World Trade - December 2008 - (Page 30)

SUPPLY CHAIN TECHNOLOGY Managing with Mobility Wireless technology pervades every nook and cranny of the supply chain. BY AMY ZUCKERMAN G athering accurate pallet dimensioning in high demand, cross-dock warehouse environments without slowing down movement of thousands of pallets daily is pretty tough using static dimensioning equipment. But now the “DIM” weights are calculated right on the forklift with the pallet dimensions transmitted wirelessly to warehouse computers to speed along the process, report ofﬁcials from FreightScan, the technology’s developers. A trash collection ﬁrm in San Diego was losing a million dollars a year because customers complained that their trash wasn’t being collected. The solution was to embed sensors in RFID technology on the truck’s back gate lift to record every barrel emptied at speciﬁc locations for wireless feed back to the central ofﬁce, say ofﬁcials from AT & T Industry Solutions, providers of the wireless network. For haulers of frozen or refrigerated goods it’s crucial to maintain speciﬁed temperatures throughout the “the cold chain”—from manufacturer to onboard the truck, to warehouse to ﬁnal destination, explain ofﬁcials from Cadec Global, manufacturers of advanced ﬂeet management solutions. Teaming up with Procuro, which produces temperature-monitoring equipment, they are 2008 providing wireless feed of temperature records to retailer or restaurant customers (see sidebar). These are just a handful of examples of how wireless or mobile technology has inﬁltrated every nook or cranny of the supply chain. Transmission may be based on cellular, satellite or local area networks such as WiFi with data ﬂowing between onboard computers, warehouses and trucking terminals. Radio frequency identiﬁcation (RFID) technology in tandem with sensors provides a huge range of data and information on everything from pallet loads to engine conditions and temperatures. Based on any combination of wireless transmission dispatchers and truckers can communicate wirelessly through a myriad of devices. Containers, pallets and trucking assets can be tracked and monitored wirelessly while en route and alerts sent when they arrive to or depart from loading docks. Carriers are able to dynamically reschedule pickup and delivery on the ﬂy and plan routes while in transmit. Delivery drivers are handled inventory at retail outlets. And, instructions for warehousing picking are commonly transmitted wirelessly over local area wireless networks. 30 WORLD TRADE DECEMBER

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Trade - December 2008

World Trade - December 2008 Contents The Promise of Peril The Current Reality with IP in China Supply Chain Watch Tradewinds Performance Partners: Awards of Excellence Managing With Mobility What 2009 Bodes for the Supply Chain Small Business Takes to Export Green is Here for Good Fast Fashion

World Trade - December 2008

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