- The University of Memphis’s lab now features a system from Avery Dennison using its reader conveyor system and atma.IO software platform.
- Students are building RFID enabled item and parcel identification applications for companies shipping goods to customers.
Companies and students are sharing learning opportunities based on RFID deployments at the point of shipping—to improve logistics as goods leave a factory destined for customers.
The University of Memphis’ Automatic Identification Lab recently installed a system provided by Avery Dennison, using the technology company’s RFID reader hardware and atma.io software platform to test and demonstrate the use of shipping stations that could automatically identify item level goods and packed parcels as they leave a site.
Ten percent of all rolling containers were unaccounted for prior to the technology deployment.
The solution offers an application for RFID tracking when goods go to customers rather than the more traditional retail solutions used to track goods to stores. Since the technology was installed at the lab in September, students have designed systems related to product tracking and shipping, and companies are coming onsite to view the technology and test potential opportunities.
The technology could test parcel or case verification after goods are packed, or validation of appropriate packing of goods inside that parcel. It could also be used at the point of receiving by a third-party carrier, to identify goods received, said Kevin Berisso, University of Memphis, associate professor and AutoID Lab director.
The AutoID Lab has a focus on promoting usage of automatic identification technologies that include barcoding, RFID, biometrics and smartcards. The latest installation focuses on RAIN (UHF) RFID to automatically capture tag IDs as they pass through tunnel readers on conveyor belts.
FedEx Parcels and Item Level Tagged Goods
The project was launched with Avery Dennison as well as FedEx, demonstrating that its parcels can then be tagged and loaded with similarly tagged items.
Avery Dennison is providing hardware, software, and label solutions that include conveyance, RFID-enabled tunnel, RFID undermount reader station, RFID label applicator, and RFID dock door portal powered by the atma.IO connected product cloud and thousands of RFID labels, said Jason Ivy, logistics solution consultant director at Avery Dennison.
The system takes advantage of an emerging trend: brands tagging their products with UHF RAIN RFID tags to meet retailer requests or mandates by companies like Walmart. The lab’s goal however, said Berisso, is to leverage those RFID tags to serve the e-commerce market by tracking parcels of goods shipping directly to customers, rather than to stores.
The system consists of a series of conveyors along one wall of the 4,000 square-foot lab. A tunnel reader built into the system then can detect tagged items in boxes as they pass through the packing and shipping process.
How it Might Work
One potential application for such a system would be at the site of a brand’s own shipping or warehouse area. The company could take orders from customers and ship via a third-party logistics company.
If the brand installed its own RFID reading station, similar to the one being leveraged at the Auto ID Lab, a carton that is packed to fulfill an order traveling down a conveyor through a RFID reader tunnel would capture the tag IDs of all items. If there was a discrepancy between the tag reads and the digital order, the carton could be automatically flagged or redirected to an exceptions area where workers could address the problem.
Following correction of the packing, “that box could be reintroduced back into the conveyor system,” Berisso said.
The carton themselves could also be tagged with an RFID tag and the unique ID on that tag could be married to the tag IDs of all goods packed inside it.
Shipping Label Applications
The lab currently is using pre-printed shipping labels, but an applicator and encoder could be used to print and apply labels to boxes, according to Berisso. The system employs the atma.io software to capture data and enable comparison against a digital order.
Data in the software could link a box’s tag ID with its shipping instructions—such as overnight shipping, versus ground shipping, and a robotic system could then sort the parcels accordingly.
Additionally, information about the packed cartons could be shared with third-party shippers that pick up the cartons and provide delivery to customers. In that way, a carrier could know that a carton is packed and ready for pick up, for instance.
Aiding with Returns
Automating detection of products with RFID could also enable more seamless return processes, explained Berisso. If an item is returned to a company’s return center, an RFID tag reader at the dock door or a tunnel device could capture the ID of all goods received and automatically update the status of the products as returned.
That product could then be put away without requiring an additional manual process of validating and verifying everything that’s in the box.
Ultimately, Berisso said, the process could increase the speed at which a customer receives their refund while saving the brand’s labor costs due to minimizing the number of touches from humans that are required.
Atma.IO provides Educational and Research Opportunities
Avery Dennison sees opportunity in the parcel management industry. “RFID will bring significant accuracy, efficiency, and visibility improvements to the parcel industry. We are already seeing this deployed at one major carrier and expect it to expand to all carriers eventually,” said Ivy. “We are committing to this project as we support higher education providers like the University of Memphis that also see the promise of technologies like RFID to advance the logistics industry.”
For the university, Berisso said several student groups are now working on their own custom software applications based on atma.IO using the RFID tag data to build a variety of features for industrial use. For students, that means they can design projects with real world software, that can have commercial benefits.
In the meantime, the lab is hosting companies seeking to learn more about the use of RFID tags on goods to automate their packing and shipping processes. Logistics companies such as FedEx will benefit—if someone else is creating the RFID shipping label, it helps expedite delivery of goods direct to consumers, Berisso said.
Technology Agnostic Research
The AutoID lab provides solutions that leverage multiple technologies to benefit manufacturers. The lab has a different model than another RFID lab at the University of Auburn, which focuses primarily on retail use of RFID.
“Our focus is to move adoption upstream,” into the factory or assembly site and into warehouses, Berisso said. “That’s why I was ecstatic when Avery came to us and said ‘hey we think this is important we want to support you and you support us’.” The lab is vendor agnostic, so it includes technology from other companies to give manufacturers and brands and opportunity to sample a variety of options.
The system, which went live September 27, will be adjusted as needed, with experimentation of the system. Berisso noted “there will be more added to it, including additional use cases, additional opportunities for brand owners, to figure out how can we best decrease our costs,” but also accomplish benefits such as improving customer experiences.
Ivey pointed out The University of Memphis AutoID is a “living lab,” always changing to fit the needs of advancing technology and industry needs. “With this in mind, we plan to keep the exhibit in its current form and our intention is to continue to support the university in various ways going forward,” he said.
Auto ID Lab Leverages Broadcast Studio Space
The lab aims to have a real-world focus. Berisso describes the research there at 20 to 30 percent theory and 70 to 80 percent application—a contrast from traditionally academic engineering.
The space in which the lab operates lends itself well to real world environments as well. The facility was formerly a broadcast studio with wood floors on plywood on joists and 18 inches of dead space underneath the floor. That makes it an optimal place for testing RF transmissions, he said.
The lab is working on introducing autonomous mobile robots (AMR’s) as well as AI-based data processing from RFID tag reads. With the use of RFID for packing, Berisso said, “there’s a lot of room for AI in this particular application.” AI systems require data and RFID tag reads provide it. He argued that AI could be used to enhance pattern recognition for which AI is better equipped to recognize patterns that humans are.
AI can identify trends almost before they happen, he said. “AI keeps its ear to those types of trends,” such as RFID tag reads indicating delays at specific sites, for instance. It can then automatically respond by rerouting good, for instance, an action that would be slower in the case of human intervention.