The decision to establish a physical office in Saudi Arabia comes at a time when the Kingdom is investing heavily in large-scale infrastructure, smart city developments, and modern workplace environments. These projects demand sophisticated security solutions that can manage identities, assets, and access rights across both physical and digital domains. Nedap’s technology is well positioned to address those requirements, particularly in sectors such as oil and gas, government, healthcare, finance, education, and commercial real estate.

Maarten Van Cauwenberghe, Managing Director for the META and APAC regions, highlighted the strategic importance of the move. He described Saudi Arabia as a key growth market for Nedap, citing both the scale of current opportunities and the long-term development trajectory. By being closer to partners and end users, the company expects to improve collaboration on complex, large-scale security deployments that are becoming increasingly common across the region.

To lead the new operation, Nedap has appointed Junaid Ul Haq as Country Director for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Ul Haq emphasized that a local presence has become essential as projects grow in complexity, and that the office will help organizations support the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 ambitions. Vision 2030 has been a driving force behind much of the region’s modernization, creating demand for integrated security platforms that can scale with ambitious national projects.

Nedap’s product portfolio includes the AEOS access control platform, identity and access management solutions, mobile access capabilities, RFID readers, and locker management systems. All of these are built on open architecture, which allows for seamless integration with third-party systems. This interoperability is a critical factor for large organizations that need to unify diverse security technologies under a single management framework.

The RFID reader technology that Nedap offers plays a central role in modern access control deployments. These readers support multiple credential types, including NFC-based smart cards and mobile credentials, providing organizations with flexibility as they transition away from legacy badge systems. The open platform approach also means that enterprises are not locked into a single vendor ecosystem, a consideration that is increasingly important for government and critical infrastructure projects.

With the Saudi Arabian market poised for continued growth in smart building and security infrastructure, Nedap’s local office positions the company to compete for major projects while providing the hands-on support that complex deployments require. The move reflects a broader industry trend of global security technology providers establishing regional offices to better serve markets where demand for integrated access control and identity management solutions is accelerating.

Read more at https://www.nedap.com/en/news/nedap-expands-presence-in-saudi-arabia-with-new-office

The post Nedap expands presence in Saudi Arabia with new office first appeared on RFID News.

The collaboration will see VF roll out the Nedap Inventory Engine across its entire brand portfolio, building a unified foundation for real-time stock accuracy and omnichannel retail performance. Deployment begins in Q2 2026 with The North Face, before expanding to additional VF brands over the coming months.

At the heart of the initiative is VF’s ambition to create a single, trusted view of inventory across all its operations. By leveraging Nedap’s RFID-powered platform, the company aims to improve product availability on the shop floor, strengthen omnichannel fulfilment capabilities and deliver a more consistent consumer experience across every touchpoint.

The scope of the programme extends well beyond the store estate. VF has also expanded its RFID initiative into distribution centres and vendor partners at source, giving the company greater transparency across the full supply chain. This broader visibility supports efforts to combat grey-market activity and reinforce brand protection across all regions.

“Our consumers expect the same level of product availability and service whether they shop online, in-store or through any of our brand touchpoints,” said Carsten Trenz, VP of Digital at VF Corporation. “Unified visibility across our operations allows us to deliver that consistency and build long-term customer loyalty.”

Hope Waldron, VP of Supply Chain Strategy at VF Corporation, added: “Extending our RFID programme beyond stores to include distribution centres and vendor partners at the source gives us greater transparency across our entire supply chain. That visibility improves our ability to ensure product availability, strengthen brand protection, and deliver a more consistent consumer experience.”

The decision to partner with Nedap came after VF completed a pilot using an alternative solution and subsequently reassessed its long-term requirements for scalability, architecture and global support. The company ultimately chose Nedap for its proven ability to deliver at scale across complex, multi-brand retail environments.

“In today’s retail landscape, unified commerce only works when brands can rely on one consistent source of truth for their inventory,” said Hilbert Dijkstra, Managing Director Retail at Nedap. “VF’s decision to invest in end-to-end visibility reflects a clear vision for the future: the ability to serve consumers seamlessly across any channel.”

Nedap’s Inventory Engine connects item movement across stores, distribution centres and factories, creating a single reliable view of inventory for the entire retail chain. The platform turns inventory movement into real-time insight, helping retailers operate with greater confidence, agility and precision.

With more than 1,500 stores set to benefit from the rollout, the VF-Nedap partnership represents one of the largest RFID inventory visibility deployments in the fashion and outdoor retail sector this year.

Read more at https://www.nedap-retail.com/vf-corporation-enters-partnership-with-nedap-to-unlock-end-to-end-inventory-visibility-across-its-global-store-estate%ef%bf%bc/

The post VF Corporation enters partnership with Nedap to unlock end-to-end inventory visibility across its global store estate first appeared on RFID News.

Blackburn moves to Nedap from Carter’s, the US and Canadian children’s apparel retailer, where she held the role of Senior Strategic Initiatives Analyst with a focus on RFID. Her transition from end-user to solution provider marks a significant step in her career, and one that Nedap will be keen to leverage as retailers increasingly look for partners who truly understand the operational realities of RFID deployment.

Sharing the news on LinkedIn, Blackburn said she was excited to be joining the Nedap Retail team and spoke about growing in her new role while working alongside some of the best talent in the RFID retail space, from Atlanta to Boston to Nedap’s headquarters in Groenlo, Netherlands.

The hire reflects a broader trend in the RFID industry where solution providers are actively recruiting professionals who have lived and breathed RFID technology on the shop floor. Retailers rolling out item-level RFID tagging programmes need more than just technology. They need partners who understand the practical challenges of tag selection, read-point placement, inventory accuracy, and change management across store teams. Blackburn’s background at Carter’s, where she was involved in strategic RFID initiatives, positions her well to bridge that gap between technology capability and real-world retail execution.

Nedap Retail has built a strong reputation in the RAIN RFID space, particularly through its !D Cloud platform and inventory management solutions that help retailers gain full visibility of stock across stores, warehouses, and e-commerce channels. One notable deployment saw fashion retailer C&A integrate Nedap’s Inventory Engine into its e-commerce warehouse operations, using RFID-enabled read points to automatically assign item statuses and improve Click & Collect accuracy. That project went live in late 2024 and was operational within weeks, demonstrating the speed at which modern RFID solutions can deliver results when implemented correctly.

For Nedap, bringing someone like Blackburn on board strengthens its ability to support customers through the full lifecycle of an RFID programme. As the retail sector continues to embrace UHF RFID for inventory accuracy, loss prevention, and omnichannel fulfilment, having team members who have managed these programmes from the retailer’s perspective is a genuine competitive advantage.

Blackburn’s appointment is another signal that the RFID retail sector is maturing, with talent increasingly flowing between retailers and technology providers as the industry scales.

The post RFID Retail Expert Anna Marie Blackburn Joins Nedap Retail first appeared on RFID News.