Company History

It all started when the 2 year old son of entrepreneur Rob Reis wandered off in a grocery store. Rob found his son, and at the same time found the idea for the "Tagalong," a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag that could track lost children. He founded Savi Technology in 1989 and hired fellow engineer Vic Verma (who is now Savi's president & CEO) out of Stanford University to build the product.

In 1990, while the "Tagalong" was in development, the U.S. Department of Defense was preparing for war. In the hectic mobilization of materiel shipped to the Persian Gulf for Operation Desert Shield (later called Desert Storm), the Army shipped 40,000 containers to the Gulf, and then had to open up 25,000 of them to see what was inside. In order to better address the challenges of global logistical support for the rapid deployment of forces, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the creator of the Internet, awarded Savi a research grant to develop technologies that would create a global wireless network for tracking goods moving through global supply chains. With this, Savi rapidly transitioned from tracking children to managing and securing supply chain assets and their contents as they move through global supply chains.

In an effort to leverage the resulting technology developments in its supply chain operations, the US Department of Defense awarded Savi (beating out several other major wireless communications companies) a $70 million contract in 1994. Since that initial contract, Savi has been the primary provider of RFID technology to the US Department of Defense (US DoD). Savi has been one of the key technology providers in the development and deployment of the US DoD's Global Total Asset Visibility (TAV) Network which provides an effective means of tracking the location and content of the US DoD's cargo containers anywhere in the world.

Since 2003, Savi has also implemented its RFID defense solutions for NATO, the United Kingdom's Ministry, the Danish Department of Defense, the Australian Defense Forces and the Spanish Ministry of Defense..

Savi has rapidly expanded its expertise in RFID and other forms of automatic identification and data collection (AIDC) technology into commercial applications. Creating applications that uniquely leverage real-time data, Savi has introduced solutions for supply chain visibility, asset management, and security. Savi's customers include major shippers, manufacturers, chemical companies and retailers, as well as numerous international ports, railroads, terminal operators, carriers, asset owners and third party logistics providers.

In 2004 Savi formed Savi Networks, in a joint venture with Hutchison Port Holdings. Savi Networks provides information services that allow supply chain and logistics executives to make better and faster decisions using accurate, near real-time shipment information. Through the SaviTrak™ information service, Savi Networks provides shippers and logistics service providers the capability to track the location, status and security of freight and other transportation assets as they move through the global supply chain.

In 2006 Savi was acquired by Lockheed Martin and today Savi is a global company with offices in California, Johannesburg, London, Melbourne, Singapore, and Washington D.C.