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RFID tags attached to individual items, boxes or pallets can provide two-way communication of product flow and information flow in supply chain management, and transmit the data collected from the tags over the Internet. Compared with barcode technology, RFID technology can greatly reduce labor costs for obtaining product information and automate many aspects of the supply chain. With the great development of the application of smart logistics, RFID will completely change the face of the logistics industry.
RFID’s online revolution
Modern logistics involves a large number of complicated products, and its supply chain structure is extremely complex and often has a large geographical span, so the accuracy and timeliness of information are very demanding. According to relevant survey data, a distribution center spends 11,000 hours a year manually counting goods and scanning barcodes. RFID technology overcomes these shortcomings of barcodes, automating the process and providing instant data to the supply chain. According to the analysis, if RFID is adopted, Wal-Mart can save 8.35 billion US dollars per year, most of which is the labor cost of scanning barcodes. In addition, RFID can solve the loss caused by out-of-stock, theft and supply chain disruption in the retail industry, and Wal-Mart’s annual loss due to theft is 2 billion US dollars.
RFID is characterized by the use of radio waves to transmit identification information, which is not limited by space, and can quickly track items and exchange data. When working, the distance between the RFID tag and the “reader” can reach tens of meters or even hundreds of meters. Through the non-contact information collection of long-distance targets (objects, equipment, vehicles and people) in various states (high-speed moving or stationary), they can be automatically identified and managed automatically. Since RFID technology eliminates manual intervention in the tracking process, it can greatly improve work efficiency while saving a lot of manpower, so it has great appeal to logistics and supply chain management.
The biggest advantage of RFID wireless two-way communication is non-contact, which can realize batch reading and remote reading, can identify high-speed moving objects, and can realize the real “one object, one code”. This kind of system can greatly simplify the inventory management of items, and meet the needs of increasing information flow and increasing information processing speed.
RFID technology is revolutionary, some call it the “online revolution,” wirelessly connecting everything to the web. In the foreseeable time, RFID tags will develop rapidly and coexist with barcodes for a long time. RFID tags and barcodes are suitable for different occasions, and each has its own advantages: barcodes are suitable for extremely low-cost items, while RFID is suitable for high-speed movement or multi-target identification at the same time.
At present, the application of RFID technology in China is mainly concentrated in the transportation industry. The relatively mature applications include the national railway vehicle number identification system, the Shanghai City Railway Pearl Line Control System, and the Dalian Port Container Management. In addition, applications in access control, parking lot management and expressway toll management have also begun to take shape. With the in-depth development of the transformation and development of the logistics industry, RFID will be promoted as the main technology application.
Booster for efficient growth
In March this year, in Dalian Dayaowan Port Area, the Dalian Railway Container Center Station, which is adjacent to the container terminal, was lifted by three four-storey rail-type gantry, and more than 10 container trucks were lined up along the operation line and unloaded from the railway car body. The unloaded containers are directly loaded onto the truck by the gantry crane and sent to the container terminal across the road for loading to the sea. Since Dalian Central Station started the operation of container sea-rail combined transportation in July last year with the adjustment of the port route layout, the operation volume has increased rapidly. The operation volume in the first two months of this year exceeded 18,000 TEUs.
Such efficient operation is due to the full adoption of RFID. As the only port-type central station for railway containers in Northeast China, Dalian Central Station relies on advanced infrastructure and equipment, and through close cooperation between ports and railways, continuously optimizes and adjusts the operation process of container sea-rail combined transportation. The proportion of direct loading and unloading operations is gradually increased. Through the coordination of the overall operation plan between the port and the station, the process of container landing storage and lifting and loading again is reduced. With the reduction of operation links, equipment operation volume and energy. Consumption has also been greatly reduced, and operational efficiency and capacity have been significantly improved.
At the job site, the gantry crane lifts the container from the train and stably loads it onto the container truck. The operation time for a single container is about two minutes. Three gantry cranes work at the same time. The car body here has just been unloaded, and the containers that are going to be transported to the northeast hinterland have been transported to the gantry by trucks and hoisted. According to the person in charge of the central station, at present all the cyclic trains stay on site for less than 8 hours. During the Spring Festival, the central station can complete up to 12 arrivals and departures in one day.
Although the work was busy, there were not many staff on site. The person in charge of the central station specially introduced the wireless dispatch and command system in use: “The facility layout of the central station is only separated from the container terminal by a line, and it is more closely integrated in the operation information system and is seamlessly linked.” All operation plans are Through the port community system, it is prepared in advance with relevant partners such as customers, terminals and railways, and is jointly determined. After the container hauled by the truck enters the fully automated gate channel shared by the central station and the container terminal, the container number identification system automatically identifies the container number, the RFID vehicle number identification system automatically identifies the vehicle number, and the disabled inspection system checks the container body. The system will check with the operation plan of the wharf, station and customer, and automatically release after confirmation. At the same time, the operation instructions are sent to the gantry crane terminal through the wireless network, and the driver can operate according to the instructions, which greatly improves the operation efficiency and accuracy.
It is understood that there are currently more than 10 sets of car bodies running in Changchun East, Qiqihar, Wukeshu, Ranghu Road, Shenyang, Harbin and other lines at Dalian Central Station, and the relevant railway departments will be coordinated to increase the capacity at any time for the increased freight demand. Ensure that the sea-rail intermodal cargo is transported as it arrives. In the future, around the three central stations of Dalian, Shenyang and Harbin, and relying on Dalian Station, the railway container network radiating to the northeast hinterland will be further constructed, and the container sea-rail combined transport channel connecting the cities and ports in the northeast will be improved.
At present, although RFID has not been rapidly applied in the logistics supply chain as predicted by many industry observers, the general development trend of application has become increasingly clear as factors such as standards and price constraints become more and more perfect. According to the latest news, foreign countries have achieved 5 cents each, and the lowest domestic price is 7 yuan each. Still, the price of RFID tags and reading equipment is too high for a large-scale rollout. And price and size are a pair of contradictions. Manufacturers hope to reduce costs by expanding scale, while more users are waiting for prices to drop before entering. Although the industry is generally optimistic about RFID technology, there are not many systems that have actually formed a scale and have actually been put into operation. According to the research report, a supplier needs about 1.3 million to 2 million US dollars to meet the basic requirements of Wal-Mart’s RFID, plus related software and hardware facilities, integration services, system testing and training, etc., the annual investment cost will increase by 9.13 million US dollars Dollar.
Experts from China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said that in order to solve the price bottleneck of RFID in my country, it is also necessary to solve the problem of localized production of labels and reading equipment. At present, only two companies in China have the core technology and the production capacity of reading equipment with independent intellectual property rights, and for labels, there seems to be no domestic company that can produce them independently. However, RFID promotion, according to the actual situation of my country’s supply chain management, should choose the appropriate business, find the appropriate entry point and application mode, carry out the application pilot as soon as possible, adopt the “small step and fast walk” method to obtain results and experience, and further promote. Specifically, it can be considered to select applications that are urgently needed in current supply chain management (such as whole-process monitoring of the supply chain) and applications that are suitable for the use of RFID characteristics (such as food and drug quality tracking), and use this as the basis for establishing RFID software infrastructure and inspection standards. .
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