User Integration Story: Monitoring Taxis Via RFID Tags, In Greece

Mikos Pesmatzoglou, managing director of Control and Advanced Technologies Hellas AEBE in Athens, Greece, shares his company's of impletmenting RFID technology. This is not a simple pilot program, but rather an article outlining the successful intergration of RFID.

The whole RFID integration project, triggered by the National Union of Greek TAXIs, was based upon the relevant Ministerial Decision of December 2004. The project was completed through the last quarter of 2005.

On the windshield of every individual TAXI a RFID tag is placed. The whole procedure was based on the RFID technology, functions, and communication techniques. The tag it is called "Electronically Readable Sign." Every tag contains a unique identity number and it is a Read/Write type tag. The microchip brand is Phillips and the company which has developed the tag has been ISO 9001-2000 certified. The communication frequency is at the 125 KHz bandwidth and the microchip and the coil operate at temperatures from -40oC to 85oC. The complete tag network is tested and certified with military specs MIL-STD 883 D. Whenever a tag is detached from the windscreen it is automatically destroyed, for security reasons, so they must be used and treated with much caution (there are specified instructions for that handed over to the TAXI drivers). During the procedure of attaching the tags on the windshield, technicians examine the tags for proper functioning, and only after passing inspection are the tags attached to the vehicles.

About Mikos Pesmatzoglou
Mikos Pesmatzoglou graduated from Aston University in Birmingham, U.K., with his Master's of Science in Industrial Maths. With over 20 years of experience in the field of Logistics, he was director of the logistics department at Bristol-Myers in Squibb, Greece. For the last few years, Pesmatzoglou has taken an active interest in supply chain applications and RFID technology and issues. Currently, he works as managing director for Control and Advanced Technologies Hellas AEBE in Athens, Greece.