Real estate developer Madison Abstract uses passive EPC Gen 2 UHF tag tracking files
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Title insurance and real estate company Madison Abstract Inc. uses a set of RFID systems to quickly locate documents, gaining a competitive advantage in the commercial real estate market. Madison Abstract uses Concept2 Solution’s software and integrated services, Motorola’s fixed and handheld readers to locate office files.
The Madison Abstract office area is 9,000 square feet, divided into 25 offices. There are 800-1,000 active files in the office at any time of the day, said William Cryan, vice president and chief technology officer of Madison Abstract. In such a large office area, file folders may be placed in many places. Before installing the new system, employees must fill in a card when they want to retrieve documents and place it in the original location of the document. There are a lot of problems with such a mechanism: it is impossible for employees to carry documents with them all the time. When documents are needed, the employees can finally take the documents away, or the documents are left in the copy room or other office.
The result of this is that employees often cannot find the required documents. Cryan said that he considered how to solve this problem a few years ago. He considered file management software, but the operation was too cumbersome and costly. Cryan also considered barcodes, but barcodes require employees to always remember to scan barcodes when removing documents. Labels; typical RFID solutions are also inappropriate, because most of the ready-made solutions use active RFID tags. For documents, the size of the tag is too large and the price is expensive.
So Cryan began to consider using EPC Gen 2 passive UHF tags, using the EPC Gen 2 RFID system to track the movement of documents in the office or corridor in the office area. As he could not find a ready-made solution, Cryan contacted Motorola in 2007 and explained his needs. Motorola recommended Concept2 Solution. The two companies developed this solution together and started installation in January last year. According to Concept2 Solution Business Said development director Joe Franz. The new system has two major functions: it uses 3 fixed XR440 Motorola RFID readers and 12 antennas to locate files and the office where employees (wearing EPC Gen 2 RFID badges) are located; then, MC9090-G is used in the office RFID Motorola handheld reader to locate the exact location of the file.
XR440 Motorola RFID reader and MC9090-G RFID handheld reader
When creating the document, Madison Abstract employees input real estate data into the computer, including the real estate buyer’s name and related purchase documents. The information is stored in the company’s SQL database. Employees put RFID tags on the folders containing these documents, and use RFID readers to read the ID codes of the folder tags. The ID numbers correspond to the documents and the indoor identification codes of the real estate buyers.
The antenna in the office area reads the label of the folder, and transmits the data back to the SQL database through the cable connection. The user can understand the movement trajectory of the folder through the Concept2 software, and guess the file location based on the antenna it has passed recently and the sequence of the antennas it has passed before.
In addition, every employee wears an ID badge. In this way, the user not only knows the location of a particular file, but also knows who put it there. If the user still cannot find the file, he can scan the office with a handheld reader with a reading distance of 3 feet. When the document is within the reading distance of the reader, the MC9090-G RFID reader emits a sound or text alarm.
Since the system was installed and operated in January last year, Madison Abstract still encountered some problems. For example, the antenna on the office passage facing the Madison Abstract gate does not work properly. After inspection, it was discovered that the foil lining on the ceiling was interfering with the RF signal. To solve this problem, they installed a smaller antenna before returning to normal operation. Because the data processed by the system is very large, Cryan said, the company’s system only saves data within 20 days.
“It’s difficult for us to assess the return on investment,” Cryan said. “We almost only do commercial real estate business, with a daily turnover of 150 million U.S. dollars. If they can’t find the lawyers to wait for, they charge $250-$450 per hour. So the adoption of this system is very valuable.”
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