RFID helps Maryland blind laborers meet the labeling requirements of the U.S. Department of Defense
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The Maryland Blind Labor Business uses RFID technology to help workers with impaired vision accurately place the correct number of items into the correct category of boxes. This system is provided by RFID solution provider and software developer SimplyRFID.
In 2005, the US Department of Defense issued mandatory RFID labeling requirements to improve the tracking and traceability of pallets and containers. Since then, many departments of the U.S. military have used this technology to track items at the item level. For example, the recruit training center at Lackland Empty Car Base uses RFID to track the inventory of training uniforms and related items.
Some of these manufacturers of military uniforms, including the Maryland Blind Labor Business, are affiliated with the National Association of the Blind (NIB, which provides jobs for the blind). When these companies label items destined for Lackland in accordance with the requirements of the National Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), they need an RFID system that can be mastered by blind or vision-problem workers.
In the end, SimplyRFID won the cooperation to provide all NIF affiliates with a comprehensive RFID system that allows workers to interact with tags, readers and software. In order to provide a set of RFID systems that blind workers can operate normally, SimplyRFID had to make major modifications to the company’s Nox platform-running on the RFID end user server. Each reader is controlled by an independent computer-receiving instructions from the NOX server. The plan also includes RFID printing and coding machines and labels.
In order to enable visually impaired workers to use this system normally, SimplyRFID has made a lot of changes to the interactive interface of the software running on the computer. The existing Nox software interface provides many drop-down menus and options that these workers cannot see. “In the old system, the computer screens of each reading station would display a large amount of data,” said Carl Brown, Chairman of SimplyRFID. “Such as the total number of labels and boxes, and possible error messages. When the staff with normal vision interacts with the software, they can deal with it through 12 options on the interface; while the blind version only has more than 110 voice commands to do it or not. choose”.
Using the blind version of SimplyRFID system, users interact with the system based on voice alarms and commands, and a simple touch screen, eliminating countless options and drop-down menus in the old software.
The Astra reader installed under the work surface reads the label of each garment in the carton, and the system provides voice and visual confirmation
Earlier this year, SimplyRFID began testing the system at the Salisbury plant in Maryland. At the end of July, the factory officially adopted this system. When in use, workers listen to the voice confirmation of the processed labeling products, and then press a large touch screen of the workstation to realize the interaction with the software.
Each garment is individually packaged in a plastic bag, and an RFID tag with Avery Dennison AD-223 inlay is attached. The ID code of the tag corresponds to the SKU code and size of the attached garment in the NOX server. The RFID inlay is encapsulated in a tag, and the factory uses a Zebra R110Xi4 RFID printer to encode the inlay. On the clothing packaging line, as in the past process, employees place hangtags on each uniform. The only difference is that the new hangtags contain RFID inlays.
When the finished garment box is made, a worker stands by the workbench, puts the garment in the carton, and the ThingMagic Astra reader installed under the workbench reads each label. When the packing is complete, the reader reports the total number. For example, a worker takes three items from the garment warehouse and puts them in the box. The system immediately triggers the sound to report the number “3”. As workers put in more pieces, the system will report the number one by one (such as “4”, “5”, etc.), providing a continuous loading record. If the number of ready-made garments in the packing box exceeds the regulations (for example, a carton with 15 pieces of ready-made garments only contains 16 pieces), the software will instruct the worker to remove one piece.
At another workstation, the work puts the sealed box on a platform, and an RFID reader is installed at the bottom of the platform. When the reader reads all the tags, it sends a voice confirmation message to the job-whether the number of garments in the box is correct. The worker then touches the right side of the screen (the screen displays the number of labels read), and triggers the Nox software to command the R110Xi4 RFID printing and encoding machine to generate adhesive labels and stick them on the box.
Finally, the workers put all the labelled boxes related to the order on a stacker, and an Astra next to it collects the ID codes of all the box labels. When the elastic film fixes the boxes on the pallet, The printer encoder generates pallet labels. The ID code of the pallet label corresponds to the order belonging to the pallet and the label information of all containers.
For Maryland Blind Labor Commerce and three other NIB subsidiaries that use the Nox system, SimplyRFID integrates Nox software with Wide-Area Workflow (WAWF) order management software-the company uses the Department of Defense to execute orders. Nox software obtains order data from WAWF, and imports the confirmation information of order completion into the software according to the generated RFID tags.
“SimplyRFID helps Maryland blind laborers to ensure the accuracy of ready-to-wear inventory,” said Mike Sebach, operations manager of the organization. But more importantly, he said, this system helped them to achieve DLA’s single-product labeling requirements, so that the company’s important cooperative relationship with the Ministry of Defense can be maintained.
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