Many Supply Chain and Distribution analysts and experts believe that RFID technology will be a key enabler for goods traceability improvement in the years to come. Thanks to recent technological progress, the definition of the EPCglobal® standard and decreasing tag and infrastructure costs, RFID is an increasingly attractive alternative and is driving more interest from operations and logistics managers.
In recent years, major distribution companies such as Walmart, Sam’s club, Metro and Tesco, and government organizations such as the American Department of Defense (US DoD) have implemented RFID projects to enhance the visibility of their Supply Chains. These projects focus mainly on optimizing goods tracking processes. It is true that RFID offers a number of valuable advantages for the logistics industry. The data capture process requires little or no human intervention. Large quantities of data can be read simultaneously. The object does not need line of sight – RFID differs from barcode technology in that there is no need to turn the object or point the tag towards the reader to capture data. Automatic checks can be performed when passing through doors or pre-identified areas; hence RFID brings a new dimension to traceability by identifying problems in real time, for example a pallet loaded onto the wrong truck or unloaded in the wrong place, or a batch of sensitive products stored in a non-secured area. Logisticians have understood that RFID can help increase their productivity and quality.
A solution fit for monitoring logistics units
RFID allows you to monitor the Supply Chain at two levels: logistics unit flows and item flows. idLogUnit is a logistics unit monitoring solution. It is a comprehensive solution, enabling you to identify and track parcels, pallets, cages, crates, cases, etc. during processing and transit, i.e. in production centers, distribution warehouses and storerooms, and during the shipment, reception and/or inventory processes implemented in storage areas.
idLogUnit is not just a ‘hardware’ package. It is a global solution that takes into account all the hardware, software and service components of the RFID project.
An idLogUnit solution implements many elements driven by Neopost ID: the RFID infrastructure for data capture, management applications processing RFID readings, data exchange interfaces between the RFID system and your information system, and software to manage the RFID equipment.
Depending on your needs, the RFID infrastructure used in the idLogUnit solution may include various devices implemented and operated by Neopost ID: fixed portal-type readers (see the presentation of the Neopost ID RFID portal below), mobile industrial-type readers, reading and/or tag encoding terminals, tag printers and fixed device control peripherals managing RFID data traffic and readers.
The Neopost ID RFID portal
We designed a market-unique portal infrastucture to meet the technical, functional and environmental requirements of the DHL Exel Supply Chain/Metro Group project. This portal, mounted on an industrial chassis, includes all the ergonomic and technological components needed to perform RFID readings, detect RFID tags on a container, identify the movement way, display data and implement visual signals and alarms to alert operators. It can be managed remotely, and can run either on a local network or in stand-alone mode via the GPRS network. This infrastructure is one of the most advanced portals on the market today.
DHL Exel Supply Chain/Metro Group: the flagship idLogUnit project of 2008
In 2008, DHL Exel Supply Chain and Metro Group partnered with Neopost ID to launch the biggest ever RFID project in France.
DHL Exel Supply Chain uses RFID transponders on 6 logistics platforms (all fitted with idLogUnit) to identify deliveries of dry and brewery products and track them through the supply chain to Metro Cash & Carry’s 90 self-service wholesale-outlets in France.
All the goods pallets (1.3 million a year) are equipped with RFID tags, enabling automatic supply chain tracking. While trucks are being loaded, the RFID tags are read without contact and the data is sent electronically to the recipient stores. When the goods arrive at their destination, the radio tags are read again at the goods entrance door and automatically compared with the order. The contactless RFID procedure shortens loading and unloading times compared with traditional barcode and handheld scanner systems.
In optimized logistics processes, the benefits of such a system are priceless:
- Greater productivity from logistics staff, as it is no longer necessary to scan parcels and pallets manually to retrieve tracking data
- All deliveries are tracked, thanks to contactless reading and monitoring
- No deliveries are misrouted, as the system ensures that all pallets are loaded into the right truck
- No surprises for stores, as they are notified of what will actually be delivered
- The logistics processes at stores are improved, thanks to the automatic tracking of inbound goods pallets
A solution based on the EPCglobal® standard
EPCglobal® is an RFID industry standard for traceability in the Supply Chain. It has all the benefits of a standard: interoperability, free choice of equipment (an EPC tag can be read by various EPC-compatible devices and can be replaced by another, more recent and more efficient EPC tag with no impact on the infrastructure), and shared traceability thanks to the ONS (Object Name Service) concept, which provides access to information on a given object, stored in several databases.
Neopost ID has always favored the EPCglobal® standard. Besides its in-depth experience with the tag-encoding and reading standard, Neopost ID has an expert knowledge of EPC-IS databases. We set up one of the first Oracle EPC-IS databases in France, for the DHL/Metro project. This database is managed and hosted on Neopost ID’s servers.
At present, if your project specificities allow to it, EPCglobal® is the obvious choice. Neopost ID’s expertise will be of great help in your EPCglobal® implementation.
A bundled solution, based on a service contract
idLogUnit is a bundled ‘Managed Services’ solution including all the components required by the project:
- The hardware suite in the RFID infrastructure
- The inherent software and interfaces
- On-site implementation and maintenance services
- RFID and EPC-IS data management and hosting
This service-oriented approach enables you to implement your solution with little or no investment. It also means that you will not need to invest in your own technical resources. Finally, it is the perfect way of keeping costs in line with the size of the solution.
In order to determine the overall project requirements, define methods of optimization and estimate your return on investment, we will run a complete analysis of your environment. This includes understanding your processes, running site audits to capture the project’s physical environment, studying your entire vehicle fleet to select the most adapted RFID solution - and adjust it when necessary, analyzing the data flows to be managed for a tailored solution, and determining your exact functional requirements so you can fully benefit from the collected RFID data.