The Silvertap line at Free Flow Wines consists of organic wine made from grapes grown at a sustainable vineyard in Sonoma County, CA. In order to reduce environmental impact, Free Flow Wines uses recyclable plastic kegs, which also offers restaurants more wine-by-the-glass options.

Nitrogen gas pushes the wine out of the cask, which preserves the wine remaining in the kegs for a few months. But what happens to the casks when the wine is complete? Well, Free Flow Wines implemented an RFID system to track the casks’ location and status in order to ensure they are returned, cleaned and refilled.

By embedding UHF RFID tags between each keg and the plastic handle, the kegs can be easily tracked and reused. This system will reduce the number and frequency of casks getting lost, which can be a costly occurrence in the industry. In addition to tracking the location of the kegs, the system will also ensure that the kegs are cleaned in a timely manner, and in the event of a recall, kegs could be located quickly.

When it comes time for the keg to be refilled, a handheld RFID reader is used to capture the unique ID number, in addition to the time, date, and kind of wine.

The RFID system allowed Free Flow Wines’ Silvertap line to continue its sustainability efforts and work more efficiently, without having to scan individual barcodes.

To see what an RFID system can do for your business, learn more here.

Today I received an e-mail from Intermec worth sharing. From now until December 31, Intermec will be offering their Printer Trade-in Program. Even if your current barcode printer was made by someone other than Intermec, you can still trade it in. All you have to do is purchase a qualifying printer and you can receive up to $450 cash back. Intermec offers a wide variety of printers to meet all of your barcoding needs, such as:

• Rugged Industrial Fixed Printers for mission critical applications
• Rugged Mobile Receipt & Label Printers for in the field or in the warehouse
• Desktop Printers that are easy to use and save space

Learn more about the promotion and qualifying printers here.

Learn more about Intermec and their products here.

If you’re a creative professional, then chances are, you’ve been concerned about protecting your work. Now, there’s a barcode for that. Creative Barcode™ embeds application-driven digital barcodes into written and visual concepts in order to denote permission usage and ownership.

Designed by creative professionals for creative individuals and companies, Creative Barcode provides proof of ownership of an idea before it comes to fruition, such as with proposals and rough drafts.

Creative Barcode users simply create a new barcode via an easy-to-use application, which uniquely codes and numbers the barcodes. The Creative Barcode can then be applied to all related files associated with each new project and or concept.

Creative Barcode can be used in digital or print materials, and users can even forward their project files to third parties via a file transfer area, allowing passwords to be added prior to download. This enables tracking of third-party downloads, in addition to acceptance of permissions.

But, what happens after the idea has come to fruition? Well, Creative Barcode allows transfer of ownership feature, enabling the concept originator to re-assign ownership to those purchasing the idea.

Creative Barcode is definitely an innovative way to solve an old problem, and I have a feeling it will become very popular amongst creative professionals. If you’re a creative professional, or someone who does business with creatives, let us know what you think of Creative Barcode by commenting here, or on our Facebook or Twitter pages.

Intermec recently released their latest mobile computer, the CS40. The Intermec CS40 was designed with mobile field professionals in mind, allowing companies to improve their mobile business processes.

The CS40 is not only Intermec’s newest rugged mobile computer, it’s also the smallest, making it the ideal combination of ruggedness, 3.75G voice and data and 1D/2D barcode scanning, all compacted into the size of a smart phone. In addition, the Intermec CS40 features:

• Integrated 2D imager and 3.2 MP color camera
• 1.2-meter drop tolerance and IP54 sealing
• 196 gm with battery
• 4 radios including UMTS 3.75G and GPS
• Windows Mobile 6.5
• Intermec SmartSystems™ Client
• Numeric or QWERTY backlit keypad

For more information on the Intermec CS40, download the specification sheet.

For more information on Intermec and their products, learn more here.

As more and more apps hit the smartphone market, there seems to be a trend amongst them—location. Apps such as Foursquare, Facebook Places, GoWalla and so many more offer location-based services, yet only about 4% of Americans have actually used location-based services, and of those, only 1% actually “check-in” weekly.

However, studies have shown that in order to get users to “check-in” incentives need to be offered. The future of location-based apps is mobile coupons. In 2009, over 50% of consumers used their mobile device for in-store holiday shopping and 64% of consumers (18-34) used their device for shopping. By offering special location-based deals, consumers get an incentive, and marketers get their valuable data.

In addition, I think that 2D barcodes could play a big role in location-based services. Imagine walking into a store and simply being able to scan a barcode to check-in, and then having a coupon for that store appear on your mobile device!
Once you’ve checked into certain places, it could lead to other deals via e-mail or SMS to encourage consumers to come back.

The combination of location-based services with 2D barcodes seems like a win-win situation for consumers and marketers alike. How would you feel about using location-based services to receive custom deals? Too big brother, or the perfect amount of personalization?

Let us know by commenting here, or on our Facebook or Twitter pages.