Wine and Brandy Maker in High Spirits Over RFID

When the barrels are filled with wine or brandy, the employee again uses the reader to capture just one RFID tag on the nearest barrel, automatically including all of the other barrels within that batch. The worker then inputs his actions to the PDA, such as filling or emptying the barrels, and that information is updated in the SAP system. If a batch of barrels is to be moved, or if some have separated from the rest, there is also a prompt for this action, and the staffer reads the ID number of the tag on each barrel being separated from the batch, associating it with another batch in the barrel's new location.

Stephen Crocker

To make the system work, O'Neill says, researchers first needed to overcome several readability issues. During a test, for instance, after tagging 500 barrels filled with water, they found they could read the tags—but when they filled the barrels with wine, the tags were no longer readable. According to Crocker, the alcohol content in the wood affects the RF transmission. "We had no reads," O'Neill says. "We couldn't believe it."

RFID Institute resolved the problem by creating a 3-millimeter (0.12-inch) air pocket in the inlay, separating the RFID chip from the barrel itself. Another challenge involved ensuring that the adhesive material, provided by 3M, would comply with South Africa's health and safety requirements. "Those regulations are very stringent," O'Neill says.

With the new system, KWV is now able to determine not only where a barrel has been and how it has been used, but also when the company is running short on a specific kind of barrel. In addition, it can locate a certain type of barrel needed for a particular kind of wine or brandy, such as a cycle 2 barrel (one that has already stored two batches of wine).

Although KWV declines to comment on the system, O'Neill says the brandy maker is pleased with the technology as it currently operates. The next phase, he says, is to track bottled brandy and wine as it is shipped to customers. "They want to proceed with tagging cases of wine and brandy," he states, though he indicates the company does not yet have a timeline for deploying the system. With the new system, he adds, KWV could tag each of the 3 million cases of bottled wine and brandy it ships annually, as well as scan them as they leave the warehouse, enabling automatic advance shipping notification.