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TNT Express Says RFID Keeps Its Cages Rolling Across Europe
The active tags, which have a battery life of about eight years, transmit at a reduced rate while stationary, then beacon more often as they are moved. The existing Cisco Wi-Fi access points capture the ID numbers of the tags in each depot, and that information is routed to the MobileView software, which then provides a count of all cages at the depot, in real time, and makes that data available on the Web-based software.
The system is not designed to pinpoint the cages' locations within each depot. If an employee is searching for cages from another depot, he can simply log onto the MobileView server hosted by TNT Express, select a language (Spanish, German, French or English), and view, in real time, a listing indicating the number of cages at each depot.
Once loaded onto the truck, the cages pass out of range of the Wi-Fi nodes, and the MobileView software updates the number of cages in the depot accordingly. The system then knows exactly how many cages have departed the depot.
One challenge with the MobileView software, Ben-Assa says, involved developing the system to run on multiple languages, as well as providing a display listing all depots on a map of Europe. Depot personnel can run reports and receive alerts, he adds. The alerts could result if, for instance, the number of cages at the depot were to drop to a minimum threshold, or if a single cage were to leave a specific site unexpectedly (for example, if it were removed from a site without authorization). "Their primary concern is that enough cages are in each depot," Ben-Assa says, "but the system can also save capitol cost by eliminating shrinkage."
Reports could be run by each depot to indicate the number of cages shipped each day. The depots also conduct daily inventory reports to determine how many cages they have on hand, and compare that number against the expected volume of shipments in the coming days.
"Feedback from users of the system [depot managers] has been good," Malia says. "Over time, the accuracy and immediacy of the system have been impressive," he adds, commenting on how the software provides real-time data regarding the carts' locations. "Critical to the success of the project was AeroScout's ability to use the existing investment TNT Express had made into the wireless infrastructure."
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The system is not designed to pinpoint the cages' locations within each depot. If an employee is searching for cages from another depot, he can simply log onto the MobileView server hosted by TNT Express, select a language (Spanish, German, French or English), and view, in real time, a listing indicating the number of cages at each depot.
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| Amir Ben-Assa, AeroScout's director of industry solutions |
One challenge with the MobileView software, Ben-Assa says, involved developing the system to run on multiple languages, as well as providing a display listing all depots on a map of Europe. Depot personnel can run reports and receive alerts, he adds. The alerts could result if, for instance, the number of cages at the depot were to drop to a minimum threshold, or if a single cage were to leave a specific site unexpectedly (for example, if it were removed from a site without authorization). "Their primary concern is that enough cages are in each depot," Ben-Assa says, "but the system can also save capitol cost by eliminating shrinkage."
"Feedback from users of the system [depot managers] has been good," Malia says. "Over time, the accuracy and immediacy of the system have been impressive," he adds, commenting on how the software provides real-time data regarding the carts' locations. "Critical to the success of the project was AeroScout's ability to use the existing investment TNT Express had made into the wireless infrastructure."
