H2020-EIC-FTI-2018-2020: Hungarian company developing, manufacturing and marketing retail security solutions is looking for a partner to carry out semiconductor development

The cost of global retail shrinkage, i.e. the loss of inventory, is almost $250 billion annually, equivalent to 1.23% of retail sales. The main sources of shrinkage are dishonest employee theft (39%) and shoplifting (38%) – which means that effective anti-theft measures could reduce shrinkage by over 75%. According to the Global Retail Theft Barometer fashion retailers experience the second highest retail loss statistics globally, at a rate of 1.8%. The most commonly stolen items are those which are easy to conceal, and include: footwear, fashion accessories, sports-related clothing, sunglasses, and handbags. Retail stores employ various Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) solutions trying to prevent theft. These solutions usually rely on radio frequency (RF) systems, with a special RF tag (basically a miniature, disposable electronic circuit and antenna) fixed to the product. These tags are removed or deactivated by the sales personnel when the item is properly purchased. At the exits of the store, a detection system sounds an alarm or otherwise alerts security staff when it senses an active tag that was not removed or deactivated during the payment. The Opportunity RFID is getting more and more popular in retail due to its advanced features that comes handy for logistics and stock management. In particular, mid-to-high-end fashion stores and chains tend to invest more and more into advanced technologies. However, considering merchandize security and shrinkage prevention, the capabilities of RFID are not properly utilized. Even tough RFID technology is far more advanced than RF-based solutions, existing implementations of the technology do not offer any added value right now for Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS). Namely, RFID EAS pedestials can detect the item at the entrance, however, the true potentials is not utilized for loss-prevention. The solution developed by the Hungarian SME aims to drastically reduce shoplifting by exploiting the full capabilities of advanced RFID technology. The proposed system is based on a novel, customized RFID chip (DetekTag technology) and has three main components: 1) DetekTag technology enabled security tag, 2) Customized RFID reader and antennas, 3) Software ecosystem. The proposed modifications can be implemented without significant increase of the label/hardtag price thus becoming highly competitive with existing ones. The planned project will build upon the SME Instrument Phase 1 project recently carried out by the coordinator company. The deadline for the targeted call (H2020-EIC-FTI-2018-2020) is 27 October 2020, but the call is expected to continue through 2021 in Horizon Europe. The project will be carried out by a small consortia of 3 to 4 partners. The partners sought is a company, university or research centre capable of semiconductor design and small scale fabrication of RFID chips. Deadline for EOIs: 7 October 2020