Articles

RSS

Click Here To Download:
•White Paper: Asset Tracking

The use and management of returnable containers has become a mission-critical issue for modern manufacturers due to greater adoption of kanban and JIT-based supply chains and modern trends of environmental conservation and good environmental practices.

Tracking reusable containers such as racks and totes is not a new concept. Millions of dollars are lost each year due to shrinkage, damage, and an inability to hold business partners accountable. In the automotive industry alone it is estimated that these inefficiencies combined with errors in the shipping and receiving processes of these containers cost companies over $600 million dollars per year. Identification and tracking technologies have been used in container tracking applications for many years. Barcodes, for example, have a proven ability to track containers, yet also have inherently limited capabilities such as limited lifetime, environmental tolerance, read/write ability, and line-of-site requirements.

Robust RFID solutions do not have these limitations. For this reason, RFID has emerged as an ideal technology for track-and-trace applications involving reusable containers. RFID tag and technology standards being developed by EPC, AIAG and other standards committees have helped to drive adoption. Additionally, RFID tags are capable of storing large amounts of contextual information including manufacturing, logistics, maintenance schedules, and other relevant data.

Click Here To Download:
•White Paper: Asset Tracking