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THE IT SEcTION FULL SCREEN VIEW - by Marcia MacLeod Whatever happened to RFID?


Like so many technologies, RFID (radio frequency identification) exploded onto the freight scene in a cacophony of hype and promises. But over the past 12 months, everything has gone quiet. What has happened? In some circles, not a lot. “Talk


about RFID has been quiet in the supply chain,” admits Pierre Bonnefoy, director global RFID solutions for Psion Teklogix, which makes handheld scanners. “There were a lot of expectation with implementations like WalMart, but people were disappointed. RFID only worked in parts of the supply chain, not all of it.” In addition, he continued,


the investment in the necessary infrastructure is very high. “In general, 3PLs which try RFID tend to target specific projects, such as protecting high value goods or monitoring temperature controlled movements.”


to put the reader. “Should it be on a forklift, an overhead crane or a handheld device? If the user can obtain more information from the scan than, say, just a container number, RFID can be useful, but if not, why not just use a bar code?” The benefits of RFID over bar


codes have not always been proven. Walter Lowe, manager North America vehicle logistics at Ford, explains that while Ford has introduced RFID tags to track finished vehicles from its Cologne plant to the dealership, it is sticking with bar codes in North America. “We have a very effective bar code scanning system in place,” Lowe emphasises. I’m not sure we’d gain enough additional benefits from RFID to justify the extra expense.” RFID tags present their own


problems, too. If there are multiple tags close together, the scanner takes multiple readings, making


industries. Global Trade Item Numbers can now be used to identify products or services anywhere in the supply chain; Global Location Numbers identify locations; Serial Shipping Container Codes locate individual logistic units - which could be any combination of units in one carton, case, pallet or trailer; Global Returnable Asset Identifiers are used with trays, crates, pallets or similar; and Global Shipment Identification Numbers are assigned by a consignor to identify a grouping of units travelling under one dispatch advice, bill of lading or airwaybill. Tag manufacturers are also improving their products. New varieties of tags offer double the sensitivity of older ones, thus doubling the read range. “This will,” explains Nichols, “also allow tags to be read in areas which proved difficult before, such as sites where metal or liquids were present.” Battery-assisted passive tags


When FBJ visited the main Palletline hub in Birmingham a few weeks ago, the intensive pallet sorting and transfer operation was functioning perfectly well using hand-held bar code scanners - and delivering a very degree of accuracy and on-time delivery, said managing director, Kevin Buchanan. However, he said he might consider RFID at some stage in the future, if the technology proves itself and there are genuine benefits.


Mike Nichols, director RFID


system engineering for Intermec, another scanner supplier, agrees. “With 3PLs, most RFID is related to yard management. Trailers are often used as extensions of the warehouse, sitting in the yard for days or weeks, so it is easy to lose track of them.” But where RFID is used in a multi-


modal logistics environment, the 3PL has to have the right place


it hard to distinguish between units. The need to place readers everywhere in the supply chain can prove an insurmountable barrier and the lack of standards have led different industries to create their own, just as they did with electronic data interchange (EDI), which doesn’t help a 3PL operating in numerous industry sectors. Work is going on to develop generic global standards for all


also give extended read range - and Savi Technology is even looking at developing a tag that combines passive elements - which require readers to take scans when the tagged item passes by - with active capability, which relies on GPS or satellite to send out a signal saying ‘this is where I am’. These tags could then be used in passive mode in the warehouse, but switch to active mode in the wider world. At the end of June, Savi was


due to bring out a tag which has just one chip, instead of several, helping to reduce cost and improve performance. The company is also making different APIs (application protocol interfaces) available to other software companies so that they can build RFID systems more quickly, easily and cheaply. IT suppliers could even offer a hosted RFID system. The 3PL would need tags and


readers, but the software which provides, stores and analyses the information obtained from the tag would be managed by a third party. As Alber Nardelli, Savi’s


VP of strategy and emerging technologies, emphasises, no one size fits all. Airlines have steered clear of active tags because regulatory bodies such as the FAA and CAA have forbidden their use on aircraft for fear of interference with flight systems. But as reported in the last issue of FBJ, Lufthansa Cargo has been testing a passive Real Time Location System (RTLS) from Mojix Star which is based on RFID and aimed at locating and tracking single cargo shipments, pallets and containers. The system, installed in 1,000 sq m of its Frankfurt warehouse, is still in pilot mode, although testing began in April. If all the tests prove successful, RTLS will be rolled out throughout the hub site. “Efficient passive tags are only


just emerging,” says Markus Witte, head of technical development at Lufthansa Cargo. “If all you can do is to say an object passed a certain gate at a certain time, it’s not much different from existing bar code systems. But if you can locate a tagged item in a room full of cargo, using a passive tag, it becomes a different proposition.” He adds that new systems


are emerging using ‘exciters’ - antennae that use imaging. “We can get a read range of up to 190m with these new tags, compared to an average 4m with the old passive tags.” These new passive tags are


just one development that could boost RFID. As Nichols says, “we will see an expansion of RFID as people re-think how they can use it, what sort of problems they can solve with RFID and how they can benefit from the advances in this technology.” RFID is certainly not dead yet.


ISSUE 2 2010


Cargo 2000 fine- tunes technology


Cargo 2000, the airfreight industry organisation which aims ton improve and maintain service quality, is planning to look into RFID in the third phase of its development. Although currently still working on phase II, it has already researched the technology available, but has not yet decided which to use. Before Cargo 2000 can fully explore RFID, it is fine-tuning its


other technological processes. It has, for example, improved its reporting so that it can provide more detailed information, at airway bill level, to enable forwarder members to measure the same things for all carriers. “In the past, a forwarder could say it sent 100 shipments to


one carrier and the carrier could confirm it has 100 shipments - but they might not be the same 100,” explains Lothar Moehle, regional director EMEA. “It could be one of the forwarder’s 100 shipments is temperature controlled and, because the airline handles it differently, it doesn’t realise it is part of the forwarder’s list. Or someone can forget to enter data. Maybe one shipment has been held over from a previous consignment.” This may only affect a small number of consignments, but even 3% of shipments can have a big impact, he says. Cargo 2000, which now boasts 70 airline, forwarder, ground handlers, hauliers and IT company members, is also involved with IATA’s e-freight project, trying to ensure all members use the same standard of workflow so that data is configured in the same way and can be easily understood by recipients. An interactive training module is now available to all members


after its developers - Air France/KLM Cargo - donated it to the group. The package, modified to ensure neutrality, covers activities developed in phase I of Cargo 2000.


Mainstream by 2020?


DHL has been using RFID in quite a number of supply chain situations, though it would be going a little too far to say that its use was common or widespread. Project director for RFID standards Andreas Kruse said that, for the moment, RFID would find most applications with higher value goods or those where security or product integrity was a particular issue. However, he predicted that RFID would start to find wider applications across the supply chain and that it might be found at individual item level for mainstream consumer goods by perhaps 2020 or 2025. DHL, through its Innovation Center near Bonn, is also offering common data management systems for RFID that could reduce the first-cost burden of introducing RFID. At the moment, the costs of the necessary infrastructure for RFID have to be borne by the individual project, but if that burden can be shared across several projects, the technology could suddenly become a lot more affordable. “We are offering a central data platform, to cover a gap that most users haven’t bridged yet” he said. Frankly, he is not expecting any ‘game changer’ in RFID over


the next five years or so. What he does see, though, is deeper penetration into existing markets where RFID is already being used, such as automotive, or high value fashion.


Kewill buys in Benelux


UK-based global trade software specialist Kewill has acquired the Minihouse software group. The Benelux-based company specialisies in customs compliance automation software across Europe and was the first in Europe to adopt a software as a service (‘SaaS’) model in its sector. Customers include Cargill, Lyondell, Corus Staal, Wärtsila, DB Schenker, CEVA Logistics, Philip Morris and DSV. Minihouse’s founder Ronald de Vries will remain as its managing director. Kewill CEO Paul Nichol said Minihouse’s fully hosted environment


and SaaS business model fitted in with Kewill’s desire to offer its customers more flexible payment options including monthly subscriptions and transaction based pricing. Ferry and door-to-door transport operator operator Norfolkline


has meanwhile gone live with the Kewill Transport multimodal solution in the UK and Italy. The solution will now be rolled out across more than 20 further sites in 10 countries.


Excise upgrade


Red Prairie is offering a new version of its Duty Management solution that is compatible with the new European Union wide Excise Movements Control System (EMCS) regulations. As reported in the last issue of FBJ, the EMCS is being introduced to control the movement of Excise goods between premises in member states, replacing the paper based system.


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