Page 21 - Sphere No.15 (Nov 2005)

SMART CONTAINERS – HOW THEY WORK
S PHERE 19
AVI NETWORKS, the company formed by HPH and
Savi Technology Inc, is developing and operating an
RFID-based network to provide a state of the art
container tracking and management system.
The network concept is significant. When HPH first start-
ed exploring the possibility of using RFID technology, its
plans were based on the analogy of providing a mobile
phone service. Now it is effectively setting up a complete
infrastructure and offering a network which will also be used
by other service providers. It will also offer a range of value-
added services utilising the network.
HPH and Savi are building this network by installing active
RFID equipment in ports. Interested parties, including shippers,
transport companies and logistics service providers will be able
to connect to the network by installing compatible equipment
at their own locations.
Savi Networks operates rather like a telecommunications
network service provider as it owns and operates the core
infrastructure. The company uses this infrastructure to
offer information services on a per-container trip basis. It
will also offer active RFID hardware and related services
that will enable users to extend the functionality of the net-
work to the origination and destination points of cargoes.
The network is based on an interoperable architecture
designed to accommodate Automatic Identification Data
Collection technologies, such as barcodes, passive RFID
technologies, and Global Positioning Systems to track ships
and trucks that transport ocean containers.
Savi Networks also offers a number of active RFID “tags”
that will effectively turn ordinary containers into “smart
containers”, capable of communicating with the network.
Based on the ISO 18000-7 suite of standards, these tags can
transmit information about the contents of the container, as
well as data on security, location and environmental condi-
tions, including temperature, humidity and light
Originally bolted to the outside of the container, these
tags can now be placed inside, with only a small antennae
attached externally. This makes the tags highly secure, pro-
tecting them from accidental or deliberate damage that
could render them inoperable.
HPH is currently actively involved in the ISO standardisa-
tion process to establish a common platform tracking serv-
ices. 433 MHz looks set to be adopted as the standard for
the radio frequency.
S
to extend the network by establishing relationships with other
port operators, as well as with providers of complementary
technologies and services.
Enhancing your shopping experience
RFID tracking networks may not sound particularly relevant
when you’re doing the rounds in a vast shopping mall, hunt-
ing for the jacket you want in the exact style, size and shade.
Or hunting for anything else, for that matter.
But Savi Networks’ automated tracking capabilities have
huge implications not just for shippers of goods, but for all
the consumers who are buying those goods in the shops.
That’s all of us.
We don’t usually think about supply chains, lead-times, inven-
tory, pipelines and labour requirements on shopping expedi-
tions. But it’s because automated tracking is having such an
impact in precisely these areas that we are more likely to be able
to buy what we want, without waiting and at an attractive price.
When shippers can combine easy access to information about
the location and content of shipments at any point in their
journey with the ability to switch routes and destinations at
short notice, they are in a strong position to meet demand and
cater to changing requirements in markets around the globe.
They can reduce supply lead-times and provide retailers with
the goods their customers want at short notice. They can min-
imise pipeline inventory and the level of “safety stock” held to
cope with cases of supply chain disruption. They can help
retailers reduce the proportion of items that are out of stock at
any time. And underpinning all this is the holy grail of cost
reduction. A single efficient cargo tracking network reduces
the cost of multiple supply chain IT systems and cuts labour
requirements. Result: the goods that customers want, delivered
efficiently and cost-effectively.
Making the world a safer place
HPH didn’t venture into the initiative with the sole objective
of making the supply chain more efficient. Safety and securi-
ty were key considerations.
Savi Networks’ tracking capabilities address the many secu-
rity issues inherent in any large-scale global transportation
system: theft, damage, loss, unauthorised tampering, smug-
gling and illegal immigration. The data provided by active
RFID tags in containers can help combat all these problems.
But since this technology was first developed, new considera-
tions have emerged.
Using container tracking for security purposes was given a
tracking network cuts costs and labour requirements