chrispeng [ad_1]
Usangu Logistics (T) Co., Ltd., based in Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, is a large-scale transportation company with a fleet of more than 100 heavy vehicles and various types of trailers required by our customers in litigation.
Tanzanian logistics company Usangu Logistic Ltd. is using an RFID-based system to help ensure the correct delivery of petroleum products. Truck drivers deliver fuel to fuel stations in eastern and central Africa. The GPS and RFID technologies used in this system are provided and installed by Mukri & Co. (M&C), a cargo transportation and supply chain management solution company. This solution has been put into use in January to detect how RFID can control the anti-theft of products. The whole process is that there is an RFID tag attached to the oil tank, the RFID tag sends the status information to the reader, and then the data matching the reader data and GPS is sent to the back-end software.
Usangu Logistic is located in Dar es Salam, Tanzania. It not only provides the transportation of fuel and other bulk goods, but also manages some fuel stations that sell petroleum products transported by its company. When the truck driver’s car is loaded with petroleum products, it is difficult for logistics companies to ensure that the fuel is not stolen from the truck and sold on the black market. For this, fuel stations and logistics companies are both concerned, because both parties need to ensure that the correct quantities of products are delivered to the correct locations.
Usangu Logistic began testing the RFID/GPS system in January to test how the technology provides visibility to goods on trucks. The company wanted to find a reliable control device that could verify that the openings of the truck’s oil tanks had been locked, and could receive an alarm at any time when the openings of these oil tanks were unlocked.
Saad Ismail, the director of Usangu Logistic, said: “As a transportation logistics company, any loss of goods, whether it is oil or any other goods, will damage our reputation. In addition to the loss of reputation, if the goods are stolen during transportation, Will cause direct economic losses. This solution provided by M&C expands the trust of our customers.”
Usangu Logistic tested the solution on a truck for a month and determined the usability of the technology. The company plans to install the system on 30 of its 100 trucks by the end of this year.
Trucks transport oil and gasoline throughout Tanzania, as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Zambia and Uganda. Ashraf A. Mukri, M&C’s business development manager, said: “The first requirement is to provide a foolproof system that corresponds to the current system. We must provide a solution that is the same as the current sealing process. Truck drivers should be like before. That way, it can close and open the opening of the tank. Moreover, Usangu Logistic wants to ensure that this automated solution does not create any new opportunities for theft of gasoline, such as adding new openings to the tank. The system must be like one , Two, and three are as simple as they are, and at the same time secret enough to prevent attacks.”
Usangu Logistic’s trucks and most other logistics providers that transport fuel currently use code locks, with a metal ring around the closing device of the tank opening. Once the metal ring is in place, the opening cover cannot be moved, and only a driver who knows the code of the lock can open it. However, this system does not guarantee that the driver will not open the code lock to take fuel at a non-designated location without authorization.
Nowadays, a set of gateway equipment with GPS and RFID technology is installed in the cab of the truck, and an RFID-functional seal is fixed at the opening of the oil tank. The RFID seal transmits a signal to the gateway device approximately every 8 seconds, and the back-end system The software platform receives, compiles and stores the location and seal status data from the gateway. M&C has integrated and installed this system, and can also act as a customer’s consultant.
The opening of the oil tank is locked with an RFID seal, just like the existing combination lock, there is a similar metal ring to lock the opening cover. To open the tank, the driver must complete a series of procedures to unlock the RFID seal. Based on GPS data, the software can detect whether a truck has stopped at an unspecified location. Once the seal is unlocked, the battery-powered RFID tag inside uses a proprietary air interface protocol to transmit the open state of the oil tank and its unique ID number to the gateway device through a 2.4 GHz signal. Then the gateway sends the GPS latitude and longitude details and RFID data to the back-end software through a mesh GPRS or GSM connection.
The built-in memory of the gateway can record data at a frequency of 1 second every 365 days a year, although the frequency of data transmission by RFID seals is not so fast. If there is no mesh connection where the truck passes, the gateway device will maintain a record of RFID activity and GPS coordinates. Once the vehicle enters the mesh coverage area, it will send out the corresponding information. If required, this system can also provide gateway satellite transmission. In addition, this software can also enable two-way voice and information communication between drivers and company managers.
During the trial period, when the truck was loaded with cargo, the RFID seal was attached to the opening of the oil tank. The RFID tag inside began to send the unique ID number and the status of the seal within a predetermined time interval, and then the driver began to ship the cargo. . Every time the truck stops, the software can recognize it and compare the GPS coordinates with the designated parking place. If the seal is opened, its state changes, and this change is transmitted to the truck’s reader/writer along with its unique ID number.
The information is stored on a Web-based server, and Usangu Logistic can import the data into its own company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform or apply it in a spreadsheet.
[ad_2]
