Excerpt taken from SCAN Data Capture Report

July 11 2008 - InSync Software is rapidly making a name for itself in the AIDC industry. With an impressive list of partners that includes Lowry Computer, Intermec, Motorola, Impinj, and Alien—to name a few—InSync has already captured the attention of a number of Fortune 500 companies. In an interview with InSync CEO/Co-founder Ashish Chona, we learned how the company is building an impressive list of end user customers. First, a little about the company…

InSync provides software that leverages bar codes (1-d and 2-D), RFID, GPS, and sensor technologies to locate and track assets, improve operational efficiencies, and manage risks. The software combines sensory data and enterprise information (via ERP, WMS, etc.) to actively manage assets regardless of their location. InSync’s products provide customers with advanced levels of process governance and collaboration across disparate businesses and are designed to significantly reduce application development and deployment times. InSync is an Intel Capital and  Rustic Canyon company with headquarters in San Jose, CA and offices in India and Asia.

“We target three distinct markets,” said Chona. “They are supply chain, asset management, and
food safety. In the supply chain category, we focus on returnable containers and channel inventory. In asset management, yard management and data centers are key verticals for us. In food safety, our GREENTrace™ product is used to provide efficiencies in the produce sector.” InSync uses a common software platform for all its applications with specific add-on packages like GREENTrace that complement its edgeware. Chona told SCAN/DCR, “Our products are hardware agnostic. We never sell hardware—we leave that to our vendor partners. We support all forms of AIDC technology including sensors and actuators, scales, and video.”

Track-and-trace for food
There’s been a lot of scuttlebutt lately about food tracking applications. Recent problems with spinach and tomatoes have nearly shut down the markets. With a clear need for some type of tracking and monitoring system, giants like Dole are running pilots to determine the cost and ROI of installing and operating an end-to-end, track-and-trace system. InSync has played a major role in the Dole pilot.

“There’s so much more to our system than just track and trace,” said Chona. “We not only collect
data, such as when something was picked and where, we also monitor almost every process. For instance, we can determine how long it takes to fill a crate and load it. We can determine how long it takes to get the product to the ‘cooling tube’ and how long it remains in the tube. We can monitor temperatures during the shipping process. But, all this is simply information. What’s really important is how you use the information. “With our system, produce suppliers can receive alerts in real time. For instance, if a crate of lettuce has been sitting too long in the field, a anager can call people in the field and let them know they need to move the crate to the cooler before the product spoils. Or, perhaps a crate has been sitting awhile, but there’s another product that spoils faster in hot temperatures. A manager can use the real-time information our system provides to make a decision to move one crate ahead of another. Growers can even use data they receive to automate certain processes. Technology is only useful if it can provide efficiencies and, in turn, hard ROIs.”

Although Chona emphasized the importance of going beyond track-and-trace, he was quick to point out that knowing how to quickly identify where something came from and from what lot is extremely valuable.

“When there is an outbreak of food contamination, it is critical that growers find and isolate where that product came from,” he told SCAN/DCR. “Recalls must be quick and instantaneous.”

With all this in mind, one might wonder why the produce industry isn’t rushing to adopt these systems. The most likely reason is cost. Both growers and grocers work on very low margins. Technology like RFID, sensors, and GPS are not an easy install and usually come with a fairly high price tag. To run an end-to-end—or field-to-fork, as some call it—system, both growers and grocers must invest in the technology to mark and tag goods and to read or capture the information. They are currently arguing over who should foot the bill.

From our talks with various industry leaders, we have determined that deployment will, no doubt,
come in multiple waves—each wave more refined. There are a few huge companies that can be
considered “early adopters,” but there are no huge sales for vendors yet.

InSync and the supply chain
When we asked Chona how InSync got into supply chain tracking, he told us, “We were contacted by one of the largest, global, high-tech vendors. They asked us to help them improve their supply chain tracking. The company was purchasing many specific parts, as well as a lot of chemicals. These are high-value items that are temperature sensitive. There were lots of risks and inefficiencies in there system. Poor timing on deliveries or damaged goods could have a drastic effect on their manufacturing process.

“Soon after we began working with them, SonicWALL asked us to help them track their firewall products from the manufacturing facility in Taiwan, to the U.S. distribution point, and then on to other distributors and dealers. We found that, even if the products were different, the basic software premise was the same.”

Asset management
When it comes to asset management, InSync’s target markets—in the most general sense—are indoors and outdoors. In the outdoor market, InSync focuses on applications such as yard management and construction. “Construction sites often have a lot of expensive tools and building materials laying around,” explained Chona. “We can help them protect these assets.

“When it comes to indoor applications, there are many things we can do at different levels,” Chona continued. “First, it’s important to note that we only track items/assets on the move. This is not about placing dots on a map. We want to monitor processes. For instance, a company may let employees check out laptop computers. We monitor the check-out and check-in process, as well as all the movement in between these processes. Businesses can reap tremendous benefits.” InSync’s asset management platform works well for global companies. Often, a company may develop a new technology. If a patent hasn’t been granted yet, the company wants to make sure only certain people handle a prototype, and they want to know, at every minute, where the prototype can be located. Sometimes, a prototype might be sent to an overseas testing facility and then returned. We asked Chona if InSync’s software could handle all this. “Absolutely,” Chona replied. “That’s exactly the type of application we look for. Our system is only valuable if it can provide hard ROIs. In the scenario you described,