Page 23 - Sphere No.15 (Nov 2005)

FROM GUANGDONG TO LONG BEACH - RFID TRACKING IN PRACTICE
PH’s joint venture with Savi Technology launched its
SaviTrak™ information network in September. In
co-operation with Mitsui & Co (USA) Inc, a service
provider in IT and logistics and financial technology, Savi
Networks is now providing real-time information and logis-
tics services to a major Japanese supplier of consumer
goods to leading US retailers, including Wal-Mart.
The supplier ships the goods to Yantian, a major port in
Guangdong, where they are loaded onto vessels and shipped
to the Port of Long Beach in California and then trucked to
a holding centre from which they are distributed to retail-
ers. Throughout this process the containers are constantly
tracked by Savi’s real-time network.
SaviTrak’s system was designed to achieve supply chain best
practices, offering shippers a number of valuable benefits:
■ Nested Visibility – by linking data from passive RFID labels
on cartons of goods to information stored in and transmit-
ted by Savi Technology’s active RFID tags on cargo contain-
ers, users have full real-time visibility of container shipments
and their contents
■ Source Tagging – tagging EPC-compliant labels at the facto-
ry where the goods are sourced is more cost-effective than
further downstream in the supply chain, and means that users
can move beyond “slap-and-ship” compliance programmes to
gain economic benefits within their own supply chain
■ Dynamic Management – Savi Technology’s network, com-
bined with automated event and exception-driven alerts,
provides real-time information and reports on the location,
status and security of shipments as they move through the
supply chain.
The operational launch by Savi Networks is the culmina-
tion of several years of industry and government-driven
programmes that have successfully validated the RFID tech-
nologies and software now being deployed. It’s a clear illus-
tration of HPH’s strategy of achieving continuous improve-
ment through supply chain innovation. Advanced technolo-
gies are providing users with added business value and com-
petitive advantages.
As Lani Fritts, COO of Savi Networks, says: “This initial
project marks the operational readiness of Network and
SaviTrak, and demonstrates how our use of passive and
active RFID technologies can help suppliers improve trans-
portation security concerns and achieve better operational
efficiency and customer service at the same time.”
can be tracked, from loading to the final destination
cerned. Shippers and the businesses they’re supplying stand to
benefit commercially, while governments appreciate that con-
tainer tracking will make it much easier for them to protect
their populations from terrorist attack.
Legal requirements for use of the technology
are likely to be introduced soon but HPH
hasn’t lost sight of the fact that the original
objective of Savi Networks was to provide ship-
pers with complete supply chain visibility.
As Mr Meredith points out, the real-time
information that HPH can now offer gives
shippers more control over cargoes. “Now
they can track every aspect of a container’s
journey, from loading at the factory, through
the journey to the port, the time at sea to the
final destination … even whether the cargo is
stuck in port somewhere,” he said. The neces-
sary equipment is installed in all major ports
around the world and HPH is not waiting for
legislation or the results of the standardisation
process. Strong demand from shippers ensures
that take-up will be rapid and widespread.
So next time you’re out shopping, you might reflect how
HPH’s commitment to technological innovation is helping
to deliver the goods.
H
the US authorities