RFID Becomes an Overnight Sensation for Sernam
The French shipping company finds that a tag-and-reader system significantly improves the efficiency of its overnight deliveries.
By Jonathan Collins
Apr. 24, 2006—Sernam, a former subsidiary of the SNCF French national railway, was privatized in 2001. Since then, the shipping and logistics company has been working to improve its operations' competitiveness and capabilities. Three years ago, the firm began examining the potential of RFID to help with both of those goals.
For the past year, one of Sernam's customers has been applying RFID tags to all parcels it collects and ships overnight. That has meant tagging more than 300 parcels with RFID labels daily, then tracking them as they pass through Sernam's Paris distribution center.
Sernam's chose overnight delivery because it is a high-value business, subject to price penalties for shipments that don't make the 8:30 a.m. delivery deadline. Adding RFID creates a trail of each tagged parcel's movement through the company's operations, cutting required handling times and resources.
Apr. 24, 2006—Sernam, a former subsidiary of the SNCF French national railway, was privatized in 2001. Since then, the shipping and logistics company has been working to improve its operations' competitiveness and capabilities. Three years ago, the firm began examining the potential of RFID to help with both of those goals.
For the past year, one of Sernam's customers has been applying RFID tags to all parcels it collects and ships overnight. That has meant tagging more than 300 parcels with RFID labels daily, then tracking them as they pass through Sernam's Paris distribution center.
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| Sernam's RFID system is designed to provide customers information about the whereabouts of their parcels as they move through the company's operations. |
Sernam's chose overnight delivery because it is a high-value business, subject to price penalties for shipments that don't make the 8:30 a.m. delivery deadline. Adding RFID creates a trail of each tagged parcel's movement through the company's operations, cutting required handling times and resources.
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