Lufthansa puts RFID in the warehouse

Lufthansa Cargo has dipped a foot into the use of RFID (radio frequency identification) in cargo handling at its home base in Frankfurt and signalled strong ambitions to proceed further down this avenue before long.

The German carrier recently completed a pilot programme using passive RFID tags in the handling of dangerous goods shipments.

In what the airline described as "the largest deployed passive RFID pilot in the world", Lufthansa teamed up with Los Angeles-based technology provider Mojix, whose application enables reading of passive RFID tags and locating these in real time within an area equipped with antennas.

Unlike the classical RFID concept, which uses gates to capture the passage of RFID tags to generate records of entry and exit at a facility, the Mojix technology works on coverage of large areas. Within these areas, the technology can locate tags with an accuracy of one metre, according to Mojix. Lufthansa found that the accuracy actually reached 50 cm and less, reported JŸrgen Unruh, senior manager of technology.

The tags, which are as thin as a sheet of paper, are affixed to a shipment at the receiving area of the Lufthnasa warehouse. The bar codes of both the shipment and the tag are scanned with a hand-held reader to merge both sets of data in the airline's system.

For the pilot project, Lufthansa designated an area of 900 sq m in its facility where hazardous goods shipments are built up and readied for loading. Once a shipment carrying a tag enters the zone, it is spotted by the system.

Lufthansa selected hazardous materials for the pilot project because of the complexity of handling this cargo with its host of special regulations and manual controls, Unruh said. The RFID technology helps with compliance of these requirements and processes, he added. If one DG shipment is placed too close to another one in violation of minimum distance requirements, the system automatically issues an alert.

Unruh said that the large customer that participated in the RFID pilot had expressed interest in affixing the tags at its own facility prior to delivery to the airline. The tag data, along with the other shipment information, could then be transmitted electronically to the carrier once the shipper scans the tag with a hand-held reader.

The RFID tags, which cost a few US cents each, use passive transponders in the UHF band. They are based on the global standard EPC Gen2, which allows ready availability and compatibility around the world.

Down the road, this would make it possible for a manufacturer in Asia to affix an RFID tag to a shipment to Frankfurt and beyond, but this scenario is still several steps away, Unruh said. Lufthansa will pursue the use of RFID in stages, he declared, adding that the next step will be a larger project concentrating on dangerous goods.

"I can imagine that many customers already have transponders and are only waiting to pounce once we are ready," Unruh said.

By the same token, he can envisage the system to be deployed at other large stations for the airline outside its home base. Smaller stations could be equipped with hand-held readers used in conjunction with GPS, he reflected.

"At this point, it is too early to make projections about time lines and investment on this front," said Nils Haupt, the carrier's head of corporate communications. Lufthansa Cargo management has made it quite clear that it is bent on making further headway with the technology .

"Our target is to integrate the RFID technology into our handling processes to increase the reliability of loading and transport processes. The tracking of air cargo processes in real time in large facilities is a real competitive advantage for Lufthansa Cargo. We want to pass these new improvements and benefits of automated RFID-based data exchange on to our customers,'' said Karl-Heinz Kšpfle, board member of operations.

(Source: Cargo News Asia)