RFID Solution Tracks Assets For Global Provider Of High-Pressure Gas Cylinders

A worldwide atmospheric gas provider was looking for a way to track its inventory of high-pressure gas cylinders through its global supply chain, including warehouses and manufacturing facilities. The cylinders are placed on pallets and are delivered from and to a variety of locations around the globe daily. Not only would the tracking solution need to be intrinsically safe due to the volatile nature of the gasses inside the cylinders, it would need to work in an environment where multiple metal surfaces would be present such as carbon steel, stainless steel, nickel, aluminum and carbon fiber wound metal.

Adding to the challenge was the fact the customer required a tag small and flexible enough to adhere to the shoulder of the cylinders as well as a flat surface, but would need to be durable enough to withstand rough handling, harsh conditions and exposure to water, chemicals and extreme heat during the wash process.

With an HF RFID and barcode system already in place which required operators and manual inputs, they were subject to errors due to incorrect manual inputs or tag/barcode label read failures due to the harsh environment. This customer was interested in implementing not only a rugged system, but one which provided a hands-free, automated approach – Passive RFID.

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