Keeping Track Of Your Pallets
Product tracking and traceability are becoming increasingly important issues, particularly in the consumer goods sector. In some industries, regulation and legislation are the driving forces; for example by 2005 new European Laws will be in place, which will raise the levels of traceability throughout the supply chain. Financial considerations are equally important.
Many retailers are now considering the implementation of hi-tech RFID tagging systems as a means of counteracting loss or theft of their products. This self same issue has recently been big news in the returnable transit packaging arena. Major players in the pallet pooling arena are to introduce pallets that will be easier to track, through the introduction of RFID tagging. Each tag will carry an electronic product code, enabling pallets to be tracked throughout their usable life.
‘Smart’ pallets are not new. Arca Systems has been producing reusable plastic pallets with embedded RFID tags for several years. In fact, more than half a million of its Everest ‘Smart’ Pallets are already in use in Sweden and the number is rapidly rising. Svenska Retursystem (SRS) operates a pallet pooling system for the Swedish Grocery Industry. The company needed a system to accurately track pallets while they were out in circulation. With unidentified pallets, SRS would constantly run into problems where pallets would be returned damaged, later than expected or not at all. For a number of reasons, bar coding was not practical. Firstly, the pallets carry fresh produce and cleanliness standards are crucial. Bar codes could simply not endure the high pressure washing and cleaning chemicals employed. Also, the life of a pallet will inevitably involve a lot of bumping with even the smallest scratch rendering a bar code useless. Using RFID means that each pallet can be fitted with an electronic identification tag that remains with it for its entire lifetime.
As pallets leave SRS, they are scanned before being delivered to the warehousing hub of a major supermarket. The pallets are then loaded with perishable foods. Variable information relating to the load, produce details, storage instructions and use by dates, can be written to the tags. After shipping throughout the store network, the pallets are returned to SRS for cleaning. At this point the tags are interrogated. The customer, who pays for the length of time they have the pallets, is charged correctly and SRS is able to accurately track each individual pallet. Theft, also a rampant problem, is greatly reduced. A stolen pallet can be immediately identified, if it re-enters the system. Where and when it disappeared can be determined.
One of the biggest barriers to the widespread introduction of RFID technology is the lack of global standards. Successful applications, as with the case of the Swedish pallet, have, therefore, all been implemented in closed systems. This is set to change, however. The development of a single electronic product code (EPC), by the Boston-based Auto-ID Center, for RFID is well under way. In fact, the United Code Council and EAN International have joined forces to oversee the introduction of commercial and technical standards for the code. In time, interoperability between systems will be possible leading to increased user confidence. Major manufacturers and retailers alike have welcomed the EPC initiative. As a major player in the global logistics arena, Arca Systems has to be able to react to changing market needs. The company is ready for the RFID challenge.
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