 AIM NA is taking the time to honor the winners of several of their most highly recognized awards View the virtual ceremony here. November 18, 2020 – Pittsburgh, PA – AIM North America (AIM NA) has selected winners for their annual awards, including ‘Professional of the Year’, ‘AIT in Government’ and this year there was a two-way tie for the title of ‘Organization of the Year.’ AIM NA extends a huge congratulations to all those who were nominated for this recognition and celebrates those who were crowned victors. The ‘Professional of the Year Award’ is awarded to an individual who demonstrates both innovative and exceptional contributions to enhance the development of the automatic identification industry through work as either a contributor, collaborator, or a mentor. This year that title was received by Sprague Ackley, Digimarc’s Principal R&D Engineer. Mr. Ackley has exhibited great dedication to the AIDC industry and contributes his time to the barcode technology committees of ISO, AIM, and GS1, supporting application standards development groups in Automotive, Retail, Healthcare, Electronic, and even the Materials Handling realms.  The ‘AIT in Government Award’ was granted to Frank Yiannas for all of his tireless support working for the FDA, devoting his time to promote better food safety for both the United States and the rest of the world. Mr. Yiannas has played a huge role in introducing traceability into the food safety culture and worked to ensure the Code of Federal Regulations was created to ensure innovation. As voiced above, there was a two-way tie for the ‘Organization of the Year Award’ and that title was received by both Epson America and Everledger this year. This recognition is delivered to any group that continues to provide a level of outstanding contributions and service to help further industry growth and relations. Epson has devoted their time to delivering efforts towards enhancing monochrome-only barcodes to labels that feature colors and images. They’ve done a lot to provide for color label printing and continue to add innovation for the AIDC industry for times to come.
The other ‘Organization of the Year Award’ was granted to Everledger, a pioneer in the industry, who works to create solutions that harness the power of blockchain in tandem with several other cutting-edge technologies. Their solutions are designed for the enterprise, enabling a sense of transparency and responsibility in hopes of demanding the highest standard of quality for their customers. Everledger possesses a world-renowned leadership and expertise into blockchain technology, for both a social and environmental commitment.
“The AIM North America Awards highlight the best of the best within the automatic data capture industry,” said Mary Lou Bosco, COO, AIM NA. “The achievement of conducting the AIM NA Awards under these challenging circumstances truly honors and celebrates our industry and our 2020 winners who exhibit a level of excellence that excites everyone with an interest in asset tracking technology and applications.” AIM North America has recently introduced three new directors to their organization; each bringing something individualistic and important to the group. August 6, 2020 – Pittsburgh, PA – The membership of AIM North America has elected three new industry leaders into their organization’s Board of Directors. These new directors are joining a board that strives to guide the strategic direction, financial health, policies, procedures, vision, and mission of AIM North America. Each member actively embodies the voice of all industry professionals and organizations.
“We are pleased to welcome this talented group of industry experts who will add to the strength of our board, “said Debangana Mukherjee, Chair, AIM North America Board of Directors and Business Development Director, CISC Semiconductor. “They bring decades of leadership in key areas, such as strategy implementation, technology development, and market growth.”
As the unbiased resource for networking, education, advocacy, and standards, AIM North America members grow their business by fostering the effective use and adoption of Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) solutions in all vertical markets. The current board also includes executives from Aware Innovations, CDO Technologies, Danzz Consulting, and Technologies ROI. For more information including bios or headshots, contact AIM North America. The FDA has released the long awaited strategic blueprint for the New Era of Smarter Food Safety Initiative, an initiative designed to promote industry collaboration and adoption of technology and other modern tools to create a digital, traceable and smarter food system by 2021. The FDA strategic initiative was launched in 2019 and focuses on four major pillars:
The new blueprint elaborates on the four core elements that will be driving the initiative, in addition to stating the values and principles the FDA aims to advance through their work. Building on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which focuses on preventing food-borne illnesses rather than purely responding by tracing back from foodborne outbreaks. In the months since the launch of this new initiative, there has been a public meeting, as well as an opportunity for public comment on the FDA’s design and approach. AIM North America supports these efforts to create a safer, digital, and traceable food supply chain. The use of asset tracking technologies such as barcodes, RFID, RTLS, and IoT, enable traceability systems to identify contaminated foods, trace them to their origin, and to implement a strategic recall both addressing the issue and minimizing the supply chain impact. Enabling the digital food supply chain will both boost the confidence of the consumer while reducing supply chain costs. “Implementation of asset tracking technologies can harmonize the food supply chain visibility from farm to table,” stated Mary Lou Bosco, COO AIM North America. “The retail industry has been utilizing these technologies for decades to reduce waste, provide accurate inventory management, and maximize efficiencies.” AIM North America also submitted comments to the FDA General Principles for Food Standards Modernization which would establish a set of general principles for food standards for FDA to use when considering whether to establish, revise, or eliminate a food standard. Read AIM NA’s submitted comments here. For more information on how you can get involved, fill out our form or email AIM NA. AIM North America submitted comments to the FDA General Principles for Food Standards Modernization which would establish a set of general principals for food standards for FDA to use when considering whether to establish, revise, or eliminate a food standard. Read AIM NA’s submitted comments here.
For more information on how you can get involved, fill out our form or email AIM NA. AIM North America has introduced a new model of work groups and those specific vertical-based chairmen have been announced in the process. July 9, 2020 – Pittsburgh, PA - AIM North America has made the decision to regroup their Subject Matter Experts to head up more niche vertical industry work groups. The object of these factions will be to advance and grow the use of AIDC technologies and standards within the following areas: Food Supply Chain, Cannabis, Pharmaceutical, and UDI in Healthcare. Within all of these verticals, there will be FDA regulation components to better plan and develop relationships and partnerships. The following SMEs have been recognized as chairs for their appropriate channel: Patricia Blessing is the Vice President of Business Development at the CAVU Group, based out of Dayton, Ohio. Ms. Blessing works closely with customers in the Life Sciences, Healthcare, Medical Devices, and Diagnostics realms to solve today’s rapidly changing thermal management and monitoring needs, using advanced sensor technologies, including thermo-chromatic inks, RFID, PCM-based electronics, loggers, specialty packaging, and more. Her primary focus is the enablement of business process improvement to protect high-value assets in the supply chain. She currently sits on the AIM’s Board and chairs the AIM NA UDI Work Group.
Elizabeth Sinclair is the Director of Marketing for BarTender® software. She works with end users and partners to enable consumer confidence, supply chain efficiencies, and regulatory compliance through the deployment of AIDC in industries including aerospace, food, pharma, medical devices, and chemical manufacturing.
Lori Bitar joins us from Massachusetts where she operates as a Market Development Manager at FLEXcon. Lori’s work essentially focuses on the growth of PSA materials used in the medical device and pharmaceutical markets, both in domestic and global environments. She also has acquired an extended background in Plastics, Polymer and Adhesives as well.
Jeanne Duckett leads traceability initiatives for Avery Dennison Printer Systems from source to consumer, touching on Blockchain, Edge and Fog Processing, trigger development including 2D Systems, RFID, NFC, and Bluetooth. Jeanne is an industry recognized expert in all things traceability, holding multiple patents in imaging, RFID Handling, and Food Systems Design. She is a lifetime member of the AIDC 100 and she has provided expert testimony to the FDA, AIM Inc., and GS1 inter-industry organizations, while still sitting upon the AIM NA Board of Directors. Jeanne is a frequent speaker at industry-related events including Pack Expo, GS1, RFID Journal Live, Summer Institute on AIDC, and various restaurant shows. Most recently she spearheaded the widely recognized Era of Smarter Food Safety webinar series, linking the technology world with food safety specialists.
“I’m grateful to these four individuals for stepping up to lead these important Work Groups,” said AIM North America Board Chair Debangana Mukherjee. “The timing couldn’t be better. We’re at a unique moment for the automatic data capture industry where the demand for digitization of supply chains is accelerating. These Work Groups will help shape that connected future.” Patti Blessing Elizabeth Sinclair
AIM North America allotting expertise as a resource to direct and guide organizations of the UDI regulation for medical equipment during Pandemic.June 23, 2020 – Pittsburgh, PA – The COVID-19 Pandemic had a detrimental impact on both Healthcare Organizations and individual persons in our backyard and around the world. According to the CDC, the number of cases continues to increase, and the future of this virus remains uncertain. In this time, many non-traditional companies from outside industries have stepped up to manufacture medical devices for hospital groups, employees working under new safety guidelines, and patients. AIM North America (NA) has announced that they will be providing their expertise in advising organizations on the accurate way to ensure traceability for their own lines of devices.
Devices including respirators, face masks, and other essential medical equipment are required by the FDA to be uniquely identified, tracked, and traced to ensure the safety of both the patient and the supply chain. The Unique Device Identifier (UDI), seeks to improve patient safety, modernize device post-market surveillance, and facilitate medical device innovation. Product data can be uploaded to the AccessGUDID database which is made available to patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, hospitals, and other industry professionals providing transparency and traceability. UDI markings can be found on device labels, the device’s package, and even directly on the device. “As a manufacturer of medical devices, we understand the need for traceability for patient safety and brand integrity. The UDI standard is critical to visibility of our product and working with AIM NA and its members has provided us with a wealth of knowledge and guidance,” stated Patti Blessing, Chair, AIM NA UDI Work Group and Vice President of Business Development, CAVU Group. “COVID-19 Pandemic has pushed many more players to enter the medical equipment manufacturing market to meet the rising demands. We see a trend of faster product release without following the correct guidelines. Guidelines are in place to offer both visibility and safety; therefore, education and implementation of these guidelines are critical,” stated Debangana Mukherjee, Chair, AIM NA and Director of Business Development + Sales, CISC Semiconductor. Before this pandemic took place, the manufacturing workflow was substantial in nature. With new manufacturers in the market, the need for these standard processes becomes more critical. Companies, small and large, have banded together to support demands of the industry. AIM NA has guaranteed their assistance in educating how to accurately follow the FDA/UDI regulated guidelines. For more information on how you can start the conversation today, be sure to fill out our form and read through the AIM NA Digital Supply Chain Whitepaper. AIM North America releases Digital Supply Chain Whitepaper to assist organizations in understanding how AIDC technologies and standards are being used to ensure traceability for all lines of devices.
This new webinar series focuses on the importance of UDI compliance during this era of COVID-19. All webinars are free and will be posted on the AIM NA YouTube Channel.
The AIM NA Work Groups met on April 21. The Food Supply Chain WG continues with their webinar series and will respond the FDA’s latest request for comments. The Cannabis WG, the newest of the work groups, was introduced and a state of the industry was presented. The group will meet with the GS1 US Cannabis team to identify ways to collaborate. UDI for Medical Devices WG will launch a webinar series and distribute a press release message that AIM NA is a resource for inventory tracking and supply chain management during this unprecedented time. The Pharma WG will develop an educational program and submit a response to the latest FDA request for comments.
Debangana “Debs” Mukherjee today assumed the role of chairperson of AIM North America. She succeeds Dan Kimball, who has retired after serving as chair since 2019 and will remain on the board as an emeritus member.
Mukherjee will further advance the association’s strategic, member-driven roadmap and provide oversight to AIM NA on business policy. Prior to stepping into her role as chair, Mukherjee served as vice chair helping execute member engagement and marketing initiatives. She also leads the Aviation group in the RAIN RFID Alliance. For the last seven years, Mukherjee has been employed as the Business Development Director at CISC Semicondutor where her work focuses on the development RAIN technology with special focus on testing and verification of RAIN hardware and application set-up. “Thank you and my sincerest thanks and appreciation to my fellow members of the Board. I'm humbled and honored you have entrusted me with this responsibility. Taking the reins at this time is made easier by the groundwork laid by Dan over the last few years”, says Debs. “I look forward to continuing work on AIM NA mission to support the development and adoption of automated data capture technologies In North America in the upcoming years.” Mary Lou Bosco, COO, AIM NA added, “We look forward to working with Debs in this new role. Her extensive industry and business development experience make her the ideal candidate to lead our association into the future. Debs has already been an integral part of our strategic planning team and is poised to bring new ideas forward to address the important issues of our industry.” Mukherjee officially assumed their positions for AIM North America on February 1, 2020. |
Archives
November 2020
Categories |
RSS Feed