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Swiss Post Delivers RFID to Its Parcel Centers, Transportation Hubs
When a Swiss Post worker rolls a tagged cage past an RFID portal, the tag's unique ID is identified and the computer system updates a database on the whereabouts of the cage. The database can then be used to create reports about the number of cages available at a particular site.
Swiss Post is investing 4 million Swiss francs ($3.6 million) in the project, which covers software, hardware and consulting fees. It expects to save 1.5 million Swiss francs ($1.4 million) a year because it won't have to manually count the cages and will be able to manage the cages more effectively. By knowing how many cages are on hand and where they are physically located, it can make sure it has the right number of cages at each site in order to handle the expected volumes. The information will also help the company better manage the cages, transport them less between sites to meet demand and avoid delays due to unavailable cages.
"It's our first big project with RFID and with EPC Gen 2. Since we also manage warehouses for our customers, we expect to see more EPC Gen 2 tags used in the supply chain. We know that some customers have started RFID projects, and we want to be ready," says Gafner.
Since 1999, Swiss Post has been using RFID for yard management at its three parcel centers located in Daillens, Härkingen and Frauenfeld. It uses 1,300 metal containers to move parcels that have been sorted to the different transportation hubs. The containers, specially built for Swiss Post and sized about 7 by 2 by 2 meters, carry active 2.4 GHz tags. At the time Swiss Post implemented the application, the tags were the only tags available on the market to fit the specifications of the project, including a reading distance of 2.5 meters. The tags are read when trucks move the tagged containers into or out of a yard. The tags were supplied by a company now out of business, but Swiss Post is able to buy replacement and additional tags from another company.
An employee monitoring the yard accesses a computer to find out which types of tagged containers were just transported into the yard. The employee can then instruct the driver to unload the containers at a dock door or onto a parking lot, thus speeding the unloading process for incoming vehicles.
"Sometimes we get a lot of deliveries at the same time," Gafner says. "We have to arrange them very quickly so as not to create a traffic jam at the yard gate and block the autobahn that is a main artery from the north to the south of the country."
After the good experience with its yard-management application, Swiss Post implemented an RFID tracking system in 2001 for 12,000 special trays on which small packages are transported. It uses 75 readers for the trays that circulate in a closed loop inside the three parcel centers.
Workers place packages on the trays when the items are too small to be placed on the automated belts without falling off. The belt moves the trays toward the sorting machine, and at the halfway point, the trays' passive 135 kHz tags are identified, the bar codes on the packages in the trays are read and the trays are weighed. The computer system uses the weight of the contents of the tray to calculate the fees customers are charged, and if a package requires a tray because it is too small to be sorted automatically, Swiss Post charges a fee for the extra manual work required to place the package in the tray. The combination bar-code/RFID readers used are supplied by AEG ID.
After the rollout of the roll cage application, Swiss Post plans to focus on other RFID projects. It is considering using RFID to identify high-value parcels and to more easily and accurately collect tracking information on those parcels. In addition, it may use with RFID to manage all its reusable assets within the next five years.
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Swiss Post is investing 4 million Swiss francs ($3.6 million) in the project, which covers software, hardware and consulting fees. It expects to save 1.5 million Swiss francs ($1.4 million) a year because it won't have to manually count the cages and will be able to manage the cages more effectively. By knowing how many cages are on hand and where they are physically located, it can make sure it has the right number of cages at each site in order to handle the expected volumes. The information will also help the company better manage the cages, transport them less between sites to meet demand and avoid delays due to unavailable cages.
"It's our first big project with RFID and with EPC Gen 2. Since we also manage warehouses for our customers, we expect to see more EPC Gen 2 tags used in the supply chain. We know that some customers have started RFID projects, and we want to be ready," says Gafner.
Since 1999, Swiss Post has been using RFID for yard management at its three parcel centers located in Daillens, Härkingen and Frauenfeld. It uses 1,300 metal containers to move parcels that have been sorted to the different transportation hubs. The containers, specially built for Swiss Post and sized about 7 by 2 by 2 meters, carry active 2.4 GHz tags. At the time Swiss Post implemented the application, the tags were the only tags available on the market to fit the specifications of the project, including a reading distance of 2.5 meters. The tags are read when trucks move the tagged containers into or out of a yard. The tags were supplied by a company now out of business, but Swiss Post is able to buy replacement and additional tags from another company.
An employee monitoring the yard accesses a computer to find out which types of tagged containers were just transported into the yard. The employee can then instruct the driver to unload the containers at a dock door or onto a parking lot, thus speeding the unloading process for incoming vehicles.
"Sometimes we get a lot of deliveries at the same time," Gafner says. "We have to arrange them very quickly so as not to create a traffic jam at the yard gate and block the autobahn that is a main artery from the north to the south of the country."
After the good experience with its yard-management application, Swiss Post implemented an RFID tracking system in 2001 for 12,000 special trays on which small packages are transported. It uses 75 readers for the trays that circulate in a closed loop inside the three parcel centers.
Workers place packages on the trays when the items are too small to be placed on the automated belts without falling off. The belt moves the trays toward the sorting machine, and at the halfway point, the trays' passive 135 kHz tags are identified, the bar codes on the packages in the trays are read and the trays are weighed. The computer system uses the weight of the contents of the tray to calculate the fees customers are charged, and if a package requires a tray because it is too small to be sorted automatically, Swiss Post charges a fee for the extra manual work required to place the package in the tray. The combination bar-code/RFID readers used are supplied by AEG ID.
After the rollout of the roll cage application, Swiss Post plans to focus on other RFID projects. It is considering using RFID to identify high-value parcels and to more easily and accurately collect tracking information on those parcels. In addition, it may use with RFID to manage all its reusable assets within the next five years.
