International Paper rolls out RFID warehouse tracking
A lot of companies are investigating how they can leverage RFID technology in the supply chain, but most industry analysts don’t expect widespread adoption for another five years or more. Some companies, though, have gotten an early start.
One of those is International Paper, Stamford, Conn., which has developed a warehouse tracking system using RFID to manage warehouse inventory.
Currently being used for tracking large paper rolls at the company’s Texarkana, Texas bleached board mill, the system covers all stocking, storage, movement and shipping within the facility. It provides real-time inventory routing instructions and movement confirmation to forklift operators without the need for manual compliance.
International Paper plans to expand the system beyond roll tracking, and is marketing it to its supply chain partners.
The warehouse tracking system is based on the MIT Auto-ID Center’s Electronic Product Code (EPC) standard, using 900MHz tag and reader technology from Matrics Inc., Columbia, Md. International Paper was an early members of the Auto-ID Center, and also has an eye on incorporating the EPC into packaging it provides to its consumer goods manufacturing customers.
“We knew what our internal needs were, but we wanted to develop products that transcended our four walls,” says Guillermo Gutierrez, International Paper’s marketing manager. Gutierrez says the company is also developing RFID-based logistics systems and is working with cosmetics customers on smart shelf technology.
“They’re really thinking beyond their own four walls,” says Tom Coyle, vice president of supply chain solutions at Matrics. “Some of their customers might want to adopt this, which is why they followed the EPC model. If it were a closed loop system, they wouldn’t care about that.”
The roll tracking system went live in July. Through the use of clamp-truck-mounted RFID readers and proprietary tracking technology, inventory is tracked to within 6 inches and the information is relayed to the forklift operators via mobile computers in less than one second. A principal feature of the warehouse tracking system is the elimination of RFID portals in tracking inventory movement, including shipping and receiving locations such as rail and dock doors.
By not using portals, the system turns traditional tag tracking on its head. Coyle says that RFID tags are placed in the cores used for paper rolls. Bar code labels on the finished rolls associate the paper with the core, and readers built onto the clamp trucks read through 70 inches of paper to identify the rolls.
Additional readers on the clamp trucks use tags buried in the facility floor (which form a grid) to provide location data to the system as they move the rolls.
The system provides inventory visibility and accuracy, and prevents errant shipments. “We can tell what paths the trucks are taking, and we can tell when the product is on the truck,” says Gutierrez. “We can analyze that information to optimize flow of materials through the warehouse.”
The system integrates with the company’s legacy enterprise systems. International Paper, working with a third-party software vendor, developed a warehouse tracking application and a middleware product that transfers data between the two with. “We want to remain agnostic from the software side,” says Gutierrez. “We can work with various warehouse management systems out there.”
The warehouse tracking system can be integrated to roll stock and pallet/case applications and is configurable to a broad range of internal and external warehouse operations. The system is designed to withstand the harsh industrial environments associated with a 24-hour mill operation and includes a self-diagnostic application.
International Paper operates hundreds of facilities in the U.S., including mills and converting facilities. Gutierrez says the company is evaluating which locations will be best suited for additional roll outs of the RFID system. The company is also developing data management tools, including an executive dashboard, so that managers can drill down into the data supplied by real-time tracking.
International Paper and Matrics are participating in the inaugural EPC Symposium at Frontline Solutions’ Supply Chain Week conference and expo, Sept. 15-17 at McCormick Place in Chicago. For more information, visit www.epcsymposium.com or www.supplychainweek.com
www.internationalpaper.com www.matrics.com
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