Alien Technology doubling its growth

By Tracy Frank tfrank@forumcomm.com
Business - 08/15/2008 Alien Technology has seen substantial growth over the past 18 months and the company expects it to continue, said Chief Executive Officer George Everhart. Everhart and the rest of the

Morgan Hill, Calif.-based company’s top managers were in Fargo on Thursday for a forum on radio frequency identification technology. Alien Technology, which has a manufacturing facility in Fargo, provides ultra-high-frequency RFID products and services to industries such as retail, manufacturing, defense and pharmaceuticals. In August, Alien shipped more inlays, which are made of RFID chips attached to antennas, than it did in 2005, Everhart said. This fiscal year, the company expects to double its 2007 growth. In fiscal 2009, Alien expects to double this year’s growth. A year and a half ago, Wal-Mart was Alien’s one major customer. Now Alien has multiple customers ordering more than 50 million tags a year, Everhart said. He said the industry has seen an explosion in RFID use for things such as document management, library management and airline baggage tracking. The Dr. James Carlson Library on 32nd Avenue South in Fargo uses the technology for express checkout and for monitoring the collection. The new downtown Fargo library will also use RFID tags when it opens in late spring 2009. “It’s great to have technology that allows our patrons greater services,” said Fargo Public Library Director Tim Dirks.

“It certainly is a benefit to us.” RFID technology used to track baggage will save the airline industry $760 million a year and will mean 5.7 million fewer passenger claims, according to the International Air Transport Association. The association estimates that lost baggage cost the industry $3.6 billion last year. “The thing that’s neat about RFID technology is it really can be used in any situation,” Everhart said.

The Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute at North Dakota State University has a goal of becoming one of the top transportation centers in the nation. It sees RFID technology as a key part in achieving that vision, said Director Gene Griffin. The institute is working on RFID applications such as improving trucking safety and efficiency, and evaluating bridges’ structural integrity.

The Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering at NDSU works closely with Alien engineers to develop new technologies, said Aaron Reinholz, associate director for electronics technology for the center. Alien’s manufacturing facility is in the NDSU Research and Technology Park. When it expanded to the technology park, Alien received some funding from the Bank of North Dakota and the state Department of Commerce’s development fund. “This (Alien Technology) right from the beginning was clearly destined for something big,” said Philip Boudjouk, NDSU vice president of research, creative activities and technology transfer. ABI Research, a New Yorkbased firm that researches the impact of emerging technologies on global markets, ranked Alien Technology the second-best ultra-high-frequency RFID reader vendor in the world. The top-ranked company is Motorola, a Schaumburg, Ill.-based company that develops cell phones and other communications products. Alien Technology, the NDSU Research and Technology Park and the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corp. sponsored the forum.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Tracy Frank at (701) 241-5526