Tracking system clocks up sales

PHIL REID

EFFICIENT CHIP: Times-7 chief executive Antony Dixon holds a cycling chip in his firm's anechoic chamber, used for product testing.

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Lower Hutt firm Times-7 has clocked up a swag of overseas wins and is on the hunt for cash to help it score a few more.

The firm makes radio-frequency identification chips and antennas, which are used to track luggage in airports and time cyclists in races.

Chief executive Antony Dixon says Lisbon Airport and Milan's Malpensa Airport have snapped up its RFID baggage system and several large airports are trialling it.

RFID baggage systems are an alternative to barcode systems. Luggage is tagged with RFID labels, which are read by antennas installed on conveyor belts, portals and at points throughout an airport. The firm has patented its ultra-thin antennas, which can be slipped under conveyor belts without needing to dismantle them, and placed in mats used for finish lines in cycle races.

Times-7's sports timing system is used for national championship races and relays in New Zealand and Australia  including the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, and has been used for races in Spain, the Philippines and Brazil.

The company has just signed a reciprocal distribution agreement with United States firm FinishLynx  which specialises in photo-finish technology  and is making a play to capture more of the US sports-timing market.

The sports system costs about $20,000 to $30,000 and allows cycling clubs and organisations to time mass-participation events, he says.

"With cameras you're only giving basic information about the top riders. You can't give full race results for riders including split times.

"With RFID you can uniquely identify hundreds or thousands of people at the same time."

The company is seeking about $1.5 million in capital to fund its sales and marketing efforts overseas.

"If we could get every large airport in the world as they migrate from just using barcode recognition, that would be the ultimate target market."

Times-7's technology has potential beyond airports and races, and two big RFID vendors in the US have expressed interest in adding its general purpose antennas to their product lines, Dixon says.

Retailers could place those antennas on their shop shelves and tag their products with RFID chips to get store inventories in real-time.

Former Centreport chairman and Massey University chancellor Nigel Gould is an independent chairman of the company, which is on track to turn over $2m in the year to March and has generated almost $4m in revenue since it was set up in 2006.

Times-7 has 15 staff in offices in Lower Hutt, Hastings, Sydney and the Netherlands.

- © Fairfax NZ News