Sun Microsystems said Monday it has moved a facility to test radio-frequency identification technology to Longmont, which could bring thousands of clients to test products to the site.
The move also could lead to the emergence of new companies in the field, said Kevin Price, founder and chief executive of AccuCode, a Denver company focused on automated data-collection technology using bar codes and radio-frequency identification, or RFID.
“Clients have a place to come and learn a bit about tags and readers … to see if it will work for their business,” said Jim Del Rossi, director of Sun’s RFID Test Center.
Sun shut down a 17,000-square-foot facility in Dallas, loaded equipment on five tractor-trailers and rebuilt the facility in Longmont in a matter of a weeks, said Del Rossi.
Another major piece of equipment, a 100-foot-long oval conveyor belt, was placed at the Storage Technology Corp.’s campus in Louisville, which is now part of Sun’s Colorado operations. The belt will be used to test RFID tag reading of various objects moving at 600 feet per minute, a standard set by Wal-Mart for its major suppliers, said Del Rossi.
Price said there’s a “long string of RFID startups” in the Boulder area.
“It’s an emerging technology driven by retailers and the Department of Defense,” said Gary Borgese, program director of worldwide industrial printing solutions for IBM. “It’s big and growing rapidly and offers Colorado another opportunity in terms of technology to become a leader.”
IBM, whose printing-systems division headquarters is in Boulder, makes and sells a printer that encodes RFID tags.
RFID uses small, computerized tags attached to products and packaging for tracking and inventory purposes. The tags can be read remotely by sensors or a scanner to capture information about the object.
Consumer-based RFID applications include the transponder used to collect tolls on Interstate 25 and E-470, and tags in casino chips at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel for easier and faster counting and to deter counterfeiting.
Sun’s work in RFID consists of making the software or “middleware” that allows information from the tags to be read by scanners and incorporated into a company’s network.
Although the testing center will not bring any new jobs to the area, it’s welcome news for Colorado’s somewhat gloomy tech sector.
Last week Sun – which employs 4,700 in the state – said it would cut up to 5,000 jobs globally. Two weeks ago, hard-drive maker Seagate said it would cut 650 jobs because of its acquisition of Longmont-based Maxtor.
“We’re encouraged with this news,” said Su Hawk, president of the Colorado Software and Internet Association. “Anytime we can get more Sun attention in Colorado, it’s a great day, and we’re very pleased they chose the Longmont area.”
Sun’s RFID Test Center is part of the Sun Advanced Product Testing lab.
The testing lab employs 25 people, former StorageTek engineers who mostly conduct environmental stress tests on everything from storage equipment to packaging of Coors beer cans.
Staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson can be reached at 303-820-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com.
