Swiss Food Cooperative Deploys RFID System to Realize Automated Tracking of Goods
chrispeng [ad_1]
Deployed by Migros Ostschweiz, a Swiss supermarket chain regional cooperation companyRFIDTechnology used to automatically confirm whether the goods are loaded on a specific truck. After using this solution called Cargo Identification and Location (LUIDO), the company’s truck drivers no longer need to manually scan barcodes to ensure correct loading. Now, they only need to load the goods from the staging area onto the truck.
Migros Ostschweiz Supply Chain Architect Tomislav Pavicic said that the deployment of LUIDO is part of the company’s corporate logistics restructuring plan. The company recently launched a database (database) based on the Electronic Product Code Information Service (EPCIS) as a basic component for data collection of the movement and location of shipments.
Migros is Switzerland’s largest retail company with 8 million corporate members. Each of the company’s regional cooperative companies are operated independently. The central agency Migros Genossenschafts Bund (MGB) manages shared parts including the 10 million returnable transportation project (RTI) and the container RFID tag project. The regional cooperative companies each manage their own manufacturing operations, such as meat processing, distribution and warehouse operations. The Migros Ostschweiz distribution center has the highest degree of automation.
Migros Ostschweiz delivers 6000 pallets of goods every day, and each pallet holds 100 RTI items. Currently, Migros Ostschweiz has used RFID technology in the conveyor system of meat processing centers, perishable picking and RTI packaging. At the end of last year, the company and RFID solution provider Vilant Systems jointly developed an automated solution for cargo loading in cold storage areas.
Vilant founder Antti Virkkunen said that Migros Ostschweiz’s philosophy is: the system should not change the way employees work, and forklift drivers should work as they did in the past. The on-board computer is used to receive abnormal alarms. The company hopes that only when errors occur (such as: vehicles parked in the wrong area, trucks loaded with the wrong goods), the system will come out and interrupt the work of the drivers.
Daniel Balmer, Transport and Logistics Manager of Migros Ostschweiz, explained: “The RFID system reduces the workload of employees. Now they do not need to enter data or scan QR codes. This also makes it possible to track 6000 items per day.”
Vilant provides RFID hardware and visible management software. The management software receives and analyzes the data in the Migros Ostschweiz EPCIS database, and then transmits the analyzed RTI position and movement direction data of the RFID tag back to EPCIS. Balmer said: “Once the RFID system finds a problem, the system will immediately issue a warning and take corrective measures.”
Virkkunen said that MGB also uses washable passive UHF RFID tags on the RTI. A label is also attached to each container. In this way, the system realizes the automatic data upload of the cargo in the container.
After the pallets are filled with RTI cargo, they are stored in the staging area waiting for forklifts to load them onto the truck.
Each forklift is also equipped with two RFID tags. The operator needs to place the pallet on a suitable position on the “pier”, and then the forklift will deliver it to the truck. An Impinj Speedway Revolution reader and antenna are installed on the dock door, which can read all RTI cargo tag numbers and upload them to the Vilant Visibility Manager software. The reader also captures the forklift RFID tag number. In this way, the software’s Vilant Engine component can obtain the label movement direction and various label data.
Virkkunen explained that the system does not require a 100% read rate of RTI tags, which is the key to this system.
If the goods are misplaced in the truck, the forklift driver can know from the red light on the dock door and the reminder on the on-board display screen. At the same time, if the driver makes a mistake, the system will sound a warning.
Passive UHF RFID tags are also deployed on each Migros Ostschweiz delivery truck. EPCIS software stores the ID number of the truck tag, which is bound to the delivery list data. After the truck arrived at the destination, the Speedway Revolution was installed at the locationReaderThe truck information can be read to determine whether the truck has been delivered to the correct location and upload time information.
If the truck is sent to the wrong location, the company’s warehouse management software will issue a warning. In January 2014, the system was officially put into use, which improved efficiency and accuracy.
Currently, the company has installed RFID tags on 1,500 pallets. Balmer said: “In the future, the company will also promote the use of non-cold transportation.”
(Exclusive manuscript of rfid world network, please indicate the source author for reprinting!)
[ad_2]
