Western Digital Uses RFID Seals to Streamline Customs

As the readers encode the tag, they also activate the e-seal, which monitors the integrity of the bolt screwed into the tag to hold it in place on the freight container's door. If someone unscrews this bolt while the e-seal is activated, the tag will transmit an alert the next time it enters an interrogation field. This alert includes a timestamp showing when it detected the break in the electronic seal. To remove the tag without breaking the seal, Western Digital employees can use a handheld reader to transmit a password to the tag and deactivate the e-seal. Employees can then remove the bolt by turning a screw at the base of the seal.


When customs agents receive the e-sealed container, a Savi ST-652 reader installed at the entrance gate reads the tag ID. This calls up the shipment record in the Savi Site Manager software running at the inspection site. If anyone has opened or tampered with the e-seal without first transmitting a valid password to the tag, the customs agents will see a red alert code in the Site Manager record. Furthermore, if the truck is arriving later than scheduled, but the e-seal is still intact, the customs agents will see a yellow alert code, signifying the truck might have made an unscheduled stop. Customs agents who see either code can then divert the container for inspection. On the other hand, if the e-seal is intact and has not been tampered with, the agents can approve the shipment and send confirmation back to Western Digital, using the TIFFA data exchange system.

Previously, customs agents used a completely manual, paper-based system for inspecting shipments. Those steps have since been removed, though agents may still select freight containers for inspection at random.

According to Savi, this container-verification system has reduced by nearly one half the number of steps personnel must take to move shipments through the two customs checkpoints. The company says it has cut labor costs by 25 percent. Before deploying the RFID-based container security and verification system, Western Digital's shipment records were 70 percent accurate; now, they are 100 percent accurate under the new system, indicating all errors were due to manual record-keeping.

In the coming months, Western Digital and Thai Customs plan to extend the e-seal-based inspection process to include checkpoints at Bangkok's Don Muang International Airport. In the future, Western Digital hopes to work with its shippers and other supply chain partners so they can utilize the Savi e-seal and Savi Site Manager software to streamline freight receiving and processing systems, while keeping the containers secure.