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Euro Pool System Tags Reusable Crates
HP and Euro Pool System began designing and testing the RFID system in early 2006, attaining a 60 percent success rate during the first year of operation. "A lot of the readers we tested were not really working, so we had to do reprogramming, and software filters were added. Other times the tags weren't functional, so we changed tag technologies," Lok recalls, noting that the read rate is now 100 percent. "We've checked readers, modified antennas—everything you could imagine, we've done."
Lok adds, "We believe that by having these RFID tags, we'll be able to better track the crates that are returned. Being very accurate on 304 crates can be challenging, because you might receive a pallet with 300 without noticing it. So we will be better equipped to accurately give back deposits to customers." The use of RFID, he says, will provide Euro Pool System a much more accurate count of the crates it has on hand. With that information, the company will be able to reduce the amount of stock it carries, without worrying that it might not have enough if a customer needs more crates.
Euro Pool System is currently testing the RFID technology only at its Zellik facility, but hopes to enlist participation from the retailers renting its crates. The company plans to begin this next phase in the first quarter of 2008, during which retailers would use RFID interrogators to read the tags of arriving and departing crates, as well as track those crates in their stores.
Euro Pool System expects its customers to be able to take advantage of the RFID data collected from the system. "Our retail customers will know better, via RFID, where the crates are when they get to their shops," Lok says. "They'll know better how many of the crates are still filled [with produce], and when they are emptied. They'll also know how long a certain crate has been in the shop, and how fresh the produce is. All these benefits will result in cutting waste."
Euro Pool System intends to continue working with HP at the Milan RFID Solutions Center through the fourth quarter of 2007. "We will mainly demonstrate the abilities of the technology to potential partners and [further test] the reliability of tags and equipment," Lok says. "HP has a lot of experience with RFID already. We've been able to learn all the good and bad things about RFID from HP. With RFID, there is a certain learning curve, and having HP in on the project reduced that learning curve."
HP's Milan RFID Solutions Center joins a growing list of other HP-operated labs and centers focused on RFID, says Frank Lanza, HP's worldwide RFID director. These include facilities in Bristol, England; Palo Alto, Calif. (see HP Kicks Off U.S. RFID Demo Center); Toronto, Canada; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. An additional center is located in Tokyo, and HP eventually plans to open another in the Australian/New Zealand region.
HP also operates so-called "noisy labs," including sites in Memphis, Tenn., and Beijing. These labs are set up to mirror real-world manufacturing and other environments so the company can test RFID technology solutions. HP's lab in Sao Paulo, for instance, is a noisy lab used by the company to develop, test and implement RFID in its own products (see HP Takes RFID End to End).
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Lok adds, "We believe that by having these RFID tags, we'll be able to better track the crates that are returned. Being very accurate on 304 crates can be challenging, because you might receive a pallet with 300 without noticing it. So we will be better equipped to accurately give back deposits to customers." The use of RFID, he says, will provide Euro Pool System a much more accurate count of the crates it has on hand. With that information, the company will be able to reduce the amount of stock it carries, without worrying that it might not have enough if a customer needs more crates.
Euro Pool System is currently testing the RFID technology only at its Zellik facility, but hopes to enlist participation from the retailers renting its crates. The company plans to begin this next phase in the first quarter of 2008, during which retailers would use RFID interrogators to read the tags of arriving and departing crates, as well as track those crates in their stores.
Euro Pool System expects its customers to be able to take advantage of the RFID data collected from the system. "Our retail customers will know better, via RFID, where the crates are when they get to their shops," Lok says. "They'll know better how many of the crates are still filled [with produce], and when they are emptied. They'll also know how long a certain crate has been in the shop, and how fresh the produce is. All these benefits will result in cutting waste."
Euro Pool System intends to continue working with HP at the Milan RFID Solutions Center through the fourth quarter of 2007. "We will mainly demonstrate the abilities of the technology to potential partners and [further test] the reliability of tags and equipment," Lok says. "HP has a lot of experience with RFID already. We've been able to learn all the good and bad things about RFID from HP. With RFID, there is a certain learning curve, and having HP in on the project reduced that learning curve."
HP also operates so-called "noisy labs," including sites in Memphis, Tenn., and Beijing. These labs are set up to mirror real-world manufacturing and other environments so the company can test RFID technology solutions. HP's lab in Sao Paulo, for instance, is a noisy lab used by the company to develop, test and implement RFID in its own products (see HP Takes RFID End to End).
