RFID helps logistics company Cordes & Simon to record the goods and reduce the loss of goods
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German logistics provider Cordes & Simon (COSI) installed an integrated system that combines barcode, camera monitoring and RFID technology in its warehouse to quickly locate packages in the warehouse and view video images of packages that have been shipped. The company applied the system in a newly built warehouse in the city of Villingen-Schwenningen in southern Germany. The Villingen-Schwenningen warehouse was officially put into use in March and is one of the company’s six warehouses.
Cordes & Simon hopes to use a system to help the company automatically locate lost packages and record the arrival and departure times of goods from the warehouse. The company worked with security integrator ESEG EURO Security Group and RFID technology provider Ubisense to implement this system in the warehouse in total for 6 weeks, said Terry Phebey, vice president of marketing and marketing at Ubisense.
Cordes & Simon’s newly built warehouse in Villingen-Schwenningen
Each package shipped to the warehouse is affixed with a barcode and the ID number of the product is printed on it. The Cordes & Simon warehouse uses a wireless handheld scanner to read the bar code, and then sends the date, time and cargo ID number to Cordes & Simon’s warehouse management system through the wireless LAN connection. Each scanner is affixed with a Ubisense active RFID tag, and the tag sends the ID number of the tag to the reader closest to the tag through an ultra-wideband (6-8.5 GHz). The RFID tag cooperates with a motion sensor on the scanner. Usually the tag is in a sleep state. Once the sensor detects movement, the tag is awakened and starts to send signals. In this way, if the barcode scanner is not used, the label is in a static state, thereby extending the battery life of the label. Generally, goods are scanned when they arrive or leave the warehouse. When a package moves from one place to another, it is also required to be scanned again.
The warehouse uses 22 Ubisense 7000 Sensor readers, which are installed at a height of 5 meters from the ground, and the maximum distance that can receive signals is 160 meters. The reader judges the position of each tag within 15 cm by measuring the height and orientation of the tag signal source and the signal arrival time difference between several readers. The signal is received by the reader at a rate of 3 times per second through a LAN cable, and then sent to the system server.
Multiple cameras are also installed in the warehouse. The lens of each camera is aimed at a certain area of the warehouse. Using the location information obtained by the Ubisense system, ESEG software automatically associates the RFID reading event with the camera that records the package barcode scanning event. ESEG software saves the captured pictures, cargo ID number, camera ID number, data and time. The camera is connected to a digital video recorder, and the video recorder stores the picture data on a data storage system server managed by Cordes & Simon. Each camera setting takes one picture per second.
If the goods are lost, Cordes & Simon or the customer can log in to the Cordes & Simon website, just enter the goods ID number to receive each scan of the goods in the warehouse; then you can continue to view the pictures taken by the camera after the last scan. Understand the condition of the goods in the warehouse.
“The introduction of this system has greatly reduced the loss of goods,” Phebey said. “COSI is expected to get a return on investment within 12 months.” The system saves the labor cost of searching for lost packages, and also effectively solves some claims for damaged or lost goods.
Cordes & Simon is also considering further expanding the application of the system by installing RFID tags on forklifts that carry goods into and out of the warehouse. After the forklift is labeled, the company can monitor the driver’s location at any time, and then learn about the goods on the forklift based on the video.
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