In December last year, following negotiations with Babel (formerly Ingenia), our partners in Spain, PSP Asset Protection secured the acquisition of the eRLS RFID library stock control software.
PSP originally started working with Babel in April 2014, installing the first UHF RFID library system at St Helen’s College Warrington in July 2016. We were successful with this project mainly due to the ability to use small form security panels that can be located above access points. The new library design was very open and the installation of multiple pedestals, bolted to the floor, would have been unsightly and ineffective; eRLS integrated perfectly with the aesthetics of the new building.
Since then PSP has grown the eRLS community with over 70 sites in the UK and further customers in Ireland, Greece and Gibraltar. Defined as the ‘2.0 library model’, eRLS was specifically designed to improve the quality of service, efficiencies for staff and the overall customer experience; however, more important to PSP was the opportunity to make the most of the global investment and research in UHF technology, which is the fastest growing segment in the RFID market.
Talking about the purchase, Nick Hunt, MD, said: “PSP has always believed innovation is critical in order to drive value for our customers. This belief has led to the introduction of market-leading products over the years, including the integrated scanner and EM deactivation/reactivation unit, which was used extensively in UK schools from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s. We also designed and manufactured our own self-service kiosk, one of only two suppliers to the UK at the turn of the century.
“BottleLox, whilst a step away from our core market, was and remains a leading security device for alcohol bottles, and our own wireless people counting solution in KWIKCount Global was driven extensively by customer feedback.”
The opportunity to work with Babel and introduce something new to the market was incredibly exciting, at a time when HF RFID products had saturated the market. UHF had been discounted as a technology for libraries due to the far-field read ranges, but advances in the ability of its near-field capabilities meant it was perfect for the job and also opens up a number of possibilities for future innovation. eRLS also means we can provide a selection of tags for numerous assets, not just library books, which has proved to be of interest to IT departments as well as Library Teams.
nick hunt, psp asset protection
The acquisition opens up new possibilities with PSP looking at options to supply the solution to potential clients in Europe, although the focus, at present, remains very much nearer to home.
Babel shares our excitement and enthusiasm for the recent acquisition and had this to say:
At Babel, we are very happy that our eRLS product has been acquired by PSP, a company very aligned with our principles and values, and with whom we already had a close collaboration for more than 10 years. We know that PSP will take full advantage of the benefits of eRLS, being a company that offers innovative solutions in the library sector, with a customer-centric mentality and a focus on excellence.
Félix García Romero, BABEL
If you’d like to learn more about our eRLS RFID library stock control systems and why our purchase of the associated software will be beneficial to your library, please get in touch with our library technology experts today!