Belgian work boot maker Bekina Boots is leveraging RFID technology to provide work-in-progress (WIP) and inventory data regarding every boot it manufactures, as well as automated identification information that its customers will eventually use when the boots are worn in industrial settings. The system provides unique identification and traceability of the polyurethane safety footgear from production to shipment.
In the long term, customers using the boots will be able to leverage the RFID chip for such use cases as access control and safety at worksites that have RFID readers in place. Fellow Belgian company Aucxis RFID Solutions provided the UHF RFID solution, including the readers used at Bekina Boots’ factory, as well as Aucxis’s HERTZ middleware for data processing, filtering and linking to Bekina’s software. The technology company also provides front-end software at RFID reader gates to capture and interpret read data.
RFID provides work-in-progress and inventory data regarding every boot the company manufactures.
Bekina Boots’ products are made in Belgium and exported to more than 50 countries worldwide. The Wellington-style work boots are made of Neotane, a type of polyurethane developed in the company’s laboratory. Workers in the agriculture market, as well as the fishing, construction and food industries, use the work boots, which the company says are designed to be more durable than rubber or PVC boots. “Professional users working in cold temperatures and wet conditions consider them more comfortable, warmer and lighter than standard working boots,” says Thomas Vanderbeke, Bekina Boots’ CEO.
Several years ago, Bekina Boots sought a tracking solution to finetune its logistics processes, both in-house and in the supply chain. By uniquely identifying each product as it is built and shipped to a customer, the company intended to ensure the efficiency of its WIP and logistics. Traditionally, Bekina Boots identified each pair of its safety boots according to their unique stock-keeping unit, via a barcode on the packaging. However, the firm wanted to automate that identification and link it to every individual boot, not only onsite but in the supply chain and throughout the footwear’s entire lifespan.
Thomas Vanderbeke
With a unique identification number encoded on an RFID tag built into the boot, Vanderbeke says, “Bekina Boots wants to help its customers further improve their processes and add value to the boot.” He envisions the boots’ built-in RFID tags being used by food-processing plants—for example, to identify individuals entering restricted areas or for easy inventory management of personal protection equipment. Initially, however, the focus is on identifying products during and after assembly, and into the supply chain, before the boots reach customers. “We were looking for a method to uniquely identify each boot, and RFID tags seemed to be the best and most versatile option.”
After conducting market research, Bekina Boots chose Aucxis RFID Solutions. The boot maker’s manufacturing process poses a unique challenge for RFID technology, the company reports. Since polyurethane is injected at high temperatures—130 degrees Celsius (266 degrees Fahrenheit)—the tags needed to be resistant not only to heat, but also to shocks, and they had to be flexible enough to bend throughout the boot’s entire lifespan. During the proof-of-concept, Aucxis selected RFID tags and integrated them into the boots, then tested the reading of the tags both individually (at the beginning of the manufacturing process) and in bulk (during internal and external processing).
“It was a challenge to find the ideal position for the RFID tag in the boot,” says Lauran D’hanis, Aucxis RFID Solutions’ account manager and business consultant. “Obviously, a good RFID performance was vital, but a good position inside the boot… was crucial as well.” The company needed to consider the ergonomics of the tagged boot, as well as ensure the tag would not be damaged, and there were potential challenges for reading the tags at the manufacturing site. The molds and machines in the production process are primarily composed of steel and aluminum, D’hanis says, which can obstruct RF transmissions. “We, therefore, did some testing,” he states, “and we discussed the possible options with the customer.”
Testing first took place in Aucxis’s anechoic chamber in September 2018, Vanderbeke says, after which “We determined the exact location [for] writing and bulk-reading of the tags.” The project has been implemented in different phases, D’hanis reports, with phase one completed in 2019. The deployment incorporates readers used at Bekina Boots’ worksite to identify when the boots are assembled, stored and shipped, he adds, and the readers being used are provided by third-party companies.
Lauran D’hanis
At the start of production, an RFID tag is programmed and printed for each boot. The tag is completely integrated in the boot’s material, the company explains, at a location where radio waves will not be disturbed by the metal anti-perforation sole. The tag ID number is then captured and linked to Bekina Boots’ database via the HERTZ middleware. To continue identifying every tagged boot throughout the production process, Aucxis provides fixed RFID readers at crucial logistic points. In the packing zone, for example, the RFID gate registers the boots’ exact location on the carts, enabling the packing manager to correctly fill customer orders.
Other gates in the warehouse are used to link the RFID tags to the correct production orders. In the future, the RFID gates will provide an extra control for outgoing orders, and they could be employed at distribution centers. For Bekina Boots’ customers, the company explains, this solution will allow for improved customer service by ensuring the correct products have been shipped in a timely manner, while customer use of the boots as they are being worn will be part of future implementations.
“We wish to create additional possibilities for the end customer with our RFID applications,” Vanderbeke says. For example, the tagged safety boots could be used for automatic access control to areas accessible only to certain individuals. “The idea is that every stay in a secured area is correctly registered,” he states, “or that people without authorization can be refused.” Creating a hands-free scanning process—compared with ID badge scans, for example—could provide a more automatic and hygienic solution, he adds.
At a construction site, on the other hand, managers may need to monitor whether each individual worker was wearing the necessary personal protection equipment, by means of RFID tags and gates. Every time workers entered the construction site, they could be screened from helmet to boot, as long as RFID tags were applied to each safety garment. “We are still looking for worldwide access gate integrators for the further deployment,” Vanderbeke says, “and the creation of added value to the tags at our end customers.”
According to D’hanis, this application is an example of how RFID technology can be leveraged beyond such common use cases as inventory management and work-in-progress. “It is an interesting, unique and challenging case for an ambitious and growing company which is open to innovation,” he says.