Intermec RFID-enabled warehouse functionality on a "quiet rise"

Auto-ID vendor Intermec offers a number of new RFID-enabled solutions that lend themselves to better data capture in warehouse environments, particularly by enhancing forklift units and reducing RFID noise.

As an alternative to stationary portal readers that snag snapshots of forklifts moving tagged pallets about, Intermec and forklift manufacturer Cascade Corp. are extending the application of RFID with a forklift design for the wired world.

"[This forklift/RFID integration] gives the customer more points for data capture in a more timely fashion, without retooling a warehouse or distribution center," says Chris Kelley, Intermec director of RFID business development.

Forklifts have been RFID-enabled in the past, Kelley adds, but this particular partnership now makes the RFID-wired load backrest—or lift platform—a design option at the time of ordering the forklift.

Called the Adaptable Load Backrest and Antenna Cell system—designed for Gen 2 UHF environments—the solution is wired for easy mounting to a portable computer, and facilitates automated storage-rack location as a data point for better tracking of goods in storage.

With better tracking the end goal, Intermec knows all too well that noise inside large facilities and distribution centers with numerous dock doors and multiple RFID reader portals can impact getting accurate readings on tagged goods.

To address the problem, Intermec offers the IF5—a high-end, high performance network reader designed for very dense and noisy environments. Intermec recently extended the product line with the IF30, which has "a reduced feature set on the IT side, but the same high performance on the tag reader performance side," says Kelley.

"The IF5 has the ability to run Java virtual applications—running business process application in the reader—but some users tell us they don't need all that," Kelley adds. Even still, the IF30 is plenty powerful, as it reads tags at conveyor speeds of 1,600 feet per minute at distances of 15 feet.

The multi-protocol network reader also has a built-in power supply and powered general-purpose input/output (GPIO) circuitry that allows direct monitoring and control of peripherals such as presence detectors and signal lights.