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Westminster, Colorado, June 9, 2008 – SkyeTek, Inc., the leading provider of embedded RFID reader technology, continues to enable medical manufacturers and distributors to improve their operations and inventory management through the use of embedded RFID. SkyeTek’s solutions for consigned and vendor managed inventory (VMI) allow medical implant manufacturers and distributors to automate the inventory management process at customer sites. The solutions offer the ability to quickly and comprehensively authenticate inventory in the field, a process generally handled by the sales force of the distributors.

“The costs and the time associated with manual inventory tracking methods that are commonly used by medical implant manufacturers are extremely high and do not protect from errors or misuse of these expensive products,” said SkyeTek CEO Rob Balgley.  “Typically, it is people on the sales team for the manufacturers who are tasked with conducting manual inventory counts, which leads to less time spent out in the field selling and generating new revenue. With the help of SkyeTek, these manufacturers and
distributors are able to greatly reduce the costs and time associated with inventory tracking, allowing the sales team to focus on selling versus managing inventory counts.”

Hospitals are increasingly shifting the onus to medical implant manufacturers and their distributors to sell on consignment and/or manage inventory on behalf of the hospital. When selling on consignment or through VMI programs, medical implant manufacturers and distributors experience common pains associated with manual, bar-code based inventory tracking methods, including inaccurate inventory, shrinkage and slow billing.

With the help of SkyeTek, implants are now able to be tracked based on digital signatures to prevent counterfeiting and programmable metadata such as manufacture date, manufacture site, lot number, and expiration date for age-sensitive products.

SkyeTek provides two solutions, RFID Smart-Container and Mobile-RFID, which allow
medical implant manufacturers and distributors to automate the inventory management
process at customer sites.

• SkyeTek Smart-Container Solution: The Smart-Container solution retrofits existing cabinets and shelves with a network-connected RFID reader sub-system that automates item-level tracking. The inventory process happens without field personnel involvement and can occur multiple times per day. Data is sent to backend inventory management and billing applications in real-time via a wired or wireless network connection installed in the cabinet / shelf system.
• SkyeTek Mobile-RFID Solution: Using an RFID handheld, the Mobile-RFID solution allows field personnel to take inventory of an entire shelf with a simple arm wave. Data is sent to back-end inventory management and billing applications in real-time via a wireless network connection.

Healthcare solutions from SkyeTek are designed to integrate seamlessly with existing products to add a layer of intelligence and create a fully networked technology. SkyeTek provides the world’s smallest and least expensive RFID readers, with advanced software that allows integration of RFID into new applications.