US-built box crane - WorldCargo News Online

CONTAINER INDUSTRY NEWS
Savi launches SaviTrak...
Savi Networks LLC, the Savi Technology/Hutchison
Port Holdings
joint venture set up earlier this year
to build and operate a global
RFID-based information network
to track and manage containerised
cargo (see WorldCargo News April
2005, p1), has announced the operational
launch of its SaviTrak information
network with the first
commercial shipments of consumer
products from a factory in China
to a distribution centre in Southern
California.
Savi Networks and Mitsui &
Co (USA) are providing real-time
information and logistics services
within the network to a large Japan-based
supplier of consumer
goods to major US retailers, including
Wal-Mart.
The shipments, which were on
the water at the time of writing,
are aimed at proving the commercial
benefits the information network
can bring to major consumer
goods suppliers in meeting
and exceeding Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) compliance
mandates while improving security,
logistics data accuracy, visibility,
and the operating metrics of
containers and their contents. The
information services are provided
on a per-container trip basis.
An innovative aspect of the
project is “source tagging” of cases
with EPC-compliant passive labels
at the manufacturing facility, as
well as tagging of the containers
in which the cases are shipped
with active RFID tags, offering socalled
“Nested Visibility,” which
enables the customer to automatically
build the container manifest
and then automatically track the
container and its contents along
its end-to-end journey throughout
the shared network.
“This initial trade lane project
marks the operational readiness of
the network and SaviTrak and
demonstrates how managed services
that leverage information
from passive and active RFID
technologies help international
suppliers meet the business challenges
of retail RFID mandates,
transportation security concerns,
as well as the pressures for better
The Savi Tag ST-676 ISO Container Security Tag clamps onto the container
door and communicates wirelessly via radio waves to the network on the container’s
identity, contents, location, security status and interior conditions, such as light,
temperature and humidity
operational efficiency and customer
service,” said Lani Fritts,
COO of Savi Networks. “We are
delivering managed information
services to shippers that enable
innovative buying, planning and
transportation decisions through
our real-time network.”
The SaviTrak programme uses
several types of active RFID tags,
including Savi Technology’s latest
advanced Savi Tag ST-676 ISO
Container Security Tag, which
clamps onto the container door
and communicates the container’s
identification, contents, location,
security status and interior environmental
conditions to the network,
and the EJ Brookes E-seal,
both of which are based on ISO
18000-7 standards that operate on
the 433.92 MHz radio frequency.
Conformity with this international
standard enables both products
to interoperate within an
ISO-based information network
with support from countries
worldwide for intermodal supply
chain usage.
ST-676 is a new generation
Savi security tag that uses a door
sensor and light sensor to detect
security breaches as well as other
sensors for temperature, humidity
and shock to capture information
on the environmental conditions
inside the container.
The EJ Brooks E-Seal, tested
alongside the ST-676, is a singleuse,
RFID-enabled electronic bolt
seal for intermodal containers.
Both are expected to be commercially
available in November.
● Aimed at the storage and transport
of nuclear, bio-chemical and
other hazardous materials, EJ
Brooks has launched the Fiber
Lock, a tamper-indicative sealing
system comprising a specially-designed
imaging verifier and a seal
bundle constructed of randomlypositioned,
acrylic optical fibres.
Once the seal has been correctly
applied to a sensitive security application,
the seal body is inserted
into a slot in the verifier’s housing
and a digital image of the severed
ends of the fibre optic bundle
is recorded. The digital image
can then be electronically forwarded
to the shipment’s destination.
At any point in transit, the
seal can be visually inspected for
any sign of tampering by shining
a flashlight at one end of the fibre
bundle. If the remaining bundle is
brightly illuminated, it is an indication
that the seal is intact.At final
destination, the bundle can be
reverified by comparing the digital
image with the electronicallyfowarded
image taken at the point
of origin. If the images are identical,
it signifies that the seal has not
been compromised and no unauthorised
access has occurred. Any
differences serve as evidence of
tampering.
WorldCargo
news
...IBM/Maersk offer box
tracking alternative
IBM and Maersk Logistics, part of
the AP Moller-Maersk Group, have
launched an alternative to SaviTrak
in the shape of Intelligent Trade
Lane, which is touted as a new initiative
to bring enhanced, real-time
visibility to global supply chain operations
by improving the quality
of container tracking and enabling
increased security of transported
goods.
The IBM/Maersk solution incorporates
IBM’s hardware and
software technologies alongside
Maersk Logistics’ global supply
chain expertise and is claimed to
integrate two key emerging technologies
for the first time: intelligent
real-time tracking devices,
called TREC (Tamper-Resistant
Embedded Controllers), which are
fitted to freight containers and designed
to withstand the environment
they operate in; and a fully
integrated network that combines
data from the TREC devices with
a non-proprietary sensor network
and business integration system.
Unlike typical passive tags that
collect data only, the wireless
TREC devices incorporate significant
processing power, enabling
them to instantly receive and send
data. The devices automatically collect
information on each container,
including parameters such as temperature
and humidity and sensory
readings to detect intrusion, as well
as physical location based on GPS,
The information gathered can
be connected to decentralised
databases where participants own
their own content and a serviceoriented
infrastructure allows them
to instantly share information. The
network will provide global supply
chain stakeholders, including
manufacturers, retailers, logistics
service providers, carriers and governments
with on-demand access
to real-time transport-related data
and supports implementation of the
World Customs Organisation’s
Framework of Standards to Secure
and Facilitate Global Trade.
“IBM’s objective is to enable
globally integrated business by capitalising
on the information generated
during the tracking process
and at the same time improve the
security of cargo,” said Mogens
Roedbro, partner and vice president,
IBM Business Consulting
Services. The initiative, which IBM
refers to as Intelligent Trade Lane,
forms part of the company’s
broader Global Movement Management
effort, which is designed
to address the critical business functions
involved in efficiently and securely
moving people, goods and
conveyances within and between
countries.
“The capabilities of the TREC
device and network eliminate the
time lag of the physical container
status to provide real-time visibility.
This provides new opportunities
for truly adaptive planning,
while also maintaining data quality,
and enables effective decision
making, supporting supply chain
agility. Combined with Spective,
our business intelligence solution,
we will further enhance our clients’
customer service levels while reducing
the costs of achieving them,”
said Henrik Ramskov, managing
director,of Maersk Logistics.
In order to ensure that the network
is ready for commercial application
next year, IBM and
Maersk Logistics are currently involving
key supply chain
stakeholders in a formal pilot programme.
Phase one field testing
will begin in early November followed
by a large commercial pilot
in March 2006.
September 2005 23