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PLS Uses RFID to Track Pallets, Containers
Xterprise's Clarity software on PLS' back-end system receives the ID number, date, time and location of each RFID read, then provides that data to PLS or its customers, on their own enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. According to Frew, Xterprise can also provide a server hosted by a third party, if requested.
The goal is for PLS to tag all of its assets in the next 12 months, Graves says, as well as install RFID interrogators at its four depots, in addition to approximately 16 third-party warehouses that PLS utilizes to ship its pallets and containers throughout Europe. "Once we've got the system in place," he states, "we will look at putting readers in customers' warehouses as well." If PLS were to install readers in those warehouses, customers could then share information with PLS regarding the containers' movements. If, for instance, PLS had access to a client's logistics data on its ERP, the firm could automatically send trucks to pick up or deliver containers based on the movement of containers to and from retailers shipped by PLS' customers.
PLS' clients would also be able to track the location of products they ship by linking retailer orders with specific pallet or container RFID numbers, and reading those labels as the shipments are loaded or unloaded from trucks.
"By actively managing the pool with RFID," Frew says, a user—whether PLS itself, or one of its customers—"can get by with less stock and make sure they never run out." Reusable containers are typically valued at $65 to $75 apiece, and overstocking them to ensure they are always available is a common practice by product manufacturers and reusable packaging providers. "A huge safety stock is typically built in for these companies," Frew says, which is expensive and requires extra space.
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The goal is for PLS to tag all of its assets in the next 12 months, Graves says, as well as install RFID interrogators at its four depots, in addition to approximately 16 third-party warehouses that PLS utilizes to ship its pallets and containers throughout Europe. "Once we've got the system in place," he states, "we will look at putting readers in customers' warehouses as well." If PLS were to install readers in those warehouses, customers could then share information with PLS regarding the containers' movements. If, for instance, PLS had access to a client's logistics data on its ERP, the firm could automatically send trucks to pick up or deliver containers based on the movement of containers to and from retailers shipped by PLS' customers.
"By actively managing the pool with RFID," Frew says, a user—whether PLS itself, or one of its customers—"can get by with less stock and make sure they never run out." Reusable containers are typically valued at $65 to $75 apiece, and overstocking them to ensure they are always available is a common practice by product manufacturers and reusable packaging providers. "A huge safety stock is typically built in for these companies," Frew says, which is expensive and requires extra space.
