International Paper shows off its RFID test lab
By Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 12/1/2004 7:00:00 AM
"We don't want a smarter box. What we really want is a smarter supply chain," says Alan Parks, general manager, business and strategy, for International Paper's Smart Packagingbusiness unit, in an address to visitors at the company's fully integrated, RFID-enabled warehouse/laboratory that's now part of its Customer Solution Center in Memphis, Tenn.
The world's largest producer of packaging materials and an early adopter of auto-ID technology, International Paper opened the center to visitors in October to show off the latest in RFID, and to tout Smart Packaging testing and integration services.
Based on technology the company successfully implemented at its Texarkana, Texas-based bleached board mill, the lab offers a demonstration and proving ground for its complete warehouse tracking system, which can be integrated to roll-stock and pallet/case applications, and is configurable to a broad range of internal and external warehouse operations.
Other RFID applications on display at the solution center include RFID-enabled forklifts—a proprietary tracking system that provides information about the location of forklifts as they move about the warehouse—and "Smart Shelves," which monitor products on store shelves for inventory, misplaced or mismatched products, and customer behavior information. The shelves also act as a shoplifting deterrent.
More than a demonstration site for its own technology, the solution center is at the heart of International Paper's Smart Packaging initiative: namely, offering comprehensive RFID integration services to other companies while emphasizing electronic product code technology and standards.
Parks maintains that while many manufacturers are compelled by mandates to embrace RFID—ready or not—there are hidden sources of value in the technology. Getting at these hidden sources is where much of the long-term value of the technology will lie.
For one, RFID will allow gathering accurate information about inventory in real time. "Being able to trust the data means you can do things differently," says Parks.
This has implications in production and supply chain planning. Better visibility of inventory already in the supply chain means fewer products are lost in the warehouse or on the shelves. Also, the granular inventory data down to the item level—rather than the batch level—potentially gained via RFID technology is useful in managing product recalls and obsolescence, and in gathering forensic information.
International Paper already partners with several other vendors that have software and other products and services in this space, including ESYNC, GlobeRanger, HighJump Software, Intermec, Paxar, Teklogix, Global Licensing & Innovation, and KSW Microtec.
