Chennai Container Yard Finds RFID Sharply Boosts Productivity

A successful demonstration of the technology was conducted between November 2008 and January 2009, Thakkar says, after which the system was deployed across the container freight station.

Ten RFID readers and GPS units were purchased, with five installed on fixed gantries, two on mobile cranes and one on the weigh bridge; two others were kept as spares. Some 4,000 tags have been purchased to track the containers. The deployment of the hardware began in February, and was completed in just four weeks.

The system's benefits were available immediately, Thakkar reports. "First and foremost, customers now find it much easier to locate their container within the storage yard within a couple of minutes, to a maximum of five minutes," he states. "The information is made available online, so customers can get whatever information they want regarding a specific container from any part of the world. At A.S Shipping, we can also know the exact number of containers in the container freight station at any point in time, and know how many more containers we can accommodate."

Furthermore, the company can know the exact time period for which the container was stored, and bill the customer accurately. In the past, a customer would advise A.S. Shipping one day in advance of collecting a container, and would then make payment. However, instead of the customer taking delivery the following day, it might not take possession for up to five days due to truck availability or other problems. This would result in lost revenue, Thakkar says, which can now be realized with the automatic-tracking system.

There are no plans to extend the project at present, Thakkar notes, though there are a number of possibilities for the system in the years ahead. "In the future, we would consider extending it to integrate the technology with our billing systems," he says. "We could also implement the same system at our other container freight stations located across India."