Some RFID implementations could be projects consisting of tagging individual items, which is the most common; it could be tagging cases or pallets; but the least-discussed option is that of tagging entire trailers.
What are the benefits, from a business perspective, that would be achieved from tagging entire trailers? The short answer is more efficient yard operations, which lead to more efficient warehouse operations. This benefits both the operator and his customers by leading to lower operating costs across the board.
A more detailed explanation requires some idea of how yard operations change with a tagged trailer and real-time yard visibility.
Yard truck activities fall into one of three categories: actively moving a trailer; travelling empty and searching for the desired trailer to move; and idle time. The faster a trailer is located by the yard truck, the more productive the yard operation becomes.
One approach to improving efficiencies is implementing an enterprise-class traditional yard management system (YMS) to minimise the search and idle times by directing the yard operations much like a warehouse management system (WMS) directs warehouse operations.
However, traditional YMS and WMS and their implementation overhead can be costly as a starting point, and may not even be necessary in smaller yards.
Besides, not all drivers do as the YMS would expect and assume. Just knowing where a trailer is located so that the driver can go directly to it is already a significant change.
Real-time location systems (RTLS), which depend upon active RFID technology, were introduced several years ago to automatically report the location of trailers and containers. Because of the installation complexities, the use of battery-dependent tags and their related maintenance needs, and the overall high costs of these systems, active tag-based RTLS were never widely adopted.
On the other hand, locating trailers using inex¬pensive passive RFID tags provides the benefits and desired return on investment (ROI) that many operators desire.
In a passive RFID environment, each trailer is assigned a passive RFID tag as it enters a yard. The yard truck contains an RFID reader, global positioning system (GPS), and additional sensors and processors that are packaged into one unit in the cab. The unit inside each yard truck pings and registers each trailer in its vicinity, and the information is combined with the sensor information.
As the yard truck drives around the yard performing its regular duties, it is painting a real-time picture of the yard. Because there are only a few RFID readers (one per yard truck), and the passive RFID tags are inexpensive, there are no other infrastructure components required and the system installation cost is very low.
RFID will play a significant role in supply chain management for years to come. Introducing the RFID-based yard visibility technology into your supply chain operations via a project that has an attractive ROI and a high probability of success rate may be just the right RFID entry point for your organisation.