Container Centralen (CC) Chooses RF Code’s Active RFID Technology to Track Shipping Racks throughout North America
Move Believed to be World’s Largest Active RFID Deployment
AUSTIN, Texas (October 28, 2009) -- RF Code, Inc, provider of “wire-free” adaptive asset management solutions that cut operating and capital expenses, today announced that Container Centralen, Europe’s leading horticultural logistics company with facilities worldwide, has chosen RF Code’s award-winning active RFID technology to track the shipping racks CC supplies to its customers throughout North America. The CC Containers (shipping racks) are used to transport a grower’s products to most major retailers and distributors.
Fluensee, Inc. (Denver, CO), a business partner of RF Code, will provide software for the consolidation and analysis of RFID information, and implementation and support services. Initial implementation will include some 150 locations and 250,000 CC racks that will be tagged and tracked. The deployment will be operational in mid-February 2010.
The news confirms the growing importance active RFID plays in helping companies operate more efficiently and effectively by fully automating the asset tracking process. Today’s announcement is believed to be the largest active RFID deployment.
“Active RFID is becoming more pervasive in a multitude of applications,” said Mitch Medford, CEO, RF Code. “For a well known, reputable company such as Container Centralen to commit to such a large and business critical deployment using our active technology underlines its importance to a company’s operations. We’re excited about helping CC significantly improve their services.”
In a related announcement today, CC President Sonny Costin noted that the company chose RF Code’s active RFID technology because of its accurate performance and ease of deployment. “Increasing visibility of CC racks using active RFID technology provides a double win,” said Costin. “It helps our customers maximize the use of their CC racks while reducing the costs of rack management. Working together with RF Code and Fluensee is an opportunity to make a measureable difference in how our industry operates, and we are excited to be leading this development.”
The active RFID technology used in the innovative shipping rack solutions consists of RF Code’s active tags and readers. (They transmit rack movement and status to Fluensee software, which manages the data collected by RF Code’s active RFID technology.)
Challenge: Limited Internet Access
Growers “rent” the CC racks from Container Centralen. Typically, these racks are easily monitored by readers that pick up movement and location information from tags placed on the CC racks themselves. However, as many of CC’s customers (growers) are in remote and rural areas, internet access was limited.
The way the system works is that the reader, picking up movement information from the tags attached to each CC rack, transmits that information to the software via the internet.
Solution: Putting Rural Growers on the “Tracking Grid”
RF Code solved the challenge in a unique and inventive way. The company devised a solar battery-powered reader that could be placed in any remote location (for example a growing field), mounted on a secure pole. This reader is capable of recharging itself using the sun’s energy. Receiving tag location and movement information, this reader then transmits that tag data to a 3G dial-up modem, again, solar battery powered, that can leverage the ubiquity of the cell network to send the information back to the software, where CC personnel view it. Problem solved.
For more information about RF Code, its solutions and products, visit us.
About RF Code, Inc.
RF Code automates the ability to discover, track and monitor high-value physical assets across the enterprise. Using the company’s award-winning platform for real-time, active RFID, customers know instantly and on demand the location, movement, environmental status and history of each individual asset across its lifecycle. This spares customers the high cost, time intensity and compliance risk of a manual inventory and enables customers to better manage the total cost of ownership of their asset inventory. RF Code and its world-class roster of global partners develop solutions used in demanding industry environments including IT, healthcare, defense, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, transportation and homeland security. http://www.rfcode.com
RF Code and the RF Code logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of RF Code Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Contact
Joan Osleeb, 512-439-2245(o) or 512-789-6168 (m); josleeb@rfcode.com
