Feb 23, 2009Argentine fruit producer Argenti Lemon S.A. is employing an RFID system provided by systems integrator and software company Noanet to track the productivity of its workers in the field as they pick lemons. The firm is also using the system to manage its payroll, and to track its inventory as it is processed and shipped.
The system, which includes Psion Teklogix's 13.56 HF tags that comply with the ISO 15693 standard, as well as its Workabout Pro handheld readers, allows the lemon grower to scan fruit packs and employee badges to connect a worker with his or her picked fruit each day. The lemons are then loaded into tagged bins that are tracked as they are processed and shipped to ports on pallets.
Argenti Lemon is one of Argentina's largest growers and exporters of citrus fruit. The company operates 24 plantations throughout the country, and employs approximately 2,000 workers to harvest the fruit, including 3,500 bins of lemons picked daily.
Traditionally, the company has managed worker productivity and corresponding pay scales manually. A picker first fills a pack with fruit. That person attempts to pick the highest quality fruit, which also tends to be the largest and heaviest, then presents the pack to a field manager at a scale, where the basket is weighed. In the original system, the manager would manually write down the worker's name, along with the weight of the picked fruit. That piece of paper was then sent to an office, where the numbers were input, and the employee's pay was calculated based on the amount of fruit picked.
There were several shortcomings to that system, however. For one thing, it was labor-intensive. In addition, there were cases of worker fraud, as some employees would send someone else to fill in for them. That individual would then spend a day picking, and the paycheck would be issued to a person who did not actually do the work.
About two years ago, according to Fabian Audisio, Psion Teklogix's Latin American sales director, Argenti Lemon began working with Noanet and Psion Teklogix on an automated solution. "They were looking for traceability in their fields," he explains.
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.
