As part of a pilot project launched in 2003, Geodis has successfully finalised the set up of a“logistics loop” (component sourcing on assembly lines) management system using Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) technology.Widely used for access controls, motorway toll systems, remote payments and door openingsystems, as well as for flow coordination (from livestock to the industrial cleaning of clothes),RFID technology is now increasingly common in a host of innovating applications for contents andcontainer traceability. Containers are fitted with electronic tags which no longer need to bevisible (contrary to barcodes which have to be visible for optical reading) for sensors to detectthem within a specific perimeter. These sensors can also read and even change the information onthese tags remotely.
Starting in 2001, Geodis carried out trials to find out how RFID could be used for monitoringand managing logistics flows.
In 2003, this study into technological innovation potential was given to Geodis France’sProjects Department. The Tarbes logistics platform was then chosen as the RFID pilot site – this iswhere Geodis France handles Alstom’s spare parts inventory (nut and screw products) used in themanufacture of technical cabinets for France’s TGV high-speed trains notably.
Tags changing everything
Delivered by Alstom suppliers, these parts supply two production sites totalling over 100dismantling points on a just-in-time basis: this thus forms a closed “logistics loop”, with plasticcontainers circulating between the Alstom sites and Geodis’ warehouse where no less than 5500 partsreferences are managed over a 2500m² area.
All containers now carry an RFID tag: it is therefore possible to detect their presence,identify them and read their content data, but also to add or change this data – all remotely. Theoperators are kitted out with bi-mode mobile terminals (barcodes / RFID) enabling them to readorders for picking, scan the barcodes on parts taken from stocks and read or change the data on thecontainer tags. In addition to this, an RFID gantry able to scan 70 containers at the same timeperforms incoming and outgoing content/container consistency checks on the platform.
Pilot tests then industrialisation
This new system was introduced gradually from September 2004 and has been fully up-and-runningsince mid-June. The pilot phase was highly successful as the logistics process has become much moreefficient and reliable: when combined with mobile solutions (PDAs with a Wi-Fi link to theinformation system), RFID allows order picking to be managed in real time and the risk of error tobe brought down to practically zero.
The logistics applications from this technology will thus enter the industrialisation phase inthe second half of 2005. This entails securing exchanges, organising maintenance, ensuring that theprocess successfully tested in Tarbes can be “copied” where needed, and most of all keeping thatkey significant lead achieved by Geodis in this field. Geodis has initiated other promisingprojects based on RFID technology. The automotive and healthcare industries are particularlyinterested in the content and container management applications. Geodis France’s ProjectsDepartment has designed a solution for the textile sector and Geodis BM is studying a containermanagement system using RFID.
