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Lemon Grower Tracks Worker Productivity
In early 2008, the company began tagging its fruit bins and packs for field employees. In addition, it also started providing each worker with an RFID-enabled wristband at one field in Oceantina, located approximately 12,000 kilometers (7.5 miles) from Buenos Aires. Employees continued to carry a company ID tag, but also had the wristband with a unique ID number linked to that person's name and photograph in the company's back-end system. Upon arriving at the field, workers first check in, presenting their wristbands and ID cards to a supervisor with a Workabout Pro. The handheld reader captures the ID number and transmits that number to the back-end system via a Wi-Fi connection, thereby creating an electronic record of when that employee arrived.
When the picker brings the pack to the scale, the field supervisor utilizes a Workabout Pro to scan the unique ID number on the tagged pack, as well as the employee's wristband ID number. That number is linked to the worker's name using Noanet software. In addition, the pack's weight is input into the interrogator as well, linking that weight to the specific pack and employee. The Workabout Pro then sends that data to the back-end system via a Wi-Fi connection. With a laptop on the site that links to the company's central system using Noanet software, a supervisor can compare a picture of the employee against that stored in the system.
Because field workers typically harvest approximately 3,500 boxes of lemons daily, Audisio says, the system saves the company hours of time that employees previously spent waiting while the supervisor handwrote details for each harvest box.
After being picked, the lemons are sorted and stored in bins containing 13.56 MHz tags. Those tags are read with the handheld interrogators several more times as the fruits are prepared for shipment, in order to improve visibility into inventory, and to ensure that the correct products are shipped at the proper time—as they are processed and de-greened, and as they are packed and loaded onto pallets. The tags are then read one final time at the shipping port before the fruit is loaded onto vessels, providing the firm with an electronic record of when and where the product was shipped.
To date, the system—which is now in place at Argenti Lemon's 24 plantations—has enabled the company to better track its employees' work and manage payroll, says Florencia Bulacio, the lemon grower's IT manager. With the system, Bulacio says, the firm is able "to ensure we're operating efficiently and delivering a quality product."
The company is also piloting an RFID system utilizing Workabout Pro readers and 125 KHz RFID tags on cattle, to track the health of animals raised on its farms, based on the feed they are given, as well as other environmental factors. The firm began testing the system approximately six months ago, tagging cows as they were born, with about 15,000 animals currently tagged. The tags, attached to the cows' ears, are scanned with the readers each time an animal receives care, such as food or vaccinations. The staff inputs data regarding the care provided, which is then stored in the company's back-end system, along with the cow's ID number.
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When the picker brings the pack to the scale, the field supervisor utilizes a Workabout Pro to scan the unique ID number on the tagged pack, as well as the employee's wristband ID number. That number is linked to the worker's name using Noanet software. In addition, the pack's weight is input into the interrogator as well, linking that weight to the specific pack and employee. The Workabout Pro then sends that data to the back-end system via a Wi-Fi connection. With a laptop on the site that links to the company's central system using Noanet software, a supervisor can compare a picture of the employee against that stored in the system.
Because field workers typically harvest approximately 3,500 boxes of lemons daily, Audisio says, the system saves the company hours of time that employees previously spent waiting while the supervisor handwrote details for each harvest box.
After being picked, the lemons are sorted and stored in bins containing 13.56 MHz tags. Those tags are read with the handheld interrogators several more times as the fruits are prepared for shipment, in order to improve visibility into inventory, and to ensure that the correct products are shipped at the proper time—as they are processed and de-greened, and as they are packed and loaded onto pallets. The tags are then read one final time at the shipping port before the fruit is loaded onto vessels, providing the firm with an electronic record of when and where the product was shipped.
The company is also piloting an RFID system utilizing Workabout Pro readers and 125 KHz RFID tags on cattle, to track the health of animals raised on its farms, based on the feed they are given, as well as other environmental factors. The firm began testing the system approximately six months ago, tagging cows as they were born, with about 15,000 animals currently tagged. The tags, attached to the cows' ears, are scanned with the readers each time an animal receives care, such as food or vaccinations. The staff inputs data regarding the care provided, which is then stored in the company's back-end system, along with the cow's ID number.
