 | Monday, January 28, 2008
Issue 765 | | Will Smith, Editor |  |
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Editor's Note: Today's top story is the RFID implementation by Greek 3PL Diakinisis at a major distribution center to facilitate shipment handling. RFID-enabled putaway, picking, and shipment verification operations have reportedly reduced shipping errors and related costs by 80 percent, reduced overtime expenses 20 percent, and provided other benefits.
Recall that earlier this month the US government published technical requirements for the new RFID passport cards, or PASS cards (see US Gov Sets Controversial RFID Passport Card Specs). Last week, vendors were announced that had won the contract to deploy the infrastructure and cards that constitute the PASS card program: IT services giant Unisys will deploy the readers, while General Dynamics will provide the cards and card personalization equipment.
Lockheed Martin-owned Savi Technology is targeting the Indian market through a new partnership with New Delhi-based RFID solutions provider AVAANA. "From defense and homeland security to transportation and port infrastructure, the opportunities to apply active RFID solutions with Savi in India are diverse and vast," commented CEO Bimal Sareen in the announcement.
Lastly, RFID printer manufacturer SATO joins Xterprise and epcSolutions as the latest vendor to offer a compliance solution for the recent Sam's Club mandate (see Sam's Club Suppliers May Face RFID Fines from Wal-Mart and Sam's Club Wants Item-Level RFID Tagging by 2010). Read about the company's new Ready-Set-Solved! solution. |
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| Products & Services | | - Real-Time WIP Visibility Appliance from Omnitrol Networks (site) | | - Tag & SpyTM: NOX Surveillance by SimplyRFID (site) | | | Upcoming Events | | - RFID World Asia 2008, 8 to 11 April, Suntec Singapore (site) | | - SCAN & RFID CHINA 2008, June 19-21, Guangzhou, China (site) | | - 5th Annual DoD RFID Summit - Feb 26-27 - Arlington, VA (site) | | - RFID Smart Labels USA - Boston, MA - February 20-21, 2008 (site) | | - Global RFID ROI 2008, 29th - 30th January, Munich, Germany (site) | | | Employment | | - RFID Recruiters - 100% Focused on RFID Recruiting (site) | | | Research & Whitepapers | | - RFID Marketing Strategies Report from RFID Update (site) | | | RFID Tags & Labels | | - Ferroxtag HF tags: Smart on Metal! (site) | |
Greek 3PL Sees Major Benefits at All-RFID Warehouse
Diakinisis, the largest third-party logistics (3PL) provider in Greece, is using RFID to manage all pallet operations at a major consumer goods distribution center. The 25,000-square-meter facility has RFID tags beneath the floor to direct automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) to picking and putaway locations, each of which has a permanent RFID tag encoded with the location ID. Diakinisis applies an RFID smart label to every pallet in the facility, and tracks them with forklift-mounted readers, dock-door portals, and handheld readers. The company uses RFID purely to drive its internal systems; no products that pass through the facility need to be tagged to satisfy any compliance requirements.
"This is a truly integrated system, perhaps the first-of-its-kind 3PL installation," said Ronny Haraldsvik, vice president of marketing and industry relations at Alien Technology, which announced its involvement with the system today. "Diakinisis implemented RFID so they can know at any time where any pallet is for any customer."
The facility tracked between 300,000 and 400,000 pallets last year after becoming fully operational, according to Haraldsvik. He said Diakinisis reported numerous operational improvements and benefits, including:- An 80 percent reduction in shipping errors, plus an 80 percent reduction in shipping costs related to error reconciliation;
- 25 percent reduction in pallet putaway time;
- 20 percent reduction in overtime.
"The project's focus was to achieve 100 percent traceability in the incoming pallet shipments," Nikos Koromilas, director of executive operations and administration at Diakinisis, said in Alien's announcement. "We soon realized that RFID could be expanded to include additional benefits: using shelf tags to verify use of the correct storage location to automate control of outgoing shipments."
Diakinisis began piloting RFID in 2006, and after encouraging results, went fully operational with the system in mid-2007, according to Haraldsvik. He said the company did not complete a formal return-on-investment (ROI) analysis, but learned enough from the pilot to commit to the technology. Business Effectiveness, an RFID integration and consulting firm in Athens, Greece, worked with Diakinisis to design and install the system.
Alien's Gen2 M tags are embedded beneath the facility's concrete floor to guide AGVs equipped with RFID readers to specific storage locations. Each warehouse rack and shelf location has its location code encoded in an Alien Squiggle tag that is encased in a special housing to minimize interference from the metal racks.
The location tags are read every time pallets are placed or removed from storage. Forklift-mounted RFID readers automatically capture and record the pallet ID and location code to build an accurate storage record. System software dispatches forklift drivers or AGVs to specific locations to pick products for orders. In the shipping area, assembled orders are passed through a portal reader, which checks the pallets against the order to make sure there are no missing or extra products. Several handheld RFID readers are also used for miscellaneous operations.
The facility handles products for multiple customers, but Diakinisis is not disclosing which customers' products pass through its RFID-enabled facility. The customer list on Diakinisis' site includes several major consumer products manufacturers including Nestlé, which is the world's leading packaged food supplier.
The Diakinisis facility stands out among other warehouse and distribution center RFID implementations because it relies exclusively on RFID for pallet identification and for the volume of goods processed there, Haraldsvik said. It is also notable because there are no customer requirements that compel the RFID tagging.
US dairy food supplier Daisy Brand recently announced it was tracking all of its pallets with RFID (see Daisy Brand Expands RFID Use, Asserts ROI), but many of its products require tagging for Wal-Mart. Imperial Sugar also announced it is transitioning to tracking all pallets with RFID (see RFID Just Icing for Imperial's New Pallet Program).
A common thread in these programs is that the companies consider it more efficient to use a single RFID system to manage pallets rather than a combination of RFID, bar code, and other legacy processes. Portuguese bookseller Byblos Amoreiras has applied this principle at the item level, using RFID instead of traditional EAN/UPC bar codes to manage all merchandise at its flagship store in Lisbon (see World's Largest Item-Level RFID Application Launches).
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| Products & Services | Real-Time WIP Visibility Appliance from Omnitrol Networks
Meet the industry's most innovative award winning RFID solution that enables complete work-order traceability in manufacturing. Real-time web-based dashboards and multi-site monitoring for work-order pedigree and traceability, including proactive bottleneck management and real-time performance analytics optimizing shop-floor efficiency. All at the lowest TCO in the marketplace. www.omnitrol.com/WIP. | Tag & SpyTM: NOX Surveillance by SimplyRFID
Find out "Who Took It" and "Where It Is Now" with our "Stealth to Catch the Stealthy" RFID Surveillance systems. Alerts direct to your cell phone. Unprecedented accuracy and court-usable identification. Protect valuable equipment and documents! From the people trusted by more than 2,000 DoD (Department of Defense) Suppliers. Visit: www.SimplyRFID.com | | | Upcoming Events | RFID World Asia 2008, 8 to 11 April, Suntec Singapore
RFID World Asia 2008 is THE event for finding out the transforming power of RFID for your business and its future. Sign up now for RFID Asia Summit 2008, targeted at senior-level executives; to understand and reap the benefits of this new business tool. For more information go to www.terrapinn.com/2008/rfid | SCAN & RFID CHINA 2008, June 19-21, Guangzhou, China
As one of the earliest, most specialized and authoritative exhibitions in China, approved and supported directly from State Ministry, the 8th SCAN & RFID CHINA 2008 will present you the impressive up-dated development and market of RFID technology in rising China. To know more, please go to www.scan-china.com. | 5th Annual DoD RFID Summit - Feb 26-27 - Arlington, VA
If you conduct business with the Department of Defense (DoD), you need to be at the DoD RFID Summit to stay abreast of the latest technology developments and take advantage of the "roll-up-your-sleeves" RFID implementation guidance that will be delivered for DoD personnel and DoD suppliers! Register now at www.DoDRFIDsummit.com. | RFID Smart Labels USA - Boston, MA - February 20-21, 2008
RFID Smart Labels USA 2008; the seventh annual analyst-driven event covers the hot RFID sectors, full technology analysis and market insight. February 20-21, 2008, in Boston, MA. Visit www.IDTechEx.com/USA to find out more and register. | Global RFID ROI 2008, 29th - 30th January, Munich, Germany
Taking place 29th and 30th January, Global RFID ROI 2008 is bringing together the leading RFID practitioners from a broad cross section of industries that will give you the opportunity of discovering the real ROI behind RFID implementation. View the full programme at http://www.rfid-roi.com/downloadpdfx2.asp and to register, please call 0044 207 202 7558. | | | Employment | RFID Recruiters - 100% Focused on RFID Recruiting
Whether your company is looking for the best RFID talent or you have the best RFID talent and are looking for the best RFID employer, RFID Recruiters offers the most focused approach to your objective. To learn how the RFID industry and the RFID job market are evolving, visit www.rfidrecruiters.com | | | Research & Whitepapers | RFID Marketing Strategies Report from RFID Update
Thirty-nine pages of original research on RFID audience perceptions, including 30+ figures of tactics, content & messaging, and recommendations to guide marketing strategy. Also, Top-10 RFID company rankings based on 550+ survey respondents. View the executive summary free, with Top-3 sample rankings. Only $495 Individual License or $795 Corporate License. Available now | | | RFID Tags & Labels | Ferroxtag HF tags: Smart on Metal!
Ferroxtag is a new family of HF RFID tags suitable for operation on metallic surfaces. Ferroxtag's special ferrite antenna was developed using Ferroxcube's years of experience in ferrite technology. The high performance antenna means longer read range with a smaller tag. Visit www.ferroxtag.com |
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RFID Update is the RFID industry daily. Launched in early 2004 to provide timely analysis of RFID industry news, RFID Update publishes editorial briefings every weekday for the growing ranks of top level executives involved in the deployment of RFID. Each issue delivers the breaking news and analysis most pertinent to successful RFID implementations, allowing readers to understand global RFID developments as they happen.
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