Gene Fedors Vice President, Education Programs RFID Technical ...

TNT : RFID – BUILDING ON EXPERIENCE
Visibility and control is key for TNT’s Hi-tech
and Telecom customers, due to the value of their
products. Tighter security and improved
inventory management will drive supply chain
requirements going forward.
TNT has conducted several trials in this
area. The telecom trials concentrated on the
warehouse picking, packing and kitting
processes. RFID readers were positioned
underneath the packing table and at the in- and
outbound areas. One of the clear benefits in the
packing process was in the content verification
of over 250 mobile phones which would take 3
minutes using manual barcode scanning. This
could be reduced to 40 seconds having
significant impact on both cost and capacity.
Building on the experience from phase I
with the use of GEN II technology and extended
from the warehouse environment to the retailer
phase two results are expected in July-August of
this year.
The active RFID technology opportunities
were explored in the Life Science industry in
Europe. Temperature monitoring and control in
combination with remote tracking appears to
become more an more important also beyond
this industry. This in combination with the remote
tracking feature of RFID was tested. The many
years of active technology development
showed in the ease of use. Currently this trial is
further expanded in Asia and the deployment
opportunities are being explored , together with
our Customer.
With the focus on the security features of
RFID, TNT initiated the trial with one of the worlds
leading laptop manufacturers. Together with
their main distributor in Europe, the full supply
chain of finished product was RFID enabled from
Asia to Europe.
The shipments were tagged on item level
and pallet level and monitored moving from the
origin manufacturing facility in China, through
TNT’s transit points, to the final distribution center
in Germany. In this pre- GEN II era, prototypes of
the earliest European certified RFID readers were
used.
This use of RFID opens the doors to a
variety of, again, visibility and control
improvements in the supply chain, with benefits
for all parties involved.
It will provide both manufacturer and
distributor the control over their inventory. It
allows to further enhance internal processes and
for a company like TNT to re-think product
offerings.
Through the its corporate RFID program
TNT has gathered a wealth of knowledge on all
mentioned subjects. The technology is
developing at lightning speed and is ready for
deployment. It is now time to define the how,
where and when.
We can now not only see and feel the
parcels move in front of us…..we can also hear
them behind us. RFID increases visibility and
through sound.
www.tnt.com
36 euroRFID – your guide to RFID & GDS solutions
euroRFID – your guide to RFID & GDS solutions 37