RFID realizes efficient logistics warehouse management

Euro Pool System, a logistics service provider of reusable standard packaging in the European fresh food supply chain, is mainly used in the manufacturer of loading boxes for fruits, vegetables and other agricultural products, and now uses passive UHF RFID tags and readers Improve its logistics and inventory management processes.

Euro Pool is headquartered in Belgium and has factories in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic. The company began to pay attention to RFID as early as 2003. Henry Lok, Euro Pool System Engineering and development manager, said that he hoped to use RFID technology to simplify the logistics process and improve processing efficiency.

Unlike the linear and 2-D barcodes the company had previously used, RFID technology does not require direct line-of-sight scanning, which was an important reason why Euro Pool System was attracted to adopt RFID. With more than 8,800 containers, Euro Pool System ships hundreds of ordered goods in European countries every day, and loads at least 414 million individual goods every year.

For a long time, the fruit and vegetable industry has been an important sector of Belgian agriculture, and its main channel of circulation is through the auction market. And EPS provides a centralized service for all returnable crates for fruit and vegetable auctions in Belgium and the rest of the EU. After the auction, their collapsible crates are brought back to the warehouse, cleaned, and reissued in the chain. In recent years, EPS has been working on converting non-folding crates to collapsible crates as a way to reduce its ecological footprint and simplify logistics. But because the new folding crates are not sorted by pallet size, inventorying and stocking all aspects is a difficult task for EPS.

RFID helps Euro Pool System realize efficient logistics process of returnable crates. The solution is to install UHF RFID tags with ideal adhesive strength in recyclable crates with a reading distance of up to 25m; UHF RFID is installed on fixed RFID detection points in the cleaning station Reader, RFID Antenna and barcode scanner for reading crates; use of middleware for communication with different hardware components, such as (RFID Reader, barcode system, PLC equipment), etc., standard software for both warehouses , which can be easily deployed in other European facilities.

Through RFID technology, Euro Pool System realizes the following functions in the application of logistics warehouse management:

1. Improved work efficiency

Automated process management reduces handling costs and increases work efficiency.

2. Save time

With RFID zone location capabilities, pickers can more quickly pick clean and dirty crates and associated pallets in warehouse halls so they can be brought to a wash station or delivery truck.

3. Achieve sustainable reverse logistics by reducing the number of tranSports

Although each pallet in the warehouse hall contains folding crates of different sizes, the inventory can be correctly identified and counted through the RFID system.

4. Error-free inventory and positioning

Thanks to various scans throughout the logistics process, workers always know how many dirty crates are in inventory and where they are located without any manual intervention from logistics personnel. Plus, gain visibility into the number of crates cleaned and their turnaround time.

5. Data exchange between warehouses

The central database contains information on all pallets and stock counts at each location, so data exchange between individual warehouses is facilitated.

Euro Pool System hopes that customers will benefit from the RFID data collected by the system. "Retail customers can clearly know where the crates are through RFID," Lok said: "It can better understand which crates still contain items, when they are empty; how long the crates have been in the Store. How long and how fresh the food is."