July 30, 2004—Cathexis Innovations, Inc., a provider of asset management technologies, and MicroMain Corporation, a provider of asset and facility management software and services, announced their new strategic partnership. This partnership includes the launching of the first RFID-enabled computerized maintenance management system by a major CMMS vendor.
MicroMains flagship product, MicroMain XM, enables organizations to streamline maintenance operations with automated work orders, preventive maintenance scheduling, asset and fleet management, inventory control, and comprehensive reporting features. With this new partnership, Cathexis and MicroMain have developed a fully integrated RFID-enabled version of MicroMain XM. This version incorporates Cathexis RFID middleware solution, the RFID Engine, so that assets can be managed with radio frequency identification in addition to or instead of bar codes.
RFID improves asset identification, tracking and management through automation of the data collection and entry process. The RFID tags allow users to store information relevant to the asset directly on the tag itself. Customers then place RFID tags on their assets and use handheld RFID readers to immediately access and modify the information. This data typically includes make, model, serial number, owner, and maintenance history.
Unlike bar codes, RFID does not require line of sight between the tag and reader, which increases speed in completing maintenance tasks or inspections. The benefits of RFID also include unique identification of assets in the field, “on-asset” maintenance history, and enhanced data integrity and accessibility for management and auditing. Because RFID minimizes data entry errors, accuracy is also improved.
For more information, contact Cathexis Innovations.
