Track load carriers with RFID

Inventory and status always in view

Do you always know where your load carriers are currently in use? Can you make statements about their status at any time? And above all, how quickly can you determine available capacities in order to assign new orders to them? Permanent load carrier or container tracking in intralogistics is economically indispensable, as this is the only way to avoid search times and build up expensive safety stocks. Continuous tracking of load carriers along the value chain ensures inventory transparency and high availability.

 

With RFID, you always have an overview of all landing carriers
It always becomes expensive when containers disappear or unnecessary safety stocks have to be built up just to remain operational. If load carriers are soiled or defective or employees are busy searching for free capacity, these are additional cost drivers. If production even comes to a standstill, your delivery promise is also jeopardized.

 

High availability and planning security
Optimize your load carrier pool according to your needs and gain planning security. This ensures high availability and avoids bottlenecks. With RFID-based digitization of your load carriers, you can "marry" the contents with the box. This enables intelligent plausibility checks for quality assurance purposes.

ABOUT TRACK & TRACE

With internal tracking of load carriers, you know where your C-parts, raw materials and semi-finished products are at all times. You maintain an overview of free load carriers and have maximum planning freedom.

  • Planning security: status and location are known
  • Transparent container cycle between manufacturer and customer
  • No container bottlenecks
  • Real-time status of all containers
  • Flexible for customer orders
  • Digitization of load carriers
  • No search times
  • No safety stocks
  • Material flow tracking

FUNCTIONAL MODE

Technical details

Each load carrier, such as pallets or containers, is fitted with an RFID tag that enables unique identification and recording in real time. During the entire logistics process - from goods receipt to transportation and delivery - RFID readers automatically record the tags. This allows companies to track the location and status of each load carrier at any time, increasing transparency and security in the supply chain and minimizing losses or delays. This technology not only supports the optimization of logistics processes, but also provides a valuable basis for accurate inventory management and efficient tracking as part of supply chain management.

PROCESS RUN

The process flow of Track and Trace with load carriers and RFID technology is a systematic and optimized process that enables goods to be tracked and managed in real time.
1

Incoming goods

COMPLETE RECORDING OF INCOMING GOODS CREATES THE BASIS FOR SUBSEQUENT PROCESSES

  • Automatic recording of RFID-labeled recirculation or standard containers in incoming goods.
  • Automatic account postings (customer debits and credits).
  • Unmarked load carriers (e.g. third-party containers) must be temporarily marked so that they can be integrated into the intralogistics cycle and tracked. This will help you avoid expensive compensation or penalty payments.
2

Raw material warehouse

LOAD CARRIER LOCATION AND STATUS

  • Warehouse entrance: RFID gates automatically record all containers
  • Automatic direction detection: warehouse entrance / warehouse exit
  • Permanent container tracking
  • Container inventory
3

Production stage

CONTAINER TRANSPARENCY IN PRODUCTION

  • Production stage: Transparency regarding the storage location and status of the load carrier
  • Permanent transparency about "available" / "unavailable" containers
  • Transparency about container status: e.g. "filled", i.e. not available
4

Finished goods warehouse

CONTAINER STATUS AND LOCATION IN THE WAREHOUSE

  • Finished goods warehouse: Information on the location, number and status of all load carriers in the warehouse
  • Automatic RFID recording and material booking at central transfer points (e.g. warehouse entrance gate).
  • Container booking per storage location. The use of mobile devices is recommended here (hybrid solution: RFID and barcode or Kathrein RTLS)
5

Outgoing goods

CORRECTLY POST RETAINED ACCOUNTS, BALANCE CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS

  • Outgoing goods: precise booking of containers
  • Loading control via RFID gates for quality assurance and customer allocation
  • Bookings or debits to the customer account are made automatically
  • Transparency about containers that become "free" again after the loading process

Shopflor transparency

Container inventory and localization

Integration

Manage your working capital assets in ERP and WMS

Cost savings

The complete transparency of all load carriers eliminates the need to keep expensive safety stocks. Flexible planning, even for orders at short notice, is possible without tying up large storage areas. As you always know where and how many load carriers are located, there is no need for labor-intensive search times. The digital linking of a load carrier with the contents to be transported reduces errors and therefore costs.

PROCESS OPTIMIZATION

Customer order

If the location and status of all containers are known, the required quantity can be quickly allocated for a new order.

Material flow

C-parts, semi-finished and finished products can be tracked at any time using the ID of their container.

Production flow

Raw materials are automatically checked for plausibility at each production stage. If they are intended for this step, they are received there and automatically booked.

What our partners and customers say

Axess AG

With Kathrein Solutions as our technology partner for the integration of HF, UHF and BLE in our access gates, we have been able to develop our product to the latest technical standards over the last two decades. The various special developments of antennas, electronic modules and transponders have enabled us to continuously adapt our Axess gates to the requirements of mountain tourism. The components specially developed by Kathrein for Axess have made a major contribution to shortening waiting times at access points and passages in the resorts, optimizing customer flows and at the same time always using the latest technologies in ticketing.

AXESS AG

Project Manager Digital Transformation, PERI

We can look back with pride on the past and all that we have achieved in close cooperation with Kathrein Solutions, look back on. One of the biggest hurdles, the development of a dual-frequency transponder suitable for the formwork market and its products, was overcome in the excellent joint development work. products, was overcome thanks to the excellent joint development work. Thanks to this solution, we were able to make a huge leap forward with our formwork, which means that we now have all options open in terms of IoT. As a result, we are confident that we can continue to provide our customers with first-class products. Kathrein has been and will continue to be a very competent partner for us in all steps of IoT solutions, from development to implementation in the production processes.

Wolfgang Span, Senior Global Digital Solution Manager
Identification & Tracking, PERI

CASE STUDIES

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FAQ: Frequently asked questions about RFID for load carriers

Why label load carriers with RFID?

Stationary readers read the RFID-tagged load carriers within intralogistics and production. This not only gives you transparency about containers, pallets and pallet cages, but also about the contents to be transported. This is because a load carrier and its contents can be digitally "married" to each other via the RFID tag.

How can container cycles be better organized?

Container cycles can be digitally mapped both internally and across locations and between you and your suppliers or customers. This allows you to track every single container in your inventory in real time. You know its location and status. RFID gives you reliable planning security for efficient container management.

How does Track & Trace of load carriers work?

Load carriers are fitted with an RFID transponder. RFID transponders are available with different properties, e.g. different ranges or water-resistant for washable containers. Stationary RFID readers or gates detect these transponders as they pass by or through and transmit their location and status to higher-level systems. This means you always know how many "free" load carriers you currently have available and which are still tied up in the order.

Can RFID also be used for material flow tracking?

If the load carrier is digitally "married" to the contents via an RFID transponder, you can track the material to be transported in it within your production. You can track raw materials, semi-finished and finished products and ensure JIT delivery of material to the relevant production stage.

What are the advantages of RFID-based container management?

With RFID, you know the location and condition of your containers at all times. This transparency makes precise deployment planning possible. The safety stocks that you used to keep are no longer necessary. This saves storage costs and increases your flexibility when processing orders.

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