17
NOVEMBER, 2004
Tagging
cars
Demonstrating a classic application of RFID in the distribution business,
Autotrade & Logistics Srl (A&L) has selected Identec Solutions’
RFID system - Intelligent Long Range (ILR)- to track and process imported
consumer vehicles in Italy. A&L is responsible for "dock to door"
vehicle services, which include both the handling and outfitting of vehicles
for OEMs such as Kia, Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Ssangyong. The vehicles
are then destined for domestic and international distribution in some
European countries.
As a measure of the scale of the requirement, A&L has some 15,000
vehicles on its parking lot, all now equipped with an Identec RFID tag.
The company now relies on the ILR system to expedite the throughput of
approximately 3,000 vehicles per day across an area of 600,000 square
meters.
As each vehicle arrives at the inland platform, an active RFID tag with
a unique identifier is attached to the vehicle's chassis. The ILR system
uses RF communication between the tag and RFID readers to track and monitor
the vehicle as it travels through key process steps (storage, maintenance,
finishing, inspection) until it is ready to be loaded onto a truck and
transported to its final destination. At this point, handheld computers
are used to read the RFID tag, verify that the right car with the right
requirements is being loaded onto the right truck, and then the tag is
removed to be recycled. In addition to verifying vehicle location, ILR
enables monitoring of vehicle status and events in real time to ensure
quality, FIFO, and to deliver key measurements such as dwell times and
exceptions. By ensuring each vehicle meets requirements, and by speeding
up the locating of specific vehicles on the yard, the projected cost savings
are in the millions based on reduced labour, productivity gains and accurate
shipments.
The costs related to finding vehicles, processing each vehicle, and wrong
deliveries can be high and the logistics involved are often error-prone
and very difficult to monitor accurately. A&L originally considering
bar codes, but decided that the real-time visibility, speed, and accuracy
of the Identec system would be a better solution than barcoding. It is
the first time the company has opted for an RFID solution, though it now
expects to implement it, not only to improve logistics but also other
areas such as security, for its other distribution centres.
www.identecsolutions.com
|
•
Home
|
