Hosted by Intellident, the centre is a GS1 UK service set up to help organisations understand and gain the business benefits that can be achieved from Radio frequency identification (RFID). The independent facility is not tied to any product vendors.

Organisations can interact with the latest technology in a real-world industrial setting and receive impartial advice on how RFID can be implemented in different application areas. The centre can also be used by organisations to test how the technology works on their own products and assets and in environments similar to their own.  And it provides the opportunity to test and integrate RFID technologies to develop solutions to meet an organisation's requirements.

Christian Salvesen, Carphone Warehouse and AESSEAL were among the first to use research from the centre prior to the official launch. They helped in defining the structure of the centre.
The Centre is exactly what the industry needs to encourage widespread adoption of RFID," said Simon Woodward, pre-sales and innovation analyst for group IT at Christian Salvesen.

"Supply chain directors and managers are often suspicious of the hype surrounding RFID; what they need is advice and information they can trust from a service which is independent of solution providers' sales teams. The Centre fills this gap through its expert team and the execution of true to life pilots."

"The Centre is an excellent way for companies to see RFID in action, rather than just reading about it," said Shaun Tymon, Head of warehouse operations for Carphone Warehouse. "It provides a safe testing ground to understand how it works, and we certainly took a lot of ideas back on how it could potentially be applied to our particular business."

"With the advice and support of the staff at the Centre, we are now able to identify the different areas that RFID technology can be used within our organisation," said Stuart Welsh, Head of IT for AESSEAL. "It is important that we understand the possible benefits that can be obtained by using RFID within our organisation so that we can plan our next steps effectively."

"The RFID test centre is an important facility to educate and inform a wider audience on the benefits the technology can deliver and how to overcome the challenges of deployment. This is a key part in enabling the growth and development of the EPC and RFID market in the UK. RFID is now moving into the adoption phase and providing the environment for companies to 'try before they buy' is crucial to the success and adoption of the technology," said Jim Hopwood, Managing director of Intellident.

"We are committed to the success of EPC/RFID as a technology for organisations across all industries," said Gary Lynch, Chief executive of GS1 UK. "We have made great strides in agreeing globally recognised industry standards - now is the time to prove the business benefits of RFID, support adoption and assuage any fears that businesses have of implementing the technology, just as we did with the bar code when it was first introduced."