An unidentified warehouse in Texas was experiencing problems managing its automated roll-up doors in heavy traffic. The company turned to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to solve its
problem.
The business stores a lot of temperature-sensitive products in a large number of freezers and coolers at its warehouse. The products are loaded onto vehicles directly from the freezers and coolers for delivery to stores.
A case study published in RFID journal notes that the business had to control when the doors to those freezers and coolers are opened and closed. An IR-based sensor system already on the doors opened them when a vehicle traversed nearby.
A sensor-based system was tried, but proved to be unreliable.
Instead, it turned to several dozen TagMaster battery-assisted passive RFID products, one above each door. The device identifies a forklift, determines its location, confirms that the driver of the lift is authorized to enter, and then prompts the door to open. The system then stores the data.
The RFID readers have logic built in and embedded controls that trigger the doors to open. In addition, the forklifts have outdoor-use heavy-duty tags that are fitted to the front of each lift. Each tag features an exclusive ID number encoded to it. The code pings continuously. The tag’s ID is linked to the forklift ID in the TagMaster software. So warehouse managers can access the software to update authorization rules for specific lifts.
RFID involves three components –- a tag, a reader, and an antenna. It uses several technologies known as Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC). The technologies utilizes radio waves to automatically identify objects, collect data about those objects, and then enter the data into a computer system where it is stored in a database for later analysis.
RFID can be used for a number of tasks that are essential in warehouse operations including inventory management, asset tracking, personnel tracking, controlling access to restricted areas, ID badging, and supply chain management.
(Source: forkliftaction.com)