Bracelets Aren’t Just for Charm at Rock Shows

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If you’ve ever worn one of Precision Dynamics Corp.’s identification bracelets, chances are you aren’t having too much fun. The Valencia company makes barcoded bracelets used by hospitals to access patient data.

But now the company is making products used by revelers at Coachella and other big-time music festivals – and helping music festival attendees brag to their friends.

Along with its barcoded products, Precision Dynamics also makes ID bracelets that use radio-frequency identification, or RFID, the same technology found in dog and cat implants that provide data that can help find the owner of a lost pet.

The company has been selling RFID bracelets to music festival promoters for a few years, marketing the bracelets as replacements for paper tickets, noting that they aren’t as easily counterfeited, lost or stolen. Now the company has added something new to its sales pitch: integration with social media sites.

Precision Dynamics this year inked a deal with Montreal firm Intellitix Holdings Ltd. that lets users link the RFID chip in a Precision Dynamics bracelet to a Facebook account.

This summer, the company sold its wristbands to the RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest in Ottawa, Ontario. The July festival featured special kiosks where attendees could scan their wristbands, resulting in an instant update to their Facebook page letting friends know they were at a particular festival stage.

Last April’s Coachella music festival in Indio featured the same type of system, but on a limited basis. Tom Foster, a sales manager for Precision Dynamics, said the festival in Ottawa, which drew more than 250,000 attendees, was the first widespread use of RFID check-ins.

Festival-goers could update Facebook through a smartphone, but Foster said that because the RFID check-in system is new and novel, it can lead to more check-ins, which amount to cheap advertising for a festival.

“There’s that ‘wow’ factor,” he said. “And the cost to festival producers is minimal, especially compared to the number of impressions they get.”

The entertainment and festival market is a growing one for Precision Dynamics, but now represents only about 5 percent of the private company’s roughly $200 million in annual revenue, Foster said.

Extra Fizzy

Since going public in 2006, ginger ale maker Reed’s Inc. has steadily added new products and inked distribution deals with specialty food market. With that slow and steady approach, the Los Angeles company reported narrowing losses in each of the past few years.

Then this summer, the company reported its first-ever profitable quarter. Now things are moving fast.

In the past few months, Reed’s stock has shot up to prices not seen since 2007, shortly after its initial public offering. This year, it’s gone from $1.11 to an Oct. 17 close of $8.15 – a gain of 634 percent, by far the biggest year-to-date gain on the LABJ Stock Index. It was one of the top gainers on this week’s index. (See page 64.)

What’s more, the company has announced its products will be available in more stores and introduced additional products since the end of its profitable quarter, which could further boost third quarter results.

Reed’s also started making kombucha, a probiotic beverage made with tea that’s a hot seller at natural food stores. The product is already in 600 stores nationwide.

“It’s kind of like throwing oil on a fire here,” said Chris Reed, Reed’s founder and chief executive, of the new kombucha line. “It’s growing faster than anything we’ve done. It’s definitely a game changer.”

The company makes its next earnings announcement for the quarter ended Sept. 30 on Nov. 13.

Jumbo Expansion

Aerospace Dynamics International in Santa Clarita broke ground last week on a plant expansion that will give the company more space to manufacture parts for the new A350 jet from European aircraft maker Airbus SAS.

ADI, part of Inglewood’s privately held Marvin Group, is adding 88,000 square feet to its 300,000-square-foot plant on Rye Canyon Road in Valencia.

The expansion comes as Airbus and domestic competitor Boeing Co. are both seeing big demand for new, more fuel-efficient passenger jets to replace aging airline fleets.

Staff reporter James Rufus Koren can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 225.

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