About ident

ident

ident is the German magazine for automatic identification and digitalization, the official organ of AIM-D e.V., the industry association for automatic identification, data capture, and mobile data communication in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Published by the Ident Verlag & Service GmbH in Dortmund, the magazine appears six times a year, complemented by the ident PRODUKTE product issue and the ident JAHRBUCH yearbook, serving the professionals who give the physical world its digital identity. In its 31st volume in 2026, ident provides cross-sectoral, practice-oriented information, user reports, product introductions, and current news on the technologies of the Auto-ID world: RFID, NFC, RTLS, scanning, mobile IT, print and apply, sensor systems, AI, IoT, payment, logistics software, and barcode, from the classic identification to the AI-powered digital twin.

Overview

ident addresses the professionals of automatic identification: the system integrators, the hardware and software providers, the logistics and manufacturing users, and the retail and healthcare implementers who deploy the technologies daily. The editorial concept is practice-oriented: the user reports show how the technologies work in real applications, the product introductions present the innovations, and the news covers the market developments. The technology focus rotates through the Auto-ID spectrum: the radio technologies from RFID to NFC to RTLS, the optical identification from barcode to 2D codes to machine vision, and the digitalization topics from mobile IT to IoT to AI, each covered with the practice depth the professionals require.

The publication structure combines the six magazines with the ident PRODUKTE issue, the product compendium, and the ident JAHRBUCH, the annual reference work that documents the industry's year. The circulation of 11,000 copies per issue reaches the AIM-D members, the subscribers, and the trade-fair distribution across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland: the reader copies of 8,825 reflect the targeted B2B distribution. The digital distribution of 2,200 PDF copies per issue extends the reach.

The Auto-ID Industry

ident serves the industry that gives the physical world its digital identity: the automatic identification technologies are the interface between the objects and the information systems. Every barcode scanned at the checkout, every RFID tag tracked through the supply chain, every NFC payment at the terminal runs on the technologies that ident covers. The industry's economic significance far exceeds its public visibility: the Auto-ID systems are the infrastructure of the logistics, the retail, the manufacturing, and the healthcare digitalization.

The industry's evolution from the identification to the digitalization reflects the technologies' growing intelligence: the barcode identified the product; the RFID tag tracks it in real time; the sensor-augmented tag monitors its condition; and the AI analyzes the data streams. The magazine's subtitle change, from the identification magazine to the identification and digitalization magazine, captures this transformation: the AIM-D members no longer sell the identification hardware but the digitalization solutions. ident documents this business-model revolution: the user reports show how the customers buy outcomes, not devices, and the product introductions show how the vendors package the technologies into the platforms.

History

ident's 31 volumes trace the Auto-ID industry's evolution: from the barcode's dominance to the RFID revolution, from the mobile data capture to the IoT integration, from the identification technologies to the digitalization platforms. The magazine grew with the AIM-D association: as the official organ, it documents the industry's standardization work, the technology developments, and the market's maturation.

The digitalization in the magazine's subtitle reflects the industry's broadened scope: the Auto-ID technologies have become the sensory organs of the digital economy, the data-capture layer of Industry 4.0, the logistics digitalization, and the IoT. The magazine's evolution from the identification journal to the digitalization magazine mirrors the members' business transformation: the barcode printer vendors became the IoT solution providers.

Coverage and Content

The technology coverage spans the Auto-ID portfolio: RFID in its frequencies and form factors, from the UHF logistics tags to the NFC consumer interactions; the real-time locating systems (RTLS) for the asset tracking; the scanning technologies, from the handheld scanners to the stationary tunnels; the mobile IT, from the rugged devices to the enterprise apps; the print-and-apply systems for the labeling automation; the sensor systems that extend the identification into the condition monitoring; and the software layer, from the middleware to the logistics software to the AI analytics.

The user reports are the editorial core: the logistics centers show how the RFID tunnels automate the goods receipt, the manufacturing plants demonstrate the RTLS tracking of the tools and the workpieces, the hospitals present the patient and asset identification, and the retailers explain the inventory accuracy that RFID delivers. Each report addresses the ROI: what the technology costs, what it saves, and how long the payback takes. The implementation challenges, from the physics of the radio waves to the integration into the ERP systems, are discussed honestly: the magazine's practice orientation means the readers learn from the others' experiences, not just the vendors' promises. The product introductions present the manufacturers' innovations, and the market news covers the mergers, the partnerships, and the standardizations that shape the industry's structure. The trade-fair coverage, from LogiMAT to the transport logistic, anchors the magazine in the industry's event calendar.

Organization and Ownership

ident is published by the Ident Verlag & Service GmbH, Durchstraße 75, 44265 Dortmund. The editor-in-chief is Dipl.-Ing. Thorsten Aha, supported by the editorial team of Tim Rösner and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Klaus Krämer, and the advertising manager Bernd Pohl. The editorial advisory board includes Prof. Dr. Michael ten Hompel of the Fraunhofer IML, Peter Altes of AIM-D, and the industry experts Frithjof Walk, Heinrich Oehlmann, and Bernhard Lenk.

As the official organ of AIM-D e.V., the magazine carries the association's institutional weight: the industry association for automatic identification, data capture, and mobile data communication in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The association's standardization work, its technology advocacy, and its event activities find their journalistic home in ident: the magazine reports on the AIM-D's positions, covers its working groups' results, and reaches its members with each issue. The business model is the B2B trade-magazine model: the annual subscription at €90 plus shipping, the advertising from the Auto-ID industry's manufacturers and integrators who need the users' attention, and the special publications that serve the industry's information needs.

Digital Presence

The website ident.de is the magazine's information portal and the ident AIDC market: the list of producers, resellers, and system integrators that maps the industry's structure. The portal complements the print magazine with the current news, the product database, and the digital editions. The digital distribution of 2,200 PDF copies per issue reaches the readers who prefer the screen.

For the Auto-ID industry, ident is the medium that connects the technologies to the applications: the magazine that shows what RFID, RTLS, and AI can do in the real world, the portal that lists who provides them, and the association organ that represents the industry's interests. The ident AIDC market, the portal's directory of producers, resellers, and system integrators, is the industry's yellow pages: the buyers find the providers, and the providers present their portfolios. Three decades after its founding, ident remains the German-speaking Auto-ID world's forum: the place where the identification technologies meet the digitalization, and where the industry talks about its future, in print six times a year and online every day.