Newport Beach, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/1/2006 -- UNIVERSAL GUARDIAN HOLDINGS, INC. (OTCBB: UGHO), an emerging global leader in inter-modal transportation security, global supply chain security and visibility RFID systems, tactical products and security services to protect against terrorist, criminal and security threats, today announced that its Universal Guardian’s Systems Group, ISR Systems, has been selected to participate in a pilot program being conducted by the State of Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, the Cordova District Fisherman United group as well as Franwell Inc, to track a shipment of RFID tagged wild Alaska canned salmon from Seattle to the Country of Guatemala, where the food will be distributed to the needy and school children.
Franwell, a leader in the research, development, and implementation of RFID technology for food supply chain operations, selected Universal Guardian Systems Group’s Container Guardian™ tracking system as an integral solution for an existing project with RFID case/pallet tags and RFID temperature tags. One of purposes of this project is to test the use of portable RFID reader/antenna configurations with localized software to enable the implementation for the entire logistics chain, including countries without normal infrastructure and expertise. ISR Systems device agnostic, open standard solution tracks container movement and key conditions in the container portion of the logistics chain. Working together, Franwell and Universal’s ISR Systems plan to provide test results to a variety of clients with these special challenges in their logistics process, with further proof-of-concept and custom solutions as warranted. Franwell Inc. has also brought the University of Florida Research Center for Food Distribution and Retailing (Dr. Jean Pierre Emond and Dr. Jeffrey K. Brecht, Co-Directors) into this project, adding graduate student field experience, faculty analysis and formal publication of the results of the project. Franwell Inc. and the graduate student will go to Guatemala City to finish the pilot test and recover loaner equipment on March 17th, 2006. While this particular project is focused on a Food Aid shipment, it has the interest of other agencies and parties with similar needs. The effort of the State of Alaska to make this project happen, and to enable testing of RFID and GPS tracking technology has potentially far reaching benefits.
“We are excited about participating in the Alaska Food Aid project as it represents the best of the American people as they generously give billions of dollars of support to the needy around the globe,” stated Chris Terry, Universal’s ISR Systems Vice President. “Unfortunately aid shipments do not always get to the people whom need it most. Our Container Guardian™ Global Tracking System powered by our RFIDCentral™ Platform can provide the exact location and condition of aid shipments around the world thus making sure it reaches its intended destination and recipients,” added Mr. Terry.
Every year tons of charitable aid from the United States is lost. Sometimes it is a result of criminal activity, others times logistic. Container Guardian™ and its RFIDCentral™ platform provides shipment visibility and automated alerts, which means global aid shipments can be managed in real time, reducing losses and saving the American taxpayer millions of dollars. In some cases the rapid location of urgently needed aid can even save lives. RFIDCentral™ alerts are fully customizable: they can provide notification if a container is off course (geo-fencing), misplaced, opened without authorization, or exposed to excessive temperature for example. More advanced visibility provides real time container inventory, making sure deliveries of aid are accurate for exact location.
“This project is a milestone in the use of technology with regard to aid shipments. We have chosen a best of breed approach as we have assembled a diverse team to deliver the solution we wanted. RFIDCentral was the only package we could find that provided the real time visibility integrated with RFID” stated Bruce Schactler, Project Manager, State of Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development.
The State of Alaska’s Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development along with local Alaska fishermen organized under the Cordova District Fishermen United underwrote the test project. This project under the recommendation of Mr. William C. Noll the Commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development provides accountability, delivery and security of the shipment to insure it reaches the Children of Guatemala.
Kevin Adams, Logistics Coordinator, State of Alaska said “ISR Systems has been a pleasure to work with, the company pulled out the stops to make sure this project got off on time. We cannot say enough good things about them.”
The results of the project will likely be presented in April at the annual USDA Food Aid Conference. “We look forward to a successful completion of the test project and the opportunity to present the findings to everyone in the food aid community” remarked Mr. Schactler.
About Universal Guardian Holdings, Inc.
Universal Guardian Holdings, Inc. (UGHO) and its subsidiaries provide a comprehensive range of security products, systems, and services designed to mitigate terrorist and security threats worldwide. Universal Guardian Global Security Group comprises everything from strategic and tactical security services, business risk solutions, integrated and interoperable security systems, to non-lethal defense products. Universal Guardian companies features a wide variety of security applications for transportation, and global supply chain security and visibility, maritime security and critical infrastructure protection for government and multi-national businesses on every continent. http://www.UniversalGuardian.com
About Universal Guardian Systems
Universal Guardian’s Systems Group, ISR Systems Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Universal Guardian Holdings, Inc., is a global provider of integrated and interoperable asset tracking and systems for global supply chain applications, inter-modal transportation, and seaport security. Its RFIDCentral™ platform provides RFID Source Tagging and Asset Tracking for a multitude of applications for government and business applications worldwide. http://www.ISRsystems.com
About Franwell, Inc.
Franwell is a leader in the area of food supply chain solutions and RFID integration. Franwell’s products and services include an enterprise application for the fresh food wholesale industry and a complete set of RFID integration services. The company’s combined knowledge and experience benefits clients in any industry. Franwell is committed to provide the best available resources to help businesses reduce supply chain costs today. http://www.franwell.com
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