William Frick provides municipalities with a low-cost solution for tracking city assets
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The tag manufacturer has released an RFID-based solution that aims to allow municipalities, utilities, industrial enterprises or hospitals to monitor equipment with loading software on handheld readers without the need for integration with back-end systems.
Municipalities usually have hundreds of thousands or even tens of thousands of assets, and they must manage them and keep them in normal operation. Among them, assets include fire hydrants, signs and traffic lights. Usually the government sends employees twice a year to inspect the units, record the inspection results, and specify all the maintenance work completed during the mission. Normally, employees carry pens and papers and have to manually enter information into the computer system in the future.
However, the above process is time-consuming and error-prone. Therefore, RFID solution provider William Frick has released a radio frequency identification system. The system is used to determine the items to be inspected and electronically track specific properties performed for service or maintenance of municipal or public utilities. The SmartCAT asset tracking system announced this month includes a rugged handheld passive ultra-high frequency (UHF) RFID reader. Load the software on the device to manage the collected data and Frick’s SmartMark UHF RFID tags. In addition, peripheral equipment (such as a USB charging cradle), spare batteries and a user guide are also included.
Figure 1 The handheld device SmartCAT reads the RFID tag of the fire hydrant
This handheld device has a built-in barcode scanner, a digital camera, GPS function and a keyboard for data input, all of which are combined with a passive UHF RFID reader. With the solution in place, cities or utility companies can simply label the items they wish to manage, and then begin to read those labels, without requiring their IT department to perform software integration.
In the past few years, Frick has found many potential customers, especially municipalities. These potential customers want to apply for their rugged UHF tags to be used on their assets to inspect and manage their assets. However, the company reports that their IT department often creates obstacles when obtaining the necessary approvals to integrate existing software and technology.
William Frick and John Poplawski, Product Development Manager of Poplawski Co., Ltd. said, “They found that using tags has ROI (return on investment), but they had to go back to the IT department to implement the RFID system.” So, previously providedRFID tagsInstead of a reader, Frick has developed a complete solution, which will be a low-cost solution that does not require integration with the user’s own management system.
The technology is currently being tested by the US municipal government, which requested not to mention the name. According to William Frick’s marketing director David Trebacz, the use of RFID provides a more effective and less error-prone data collection solution. Most small and medium-sized cities will arrange personnel with ledgers or pads of paper. These personnel will visit fire hydrants or other assets and write down the details, and then bring the paperwork into the office. In the office, asset managers enter information into spreadsheets or other software. Poplawski said, “We want to introduce a technology that does not require paperwork.”
Rugged readers were first produced by Frick. When a municipality obtains this system, workers attach a label to an asset such as a fire hydrant and use a handheld device to read or scan the bar code on the label. The worker then enters any necessary details, such as a specific fire hydrant identification number or code, along with its maintenance history.
During the inspection, the inspector uses a handheld device to obtain the ID number of a fire hydrant or other object. The reading distance of this handheld device is usually 15 feet. Trebacz said that in some cases, Frick also provided tags with a read range of about 30 feet.ReaderThe software on the PC brings up relevant information about the object, which is stored in the SmartCAT software of the handheld device. The software can also record GPS location data to confirm the location of the asset. Then, based on the information stored in the software on the handheld device, GPS data can be used to locate the product that needs maintenance.
Figure 2 GPS and RFID technology in the SmartCAT device enables users to track the location of specific assets in municipalities
During the inspection, the software of the handheld device displays a list of tasks on the screen. These tasks are tasks that the user must complete for a specific asset. The inspector can configure the task, not only can respond to prompts to indicate that he or she has completed a particular job, but also can enter any detailed information, such as the danger of damaging an item. The user can also take a picture with a handheld device and add it to his or her report. Before returning to the office, the read data will be stored on a device with a storage capacity of up to 250 megabytes. Connect the device in the office and upload all asset data to the computer. More importantly, the system is equipped with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capabilities. When the inspector is still working in the field, the data can be sent from the device.
The system can also scan two-dimensional bar codes. Therefore, municipalities can start with barcode scanning and then transition to radio frequency identification, or use RFID to track barcodes for high-value assets and low-value items.
In industrial applications, the same solution can be used to manage leased equipment used on construction sites. In this case, for example, a company that rents scaffolding can track which units have rented scaffolding for which workplaces, and when they return the scaffolding. Therefore, it is easier to identify situations where a particular asset is not returned at the expected time.
In addition, Poplawski said, hospitals can use SmartCAT’s solution to track healthcare devices with built-in Frick tags or wristbands worn by patients. He pointed out that the technology can also be used for any other EPC UHF RFID tags.
The toolkit to provide a handheld reader and software costs US$5,750. Including 26 durable labels, the price is 5875 US dollars. However, Frick currently offers a coupon that allows anyone who purchases a card reader and software to have a free label starter kit. In addition, the solution provides a three-year warranty period.
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