Havoc provides RFID asset tracking solution for construction industry
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Havoc, headquartered in Gig Harbor, Wash, announced a high-frequency (HF) RFID asset tracking solution using rugged hardware for tracking inventory, inspecting and maintaining safety equipment such as drop protection tools, as well as for use on construction sites. other tool assets. The system consists of cloud-based SuperTrack.CT software, and 13.56 MHz high frequency RFIDReaderand labels. All system tools are designed to be encased within building materials to prevent damage during construction.
Security products company Guardian Fall Protection was the first to adopt Havoc technology products, using the company’s G-Track system of readers and software to track inventory and inspect and maintain products. Guardian, which has been using RFID technology for several years, was looking for a solution that would improve construction safety by allowing conductors to identify the location of safety devices in a timely manner, said Ed Marquardt, president of Guardian Fall Protection. However, the RFID hardware and software market does not have what he needs. The system is designed for use in industrial, oil and gas operations, he explained, and the system is not specific to Guardian’s customer base, which also includes construction companies, general contractors and the distributors that serve them.
Scanning Armored (SCAR) heavy duty tablet has a built-in high frequencyRFIDReader, works in tandem with Havoc’s asset management software.
Eric Lewis partnered with Guardian to form Havoc in 2012 to meet the technical needs of Guardian and other construction industry businesses. Lewis has decades of experience working with two-way radio frequency devices. Havoc’s high-frequency readers and tags are hardened and deployed at building construction sites, while cloud-based software allows users to store data from safety devices installed on construction sites.
According to Marquardt, Guardian’s customers are now using the G-Track system, which will be available this month.
Guardian manufactures a wide range of protective straps, lanyards, safety ropes and anchor points. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) require construction companies to regularly inspect safety programs (usually every six months) to ensure they are operating safely, and to disable them when these assets need to be discarded. Manufacturers of safety equipment, such as Guardian, can also provide users with their own advice on the life cycle of a particular item and the frequency of inspections or repairs.
Guardian sought an RFID-based solution that would allow it and its customers to better track this information, as well as provide relevant information to current regulators. What Guardian needed was a solution that could be changed and customized to meet more demands from customers, which none of the suppliers could offer. So the company started working with Havoc.
Marquardt pointed out that without an RFID-based system, security equipment is not checked as often as it should, resulting in unsafe consequences, which is a contractor’s highest liability issue. “Do I tell people you’d drive a car with one nut on the wheels?” He said, which is the equivalent of sending employees to work where the safety equipment doesn’t work properly.
G-Track consists of Havoc’s RFID tags (ISO 15693 compliant), Havoc’s tablet or USB RFID reader, and cloud-based software. Guardian’s commercial sew labels are affixed to each product, and Guardian can read the labels when it receives merchandise from its suppliers, which are then shipped to their customers or distributors. This way, the company not only knows what inventory is on hand, but also to which customer the items in it are sent, providing data on possible recall visits.
Havoc sells a wide variety of 13.56 MHz passive RFID tags built with NXP’s ICODE SLI chips that are rugged enough for deployment on construction sites.
Guardian’s customers use SuperTrack.CT software and Havoc readers to identify the location of equipment and receive alerts on which items need inspection or repair. Inspectors can then use the reader to store their records of each asset inspection or repair (service).
Havoc offers RFID solutions not only for Guardian, but other equipment manufacturers can rebrand the technology as needed, as well as for construction companies and other end users. Lewis said the company chose to offer high-frequency RFID technology, rather than ultra-high frequency (UHF), in part because it operates in an environment with surrounding metal, but also because the short read range it offers is better suited to this particular environmental applications. For example, if an inspector wants to inspect a single asset, but there are hundreds of specific items in a storage area on a construction site, misreading the labels is impossible to avoid, he said. More importantly, he added, as more near-field communication (NFC) phones enter the market, the system is designed to make it easier for users to read tags via NFC smartphones, although the two have different ISO standards (NFC). using ISO 14443). “We’ve successfully tested our tags with all current NFC-enabled Android phones,” Lewis said, “so I believe it will be commonplace for NFC chipsets to be read.” Users only need to download the Havoc app to manage the collected data.
With Havoc’s cloud-based software in place, end-user websites can be empowered to people on construction sites, such as specific tag ID numbers that can access stored data. A worker can read the tag through a Havoc reader and then enter additional information such as maintenance and inspection of equipment, where the asset is moved or assigned to someone.
Havoc offers Scanning Armored (SCAR) heavy-duty tablets with built-in high-frequency RFID readers, as well as two cameras and Bluetooth with Wi-Fi and GPS capabilities. It also sells its SuperScan USB RFID reader, which plugs into a laptop’s USB port. The label uses NXP Semiconductors’ ICode SLI series built-in chip, which is waterproof, dustproof and shockproof, and has a continuous service life of more than 10 years.
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