RFID solves the problem of real-time positioning of products in cold storage

In January of this year, the Belgian freight company Luik Natie opened a new cold storage. In order to maximize the use of space, the company installed 16-meter-high shelves; and in order to achieve warehouse automation, the company deployed RFID solutions from Aucxis RFID Solutions.

Luik Natie’s CFO John Kelitz explained: “Aucxis RFID Solutions is very professional in technology and product knowledge, such as the fresh and frozen business. This convinced us.”

Roland Dahanis of Aucxis said: "Luik Natie has always wanted to know the location of each customer’s product. To meet this need, we started looking for an automatic solution for tray identification and positioning. It must also be suitable for food. Freezer storage rooms, and this is very challenging. RFID systems must be able to adapt to 16-meter-high shelves, but also must work in a cold environment. As far as we know, not all hardware devices can be used in cold storage with sub-zero temperatures. To achieve the best results."

Aucxis RFID Solutions' Atlas item identification and tracking system provides one such solution. Roland said: "In the preliminary proof of concept of the RFID system, we proved that the Atlas solution can accurately and timely present the internal logistics dynamics. For example, in the cold storage, each pallet is affected at every step of the entire logistics process. Monitoring. This benefits from automatic positioning and load management. This also replaces manual operations such as registration, scanning and data processing."

save time

The system also provides real-time location information of products in the cold storage. This means that the truck does not have to travel any excess distance. This working method saves a lot of product processing time and can be seamlessly integrated with the customer's system. "

With the introduction of the RFID system, Luik Natie's customers can view their asset information in real time. The company hopes to further develop this feature in order to show the batch of products that customers want to buy. John explained: "For example, Luik Natie's customers have implemented RFID. Then the labels of the same product batch can be tracked throughout the supply chain. The cost of this label can also be shared by all parties."

Mainstream practice

Since February this year, the Atlas RFID system has been up and running in Luik Natie. According to John, the system works well. "This is also due in part to the stable Wi-Fi network provided by our network integrator Netflow. Drivers can recognize pallets while sitting on a forklift, and they no longer need to get out of the car to register."

“Using RFID to locate goods is already a mainstream practice in the logistics industry. We use Atlas solutions to identify the products loaded on the pallet, and have installed RFID tags on the pallet. Therefore, we can dynamically monitor all processes. Compared with traditional barcodes RFID has unlimited possibilities."

"We are very happy to deploy this solution. However, the correct placement of the RFID reader on the forklift is still a problem. The operator's field of vision has been limited. So, where to install another RFID reader? But once people start With AGV trolleys, this will no longer be a problem." John concluded.