform across hundreds of thousands of read cycles. Rafsec BullsEye tag by UPM Raflatac had everything we were looking for. It is an exceptional performer that was available in the right volumes, form factor, tag protocol and adhesive combinations. We use UPM Raflatac tags exclusively across all of our CD and DVD products.”

The BullsEye’s multi-orientation readability and outstanding performance in metal environments enables Touch Automation’s system robotics to read and validate products regardless of their placement within the system or their rental case orientation. Customers also have the option of returning rental merchandise to any of the retailer’s self-service systems. Equally importantly, the tags help retailers authenticate goods and reduce thefts and losses, a critical industry problem. Consumers are automatically charged for the full cost of goods if RFID tags are destroyed or missing upon items’ return.

“UPM Raflatac is committed to helping manufacturers and retailers authenticate their products and streamline their supply chains with RFID,” says Jan Svoboda, Sales and Marketing Director, Americas, RFID, UPM Raflatac. “In an industry where piracy and theft are rampant, Touch Automation has been able to deliver a high-value customer experience that ensures profitability for merchandisers by using UPM Raflatac RFID tags.”

For further information please contact:
Mr Jan Svoboda, Sales and Marketing Director, Americas, RFID, UPM Raflatac
Tel. +1 805 312 4679
Mr Brian Fitzpatrick, Director of Engineering, Touch Automation, LLC
Tel  + 1 414 287 0326

About UPM Raflatac
UPM Raflatac is a world-leading supplier of self-adhesive label materials for a wide variety of needs in product and information labeling. In addition, the company is at the global forefront in the development and high-volume production of HF and UHF radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and inlays.

UPM Raflatac has around 2,500 employees and made sales of approximately USD 1.3 billion in 2006. The company has a global service network consisting of 11 factories on five continents and a broad network of distribution and slitting terminals and sales offices worldwide. UPM Raflatac is part of UPM. Further information is available at www.upmraflatac.com.

About Touch Automation, LLC
Touch Automation has developed and offers numerous automated dispensing solutions for the rental or sale of movies, video games and related entertainment items in DVD and CD format.  The automated dispensing solutions are distributed under the name and trademark of “TOUCH AUTOMATION.” The company’s products can be found in more than 1,000 grocery stores nationwide. For more information, visit www.touchautomation.com.