CHEP pushes forward 2005 RFID programme

Related tags Pallet

Pallet and container pooling solutions provider CHEP is forging
ahead with new developments in the company's Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) programme.

"CHEP fully believes that RFID is the future, "​ said Puneet Sawhney, manager of the RFID effort at CHEP.

"RFID equipped pallets will help manufacturers improve their internal processes, and gain greater control over assets. This, combined with expected reductions in start-up and on-going costs will accelerate the rate of RFID acceptance in the next few years."

The development of the technology has been rapid, in direct response of course to the legal obligation on food suppliers now in place. All food manufacturers in Europe must now comply with the tough new traceability laws, which has obliged firms to find means of achieving complete control of their supply chain.

Retailers have also been pushing the adoption of RFID, and as a result CHEP has strengthened its PLUS ID offering in order too meet the requests of retailers such as Wal-Mart, Tesco, Target, Metro and others. This technology features pallets embedded with RFID tags.

The company is confident that 100 per cent-read pallet level tracking can be achieved, and that the CHEP solution, which meets the EPCglobal standards, is designed to provide a quick and efficient way for suppliers and retailers to meet their demand for RFID.

This effort culminated in the signing of the first agreement to provide RFID-enabled pallets to a major US manufacturer in 2004, the first shipments for which were sent from CHEP Service Centres in November.

"CHEP is uniquely positioned to enable manufacturers and retailers to apply the technology and realise the tremendous cost savings throughout the supply chain inherent with RFID technology,"​ said Dave Mezzanotte, CHEP Americas president. "As the industry moves into 2005, CHEP will continue to be in the vanguard of service providers supporting RFID initiatives."

In Europe, CHEP remains a sponsorship partner of the Metro Future Store Initiative in Germany, where its tagged pallets are constantly being used for tracking goods deliveries between Metro's DC and the Future Store, located in Rheinburg. A demonstration of CHEP's pallet tagging technology can also be found in the newly opened Metro RFID Innovation Center in Neuss Nord.

With the recent launch of Metro's RFID roll-out plans, CHEP is currently working with a number of manufacturers to develop tagged unit load services.

CHEP is a global leader in pallet and plastic container pooling services serving many of the world's largest companies. The company has more than 7,700 employees in 42 countries.

The group is currently participating in the largest RFID test market in the US in order to establish an industry-wide pilot implementation with the aim of better understanding RFID/EPC applicability in the Brazilian marketplace.

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