APL introduces RFID upgrades at Los Angeles terminal
Singapore-based APL said it has introduced active radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to its Southern California marine terminal in an attempt to speed up cargo container processing.
By introducing real time locating system technology at its Global Gateway South (GGS) terminal, APL can reduce by a half-day or more the amount of time it takes to track a container in the yard and prepare it for transport. The company said this improves terminal efficiency and, more importantly, helps improve on-time cargo delivery to customers.
'Our customers are looking for new answers to their supply chain challenges,' said John Bowe, regional president of APL's parent company NOL, 'and RFID technology offers significant benefits.'
The innovation at GGS comes hard on the heels of the launch last week of an RFID test center in Singapore ' an initiative by NOL in partnership with Sun-Microsystems designed to evaluate RFID applications in a 'live' supply-chain environment. It is the first RFID facility of its type in Southeast Asia and provides a full range of packaging and tag testing, compliance and integration services, along with training and entry-level 'tag and ship' services for customers.
In Los Angeles, APL is affixing active RFID tags to every chassis in its yard. The tags transmit location signals to computerized tracking equipment. Since nearly every container at the GGS terminal is on a chassis, containers can be quickly spotted and readied for shipment by rail, truck or ship.
APL said the real time locating system is the first-ever use of active RFID technology in a 'wheeled' terminal. The locating system replaces technology that required drivers with tracking equipment to search up and down rows of containers for a particular unit.
Using the old system, tracking could take as long as half a day or more. With RFID, containers can be spotted almost instantly.
APL's use of RFID marks a milestone in its relationship with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which supplies labor for GGS and other West Coast marine terminals. It's among the company's most far-reaching uses of technology since a 2002 agreement with the ILWU establishing guidelines for the implementation of waterfront automation.
APL and ILWU officials worked closely on everything from planning to testing and implementation of the real time locating system.
'APL and the ILWU have been working together in the best interest of both organizations and the industry,' said James Spinosa, ILWU president. 'The ILWU supports a policy of openness regarding educating the union on new technologies being introduced.'
APL's information technology division worked with Santa Clara, Calif.-based WhereNet Corp., a leader of wireless services for tracking and maintaining enterprise assets, to develop this industry-first technology for wheeled marine terminals.
