Schneider Electric, a global energy-management firm that reported $25.7bn in sales in 2009, says it has laid the groundwork to begin using radio frequency identification to identify and track the production of every printed circuit board (PCB) it manufactures, and that it expects to begin utilizing the technology within the next few months. Since November 2010, Schneider Electric has been adding a placeholder for an EPCGen 2RFIDchip onto all of its new PCB designs, in order to pave the way for the project. The placeholder consists of small indentations with specific copper line patterns that also include a pad to which an RFID IC module would be attached. The company expects to begin attaching RFID IC modules once it has finished putting the necessary reader infrastructure and supporting software in place.
