RFID can help businesses pass audits and fulfill requirements imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley act (SOX) – a law that has had drastic operational and financial impacts on U.S. companies.
Background
Nearly twenty years ago, in 2002, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was created to hold publicly traded companies accountable for their financial reporting.
This came after some of the U.S.’s largest companies were exposed for financial scandal. Unethical business practices and falsified financial statements landed these companies in bankruptcy – evaporating employee’s retirement plans and crumbling investor trust in corporations.1
What is Sarbanes-Oxley?
SOX implemented rigorous controls for financial reporting and auditing. This was done to ensure the accuracy of corporate disclosures, with a hefty criminal charge for non-compliance.
With the creation of SOX, companies quickly made investments in controls that would help them pass audits. However, many continue to underestimate the massive undertaking of accounting for assets and rely on a large workforce and static spreadsheets for reporting.
RFID can revolutionize this process – eliminating human error, showing asset status in real-time and being a reliable source for data.
RFID’s Role in Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance
RFID is an efficient, accessible technology that collects data from items (think medical supplies, tools, IT assets and anything in between) and provides real-time reports with item status, history, and location.
RFID can play a critical role in SOX compliance by:
Increasing Reporting Accuracy:
SOX Requirement: A company’s financial statements must be accurate to the best of the executive officer’s and chief financial officer’s knowledge.2
RFID Benefit: Assets play a role on a company’s financial statement – and an inaccurate count can lead to errors in reporting. Manual asset tracking is prone to human error and risks this accuracy. Automating this process with RFID diminishes that possibility as readers collect, organize, and report the data. This ensures that everything is accounted for – which can reduce loss rates by as much as 99%.
Disclosing in Real-Time:
SOX Requirement: Section 409 of the Sarbanes-Oxley act requires that material changes in a company’s financial condition or operations are required to disclose the information on an almost real-time basis (within 48 hours).3
RFIDBenefit: Automatic data can capture supplies’ real-time information as readers read the RFID tags. This can be done with continual updates or by passive readers that scan an item any time it passes by (such as entering a new location). Software receives this information and organizes it, then feeds it to the user. Users can even get automated alerts when an item’s information changes.
Providing Traceable Source Data:
SOX Requirement: any source data in financial reports must be traceable and any changes documented.4
RFID: Data pulled from RFID readers is easily viewed. All changes to any assets are recorded and kept with the pertaining asset. This allows users to trace all information and keep it updated as changes occur.
Other Benefits of RFID
RFID’s features directly correlate to the SOX requirements mentioned above – but it has other ways it supports this as well:
Simple Reporting: RFID makes running reports incredibly easy as data is continuously updated and ready to be pulled at any time. Users can enter the parameters and get up-to-date information within minutes, rather than waiting for a manual count or referencing a previous report.
ERP Integration: ERP systems are often employed to help with SOX compliance. RFID software, such as ItemAware, can easily integrate with these systems making it easier to share and pull information.
Conclusion
Ensuring that your company is meeting all requirements to Sarbanes-Oxley is crucial, and RFID can make that process easier.
Elyse Cheatwood is our Marketing Manager. With ten years in marketing and ever-increasing knowledge of the Automated Identification Data Collection (AIDC) industry, she creates research-driven content based on market trends, industry updates and tech insights from reputable sources (including the professionals she works alongside).
You’re thinking about implementing a Real-Time Locating System (RTLS), but you don’t know which technology would best suit your needs.
Lucky for you, there are plenty to choose from… and enough options to construct the optimal solution.
Let’s dive right in.
Definition: Real-Time Locating System (RTLS)
A real-time locating system is technology, hardware and software that determine a person or item’s location. They then collect data for analysis. The use cases for this spread across a wide range of industries, from construction sites and warehouses to office buildings and hospitals. RTLS have saved organizations millions of dollars in saved time, efficiency, and reduction of “lost item” costs. They also enable industries to react quickly to unexpected challenges.
RTLS technology varies in price and function. Each have advantages and disadvantages depending on the user’s needs. While performing a site survey is the best way to determine the right technology for your use case, we have compared them below for easy research.
Types of RTLS Technology
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)
RFID is a tracking system that uses electromagnetic or radiofrequency devices to communicate with a tag (transponder). These tags are attached to items and send location data to readers (interrogators). The readers feed that information into software which reads and analyzes the data that is transmitted.
RFID is broken down into categories, measured by their frequency band: low frequency, high frequency, ultra-high frequency, and super high frequency.
This includes passive and active RFID, as well as cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (Low Energy) and Ultra-Wide Band (UWB). The following table outlines the ranges for each one.
Chart comparing different real-time locating system technology.
An important distinction between RFID systems is the method by which power is supplied to the transponder – making it either active or passive RFID.
Active RFID
Active tags have their own energy supply, such as a battery or a solar cell. This is used to provide power to the chip and generate the radio frequency signal for transmitting data to the reader.
Use Case Examples:
Supply chain logistics
Container tracking
Advantages:
Large coverage area for each reader (up to 300ft (91 m) using technology built on commercial standard, up to 1500ft (457m) using technology built on proprietary standard)
Long read range
Global standards
Less susceptible to radiofrequency interference
Strong data signal
Disadvantages:
Large tags (in some cases this does not matter)
Tag beacons still need to be in range of the reader to report
Must consider RF physics in deployment
Proprietary solution (if you need up to 1500ft read range) will lock you into a single supplier
Needs replaced every 2-5 years depending on the settings
Not printable onsite*
*RFID tags have space for a printed label that can include barcodes and human readable information.
Passive RFID (RAIN)
Passive RFID (RAIN) labels do not have a power supply. The electromagnetic field produced by the reader’s transmitter is enough to initiate response from the tag and pick up the data. However, the tag must be within the reader’s range and will only emit data when read (unlike an active tag that is always ‘on’).
Use Case Examples:
Supply chain logistics
Retail
Toll collection
Parking systems
Access controls
Asset management
Industrial automation
Advantages:
Lower initial cost
Global standards
Proven technology
Multiple hardware and tag providers
Hardware and tags developed for all environments
Indefinite lifetime
Smaller tags
Disadvantages:
Weaker data signal strength
Must select proper tag based on application.
Susceptible to RF interference must be consider in deployment
Printable onsite
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
In 1999, standards were created around ‘Bluetooth’ – a continuous point-to-point data connection for streaming data in computers, cell phones and other devices. It has become widely adopted for wireless earbuds, keyboards, speakers, etc.
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) was introduced in 2010 with the release of Bluetooth 4.0. This defined the protocols for communicating short bursts of data from point to point or broadcasting data to multiple devices. BLE uses less energy than previous standards and enables device configurations that can run for several years on a tiny coin-cell battery. The introduction of Bluetooth 5.0 in 2016 increased data bandwidth and range requirements while optimizing battery life. This gives developers more choice in range, speed, and broadcasting capability. BLE mesh networking specifications were released in 2017, which define networks that allow multiple devices to communicate reliably at the same time.
BLE devices operating in the broadcast mode are commonly referred to as BLE beacons. In RTLS terms, this would be the “tag”. These broadcast a message providing identity, configuration, and data from associated sensors (such as temperature, light exposure, vibration, etc.). The radiofrequency signal is used to estimate the location of the device and transfer of data.
Bluetooth beacons can be manufactured quickly and for a lower cost than competing technologies because of the simplicity of the technology.
Use Case Examples
Access control
Toll collection
Asset tracking
Industrial automation
Advantages
Lower cost than traditional RTLS tags
Long read ranges
Wide variety of beacons (in both physical form and battery capacities)
Some beacons can accept firmware updates or reconfiguration via networked management software (i.e., updates and configuration instructions can be installed remotely without handling every device)
Broad vendor base
Location accuracy can be tailored to meet business requirements (this is determined by the hardware chosen that supports various location techniques)
Increased accuracy at any point, while maintaining the currently deployed “tag” base (by changing the receiver or sensor devices)
Disadvantages
Some beacons require physical interaction to update configuration or firmware (a technician must visit the physical location of the device)
Still maturing supplier base
Tag battery replacement cost
Proprietary solutions will lock you into a single supplier
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is a wireless network that allows devices to connect to the internet. A small device known as a wireless transmitter, or hub, is required. The hub receives information from the internet via your home broadband connection. This transmitter (often referred to as a Wireless Access Point, or WAP) then converts this information into radio waves and emits it. This effectively creates a small, local, area around itself. Within this area, your devices can receive the transmitted radio signals. This area is often termed a Wireless Local Area Network, or WLAN for short.
Wi-Fi location systems use the same standards as Wi-Fi based wireless local area networks (LANs). To provide tracking of assets, a powered Wi-Fi tag utilizes the same location services used for tracking phones, computers, and other powered devices.
Use Case Examples
Access control
Toll collection
Asset tracking
Industrial automation
Advantages
Wi-Fi tags allow customer to leverage existing Wi-Fi network, saving on infrastructure costs for a location system
Long read ranges
Multiple hardware and tag providers
Improved location accuracy with proprietary solutions*
Disadvantages
Tag or battery replacement cost
Proprietary solution will lock users into a single supplier
Location accuracy can be diminished by radiofrequency multipath errors and daily environmental variation. (Typical asset placement errors are within 5-10 meters depending on the specific location methods utilized).
The radio frequency band utilized by Wi-Fi is popular and prone to congestion. Adding a Wi-Fi based tracking system onto an already congested environment could result in poor performance.
*Proprietary Solution: A hardware or software product (or combination of products) and services that is tied to a specific vendor, to the exclusion of all other vendors.
Barcode
Barcodes are machine-readable codes in the form of numbers and a pattern of parallel lines of varying widths. Originally done in 1D, these tags are now done in 2D as well, enabling the capture of more complex data which can be visually represented with various geometric patterns.
Regarding location tracking, information is encoded in one or more barcodes and placed on the object. This is used to provide automated data capture of item identity and location. Information can be derived in the device and passed to the system with a hand-held imager at a workstation or choke point reading a single symbol. Other techniques rely on image capture and analysis by additional software. This allows users to capture data from multiple assets in an area such as a warehouse storage rack. Data is then passed to the application software.
Use Case Examples
Retail
Shipping and receiving
Asset management
Mobile POS
Advantages
Universally adopted
Labels can be printed on site
Labels are attached easily
Advanced symbology allows robust data encoding (if a portion of the symbol is damaged data can still be retrieved)
Advanced symbology is scalable and can be printed in various sizes if an image can be acquired for analysis (very small with image access by magnification or very large with extended read distances)
No battery replacement cost
Disadvantages
Requires disciplined asset handling:
Assets must be processed, transported, and placed in storage to provide line of sight access from the reader to the label.
If an item is moved to a new location by other than defined processes and the label is not visible, the location of that item cannot be determined
Physical Label damage can prevent data capture (if a single line is damaged or added to a traditional barcode the encoded data cannot be retrieved)
Limited or prohibited usage in classified areas due to image capture capability
Wide area analysis may require illumination of the area to enable data capture
Variations in printer quality or handwriting impact data accuracy and / or ability to read data
Cellular GPS
Cellular is currently used to provide communications across wide areas. Cellular companies are leveraging their existing networks to support the Internet of Things (IoT) with data plans.
Where location accuracy is required, triangulation with cell towers can be used to determine a transmitter’s location (similar to GPS tracking). But when greater location accuracy is required, embedded GPS can be combined with cellular backhaul capabilities. The cellular GPS system has the capacity to serve tens of thousands of subscribers in a major metropolitan area and is highly successful for outdoor environments that need tracking solutions.
Use Case Examples
Fleet management
Container tracking
Asset management
Advantages
Leverages existing cellular network; does not require dedicated infrastructure installed and maintained to collect data from tags.
Ability to connect to a power source or be battery powered
Rapidly deployable
Easy installation and deployment
Over-the-air programable
Over-the-air serviceability status updates
Accelerometer available for motion sensing
Ability to pass live sensor data
Ability to pass telematics
Disadvantages
Requires a data plan
Battery replacement
Battery can be rapidly depleted depending on programing and device settings
Location accuracy inside building
Some providers require you to use their service
Ultra-Wideband (UWB)
Ultra-Wideband (UWB) is a type of RFID technology that uses an extremely low power level and super high transmitting frequency to provide tag information for location-based solutions. A UWB real-time locating system can track thousands of tags precisely, in a large area like a warehouse, or a single tag in a small coverage zone like a doorway.
UWB systems communicate over long distances with less degradation in performance. The reader can focus on a specific area to interrogate the tags, so UWB systems provide greater location accuracy than other systems.
Use Case Examples
Sports (NFL, Hockey)
Manufacturing work in progress
Personnel tracking/safety
Advantages
UWB transmits at such a low power level and across such a wide frequency range that it does not affect other wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UHF, or handheld passive readers
High performance around metallic surfaces
Resistant to signal jamming and tampering
Good penetration properties
Omni directional antennas
Long read ranges
Location accuracy
No spectrum licensing required
No limitation to worldwide operations
Disadvantages
Proprietary solution
No standard
Tag or battery replacement cost
Conclusion – RTLS Saves Companies Millions
RTLS and the associated technology are critical for providing accurate sensing, locating, and tracking data that guide business decisions and increase agility. Companies that have deployed RTLS systems have saved millions in efficiency, reduction of item loss and increased productivity. They are more nimble and able to react to market changes and shifting demands. As RTLS continues to be more widely adopted and technology innovation increases, the implementation becomes easier and more uniquely fitted to your business needs.
About the Authors
Bart Ivy, PMP, is our Director of Automated Identification Data Collection (AIDC) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Solutions. A retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant and certified Project Management Professional, he handles your solution design. From defining technical requirements to deploying and sustaining your system, he ensures high-quality services that satisfy your needs. Bart is an expert in the industry and works with these technologies every single day. He’s our go-to guy for information on deploying real-time locating systems.
Elyse Cheatwood is our Marketing Manager. With ten years in marketing and ever-increasing knowledge of the Automated Identification Data Collection (AIDC) industry, she creates research-driven content based on market trends, industry updates and tech insights from reputable sources (including the professionals she works alongside).
Times of crisis highlight the value of RTLS in supply chain management. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the need for digital transformation, namely the use of Real-Time Locating Systems (RTLS). Read below to find out more.
The Critical Role of RTLS in Supply Chain During COVID-19
COVID-19: an unpredictable crisis that revealed just how fragile our way of life truly is. Closed restaurants, remote work, children going to school in their living rooms; none of us foresaw the ways our lives would look in 2020.
Industries and supply chains were no different.
Looking back, we see the devastation COVID-19 wreaked on global supply chains, different channels required to meet customer needs, and the critical role that real-time locating systems have in helping industries react to crisis.
COVID-19 and the Supply Chain Crisis
As the pandemic spread across the US, supply chains battled inventory discrepancies, unreliable staffing, and supply shortages.
Rapidly changing purchase behaviors rendered inventory predictions inaccurate. Stock imbalances and uncertain demand confronted industries as consumers reevaluated buying habits and changed their purchase methods1.
New requirements enforced social distancing in workspaces and two-week quarantines for any infected staff members. This created additional challenges to companies as production lines shut down and gaps in staffing created delays and lost information2. Companies were also forced to reduce numbers and make staff cuts. By July of 2020, 31.3 million people in the US reported they were unable to work at some point in the last four weeks. This included full lay-offs or fewer hours worked as employers lost business because of COVID-19. This figure was down compared to the 40.4 million in June 2020 and 49.8 million in May 2020, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Supply shortages made national news, especially highlighted in the medical industry. The US government and hospitals scrambled to find and order N-95 masks, respirators, and personal protective equipment (PPE). Finding, making, and delivering these items was critical in providing immediate care, putting the medical supply chain to the test.
Changing Consumer Channels in 2020
Concerned about the dangers of the virus, more consumers shifted towards online purchasing, contactless payment, and delivery.
In March of 2020, when shutdowns happened, online purchasing spiked. Consumers made 58% of purchases online versus 32% prior to the pandemic. Many plan to continue this behavior after the virus is gone.3
Contactless payment and delivery also saw surges during this time. Companies such as DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats were all poised to become heroes in 2020 as many consumers opted for contactless meal delivery. Second Measure, a technology company that researches consumer behavior, reported that 35% of US consumers used these services, up from the 27% that reported doing so a year ago. (Report published in December 2020.)
The digital trend affected grocery stores as well. Daily average online grocery sales in the US increased 110% March 12-April 11, 2020. This is compared to the week prior to the shutdown (March 1-11, 2020).4 Curbside delivery became a focal point for many of these stores, and Kroger even waived the $5 fee to appeal to shoppers.5
The Need for Real-Time Locating Systems (RTLS) During COVID-19
These abrupt shifts wrought by COVID accelerate the need for digital transformation, namely the use of Real-Time Locating Systems or ‘RTLS’.
Real-time locating systems accurately determine a person’s or item’s location, feeding that data to its users. These systems can use a wide range of technologies, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, RFID, Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) and Cellular. Each technology has differing sets of capabilities, giving users various options to fit their needs.
Use cases for RTLS systems are broad. Warehouses use these systems to track items moving in and out, the government uses it to track IT assets, and retailers use it to identify which stock is on the sale floor vs. in the back rooms. Hospitals use it to track both medical supplies and patients, and to perform contact tracing and proximity monitoring of personnel.
How can RTLS Help in Times of Crisis?
Times of crisis highlight the value of RTLS in supply chain management. Below are several reasons why RTLS is so critical:
Visibility: RTLS allows users to see how much inventory they have and where it is in the supply chain in real or near-real time, without physical inventories. When COVID became an issue, companies with poor visibility were not able to react quickly. Real-time locating systems allow companies to see what inventory they have on hand and where it is. They can more quickly decide what to produce and how much stock can be moved as demand shifts (i.e., from in-store to online fulfillment).
David Krebs of VDC Research, did a deep dive into the impact of COVID on industries. Reviewing his findings in an interview with AIM, he remarked “One of the things that has been exposed as a result of COVID-19… is that retailers with good visibility into their operations, particularly into their physical retail stores, are ones that have been best positioned to respond and be more agile in their response to different shopping habits. …Those who don’t have a good idea of what they have in their stores, or where it is, are going to be hard pressed to do this very efficiently. And that’s going to lead to a lot of dissatisfaction in regards to the customer experience.”
Transparency: RTLS centralizes inventory and location data, making it accessible to all with permissions. This allows anyone in the supply chain to pull and look at data that is relevant to them, increasing ease of communication and transparency among all stages of the process.
Automation Efficiencies: automating the tracking process guards against disruptions like gaps in staffing or poor performance of physical inventories. As mandates and shutdowns affected staffing during the COVID-19 crisis, some retailers were left unsure of inventory levels for each SKU.6 Using RTLS prevents this issue by tracking and maintaining inventory digitally. This enables on-line order fulfillment and significantly reduces processing time for orders delivered to consumers and retail stores.
Contamination Prevention: hospitals have found numerous uses for RTLS, including tracking equipment and patients. With designated areas for clean vs used items, hospitals can avoid cross-contamination and ensure a safer process for patients and staff.
Lululemon Has Success Using RTLS During the COVID Pandemic
Those who had RTLS at the start of the COVID crisis quickly realized its advantages. Lululemon, a technical athletic clothes maker, noted the benefits of using RFID (one form of RTLS) during the pandemic.
Lululemon’s CEO Calvin McDonald stated their success in a March 2020 earnings call: “With the use of RFID we can access product at any point across our network, not just DCs but at our stores as well from ship from store. So, it allows us to just regulate demand that we are seeing today online.”
Conclusion – Why RTLS is Important in Supply Chain
We will be experiencing the effects of COVID-19 for years to come. Supply chains will continue to be scrutinized as demand swings and changing policies affect the way business is run.
The conclusion is that those who are continually pushing the bounds of technological innovation are better positioned to react to times of crisis. RTLS is a key technology that proved that point in 2020 and will continue to drive success for those adopting it going forward.
Elyse Cheatwood is our Marketing Manager. With ten years in marketing and ever-increasing knowledge of the Automated Identification Data Collection (AIDC) industry, she creates research-driven content based on market trends, industry updates and tech insights from reputable sources (including the professionals she works alongside).
The US Patent and Trademark Office needed a new way to track IT assets. The process by which this was currently being done was taking too much time and was vulnerable to error. Read on to find out how implementing ItemAware and the use of passive UHF RFID helped them save $1.2M each year.
Tom King, PMP, and the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) won RFID Journal’s ‘Best Implementation of RFID in Other Industries’ Award in 2020. The USPTO wanted to reduce the cost of a manual process of tracking IT assets. This labor-intensive tracking process was subject to error due to the almost 1,000 people involved in tracking IT assets worth over $159,000,000.
A New Way to Track IT Assets: Project Details
To achieve the desired results of this project, the USPTO implemented ItemAware and the use of passive UHF RFID (RAIN) to track over 130,000 IT assets. Below are details of the project as outlined in the interview recorded by RFID Journal’s Mark Roberti.
The United States Patentand Trademark Office has:
15,000 employees
8 buildings
Approximately 2.5 million square feet of office space
One main campus: Alexandria, VA
Four regional offices: Detroit, Denver, Dallas, San Jose
The goals of this project were as follows:
Reduce the number of employees tracking IT assets
Reduce inventory cycle time
Increase accuracy
Increase asset visibility
Reduce asset loss
Requirements of the project included:
Minimally invasive
Cost effective
Integrate with current asset system of record
Results of using RFID and ItemAware to track IT assets:
$1.2M annual savings
Reduced Property Custodians from 804 to 275 (employees were able to get back to their real job, increasing satisfaction)
Reduced inventory cycle time from 10 to 5 business days each month
Accuracy increased 100% due to data from RFID
Increased asset visibility and better monitoring of contractor performance
Reduced asset loss to near zero
Conclusion – Track IT Assets Using RFID to Save Time and Money
Watch the video below as RFID Journal’s Mark Roberti interviews Tom King from the USPTO office about how they save over $1,000,000 every year using RFID to track IT assets.
Read the use case on this project to get more in-depth details on how the USPTO uses ItemAware to track IT assets.
AIM Global is the global industry association that connects, standardizes and advances automatic identification technologies. In 2019, they awarded Avery Dennison with the Global Appreciation Award for their cross-industry leadership in raising the awareness and adoption of ISO AIDC standards.
Friday, June 28, 2019
Chuck Evanhoe, Chairman, Board of Directors, AIM, Inc., Chair of ADC1, US Technical Advisors Group for ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 31 & SC41, CEO Aware Innovations and Evanhoe & Associates presented Ryan Yost, GM Avery Dennison Printers Systems and George Dyche Sr Direction Innovation, Avery Dennison Printers System an AIM Global Appreciation award. Award winners are selected by AIM Global Board of Directors for their cross-industry leadership in raising the awareness and adoption of ISO AIDC standards. The adoption of technical standards lowers the cost and risk of implementations while accelerating adoption rate, thus benefiting the community at large. On June 28, 2019, the AIM Global Board recognized Ryan Yost and George Dyche in appreciation for their leadership in accelerating the adoption and implementation of traceability solutions through standards adoption in the supply chain. AIM Global especially recognizes them for their support and commitment to the education of the food supply chain community of the importance of the adoption of traceability standards.
AIM Global – The global industry association that connects, standardizes and advances automatic identification technologies. https://www.aimglobal.org/
Chuck Evanhoe – Chairman of Board, President & CEO Aware Innovations | Evanhoe & Associates, Inc. is internationally recognized as an expert in Automatic Identification and Data Capture and Collection (AIDC) technologies, a key enabler for the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). https://www.awareinnovations.com/
Ryan Yost – General Manager, in his role, Ryan is responsible for worldwide leadership and strategy for the Printer Solutions Division, focused on building partnerships and solutions within the Food, Apparel and Fulfillment industries. https://printers.averydennison.com
George Dyche – Sr Director Innovation, George Dyche drives the innovation strategy for Printer Solutions Division, focusing on building growth through collaboration with our customers implementing a digital supply chain. https://printers.averydennison.com
Click on photos to enlarge.
Chuck Evanhoe presents Ryan Yost AIM Global Appreciation Award.
AIM Global Appreciation Award
Ryan Yost, Chuck Evanhoe and George Dyche
Chuck Evanhoe presents George Dyche AIM Global Appreciation Award.
AIM Global Appreciation Award
George Dyche, Chuck Evanhoe. Jeanne Duckett, Ryan Yost