by Arlene Marom

This article was written for the www.GlobalSources.com website, for the Security and Safety section.

The worldwide escalation in retail theft has resulted in a growing demand for EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) products. Responding to the market’s need for sophisticated solutions, Israeli manufacturers, including new Israeli startups, are utilizing the security expertise of their founders (often gained during their military service), to develop next generation EAS technologies. Many of these exciting new systems are now at varying stages of development, with several expected to enter the market soon.

Tag Point, an Israeli manufacturer of electromagnetic and RF EAS products, currently exports its sophisticated line to over 40 countries worldwide. Priding itself on supplying its customers with the best prevention solutions available today, the company also places great importance on its extensive after-sale support, which is offered by experienced and knowledgeable engineers and technicians. Ongoing communication with its network of distributors ensures rapid responses to customers’ changing needs.

Tag Point’s easily deployed and reasonably priced systems are capturing an increasing share of the global market, gaining mid-size customers who were previously unable to enjoy cutting edge surveillance systems, due to the lack of low-priced products on the market. The company’s new lines include products offering 8.2 Megahertz RF.

For Tag Point’s RF System, the wave of the future is clearly the provision of customer service and support via the Internet. The company currently connects to its global clients via regular phone lines, while its far-flung customers can install Tag Point systems themselves, and enjoy immediate, direct support - including system adjustment - from the manufacturer in Israel, via their PC or laptop Internet connection.

The company’s best selling EM (Electromagnetic) System features increased protection through a unique technology that makes it extremely difficult for would-be shop-lifters to deactivate labels. The system offers the capability of protecting even items consisting of metal and aluminum foil, making it more efficient than RF systems, whose major drawback is their inability to overcome the problems posed by the foil and metal that is so prevalent in product packaging and shopping carts.

Another very popular product is Tag Point’s Mono Transceiver System - a unique, one-pedestal unit that is easy for customers to install and operate. The system’s low price makes it particularly suitable for SMEs (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises) for whom shop-lifting is an especially serious and growing problem.

According to Gidi Foxiniano, General Manager of Tag Point, electromagnetic systems offer the most effective solutions for common types of theft. Tags are smaller, they can be scanned easily and from greater distances, and sophisticated models will be able to include complete product histories. Foxiniano does not consider microwave technology as a serious alternative to RF or to acousto-magnetic technologies, since microwave systems tend to operate at high frequencies and, therefore, may pose health risks.

Regarding source tagging – the system by which tags are built into products by the manufacturer – Foxiniano says that it has not caught on, despite the fact that it can save time and money for retailers and can mean added value for manufacturers. Retailers are not motivated to install these products since, in addition to the need to overcome incompatibility problems among the different systems, retailers are generally interested in protecting only about 5% of their stocks.

A growing trend among developers, according to a number of Israeli startups that are currently designing EAS systems, is the inclusion of health and environmental considerations in product design processes.

These startups agree that the greatest challenges facing the industry are: (1) price reduction, which would enable all retailers everywhere to protect their stocks; (2) creation of a universal set of standards - accepted by manufacturers and retailers, worldwide – which would enable all systems to be mutually compatible; and, (3) reduction of the high percentage of thefts that go undetected, estimated at between 5-30%, usually caused by technical problems within the systems - which would enable significant savings among retailers.

Arlene Marom, the Director of Tech River Ltd., is originally from Miami, Florida. She moved to Israel in 1976, and since 1995, has been working with Israeli high tech startups. She can be reached as follows: Tel: 972-3-6419107, Cell: 972-52-4527179, E-Mail: arlene@tech-river.com