Self-Inventorying SMART Container

Winner of the prestigious Best in Show Award from RFID Journal in 2009, ODIN’s Self-Inventorying SMART Container can retrofit a standard ISO shipping container with passive RFID is under a minute. It can then pass that read data directly to an active RFID tag, over satellite communications, WiFi or through a direction connection. The Self-Inventorying SMART Container is battery powered and can operate in austere environments for months between recharges. A video overview here:

The Challenge: Over the past few years, supply managers and logisticians have gained the ability to track shipping containers in transit, but they remain virtually blind to what’s inside the container itself. When the contents of the containers change and systems are not manually updated to reflect these changes, inventory control and tracking accuracy degrade.

Key supply chain and operations stakeholders lack visibility to critical asset movement. In fact, the two most common methods of inventory tracking remain manual cycle counting and barcode scanning, both time intensive and highly error prone. The growing complexities of logistics management coupled with the trend toward reducing labor costs impair the asset manager’s ability to manually track inventory levels accurately and efficiently. Diminishing personnel combined with increasing requirements has created a growing visibility gap that is increasingly error prone, costing billions of dollars in shrinkage, inefficiency and shipping delays. ODIN’s self-inventorying SMART Container technology eliminates those problems.

The Solution: The Self-Inventorying SMART Container is a fully contained solution easily deployed in under a minute, yet is designed to withstand the most demanding and rigorous field conditions. More importantly, the Self-Inventorying SMART Container solution provides real-time access to detailed inventory information within shipping containers anywhere around the world with just the click of a mouse. The Self-Inventorying SMART Container finally closes the visibility gap, providing detailing inventory tracking from the factory to the front door.

Solution Components: The Self-Inventorying SMART Container is a fully contained portable unit ready to provide passive RFID data on a moments notice without the need for a local power source. Key component features include:

• Instant passive RFID Visibility – passive RFID readers can interrogate tagged items within a container on command or as scheduled
• Easy to Install – solution can be installed in a container and activated within a minute
• Easy to Use – integrated on-board computer and simple to use interface
• Integrated data Communications – the passive RFID tag read data is passed along to enterprise systems through satellite, active RFID integration, WiFi, USB or Ethernet
• Self powered – the solution has long-life, rechargeable batteries that enable it operate for up to several months between recharges
• Slim Form Factor – the components are slimline and fit above the lip of a container or in the ribs minimizing space consumed
• Portable – rugged, man portable design and stowage system
• Modular – larger containers or read areas are easily covered by connecting additional wings through a daisy chain architecture
• Sensor Integration – optional environmental sensors (Light, Heat, Moisture, Vibration)
• Remote Alerting – real-time notifications can be integrated with existing asset management and supply chain systems
• Standards Based Technology – ISO 18000-6 / EPC Class 1 Gen 2 compliant passive RFID infrastructure and integrated to update ISO 18000-7 or ANSI compliant active RFID tags

Results: the Self-Inventorying SMART Container enables greater operations and supply chain efficiency, visibility and accuracy. A recent shipment by a high tech electronics manufacturer showed a full container being loaded and recorded with a SMART Container in 1/3 the time of traditional method capturing the load data with barcode technology. A video of the live load process seen here:

That same shipment provided twice daily updates on the container position and the full container contents during a three week journey from Taipei, Taiwan to Denver, Colorado. The solution has also been tested in rugged military environments for tracking tools and repair supplies reducing time to inventory and locate critical items in the field.