Tag: Track and Trace

No missing mail with RFID tags, says European Commission

Posted by | Jun 19, 2008 | |

With full liberalisation of all the EU’s national postal services planned for 2013, the likely increase in the number of operators will make improved traceability of sent items a vital necessity to avoid dysfunctions, the European Commission has underlined, calling for the deployment of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips to tackle the issue.

Indeed, all EU member states are requested to abolish lingering national monopolies on postal services by December 2012 at the latest. While the intention is to open the market to new entrants and make mail deliveries more efficient across Europe, there is also a risk that, with an increased number of actors involved in the process, items may get lost.

Innovations that can ensure the safe management of items are therefore needed and the Commission is looking at RFID as the “right” technology to do this.

Radio Frequency Identification chips have been already deployed by postal companies in around 50 countries across the world to measure the quality of their services.

Item-level tracking implies a massive deployment of RFID, potentially involving all the items sent. This would result in a close-to-zero risk of failed delivery.

To make this possible, RFID chips would have to be cheap, tiny, easily available and based on common standards. High-tech companies, like Hitachi or Motorola, are currently working to make chips more affordable and functional. The size has already decreased so much that now experts do not talk of chips, but of “smart dust”.

But interoperability remains a key concern. At the beginning of the year, the European Commission launched a two-year project called GRIFS to build a global RFID standards forum. All stakeholders agree on the need of talking and finding common grounds.

Common standards would indeed pave the way for a broader application of RFID technologies for end-users and not just service providers. Radio Frequency Identification tags could then become a day-to-day technology used for making payments through mobile phones or to check the origin of food purchased in a supermarket. The final stage would be the so-called ‘Internet of Things’, where active RFID could make objects communicate between themselves to automatically address daily needs.

Read More

DHL offers award-winning eMailShip service on a broader platform

Posted by | Jun 19, 2008 | |

DHL announce DHL eMailShip. An award-winning electronic service that provides greater convenience and access to DHL’s shipping services. This service is available for complimentary download from Microsoft Office Online websites across DHL’s Asia Pacific markets.

Microsoft Office Online is a collection of Microsoft Office user resources, such as downloads, templates and clip art, designed to help customers get the most out of their Office System programs.

Launched in October 2007, DHL eMailShip is an easy-to-use service that allows customers to file their shipment details electronically. This paper-less service allows air waybills, shipment forms, customs documents and pickup forms to be prepared offline using the Adobe Acrobat PDF or Microsoft Excel format, and submitted to DHL via email.

Read More

UPS South Africa introduce 'Diad' service

Posted by | May 30, 2008 | |

UPS South Africa has introduced the Delivery Information Acquisition Device (Diad), which allows customers, through the Internet or a UPS call centre, to track their parcels’ position within the global UPS network chain.
Diad III is a hand-held computer scanner used by courier drivers to simultaneously capture and transmit real-time delivery information. It represents one of the fastest package-tracking systems in the world and will assist in the 3,5-million package queries received daily from UPS customers.
In the traditional supply services chain, the information on labels on packages has to be manually filled out. UPS industrial engineering manager for East and sub-Saharan Africa Christian Helleputte says UPS uses ‘smart’ package load data labels which have coded information on them, including a bar code that records a scanning, and a postal bar code which is linked to vehicle loading information.
Manual labels require employees to physically fill out information, with data being captured by an employee within an organisation. With the Diad system, Helleputte notes, UPS installs software in customers’ facilities, or on a computer, and the customers will duly load this information onto their own computer systems.

The mainframe technology of Diad can display all logistical information, including the time of departure of a parcel, the time of delivery, and how many stops are made during the day, which allows a customer to track the whereabouts of a parcel through the delivery chain. Further, it can also work out the best, most direct routes for package delivery.

UPS also has plans to launch GSS, a wireless scanner that is placed on a driver’s finger, in the third quarter of this year.

Read More

Correos to install digital franking machines (SPA)

Posted by | May 29, 2008 | |

CORREOS is promoting a project to replace its conventional franking machines with others that use digital technology and print individualised codes in two dimensions. With this initiative the postal company takes another step towards its goal of ensuring the traceability of items posted, assigning a code that enables them to be tracked and identified throughout the postal process.
The new digital franking machines will include the quality control system implemented by CORREOS, which will mean they also offer more information, the quality and appearance of the stamping will be improved, and more added value will be provided for users. This renewal consolidates the public postal operator’s adoption of Information Technology (IT), including it in all its processes to reinforce the quality and efficiency of the postal service.
The digital franking machines are automatically recharged (making them more secure) and can include advertising messages, adding commercial possibilities for clients. The optical reading system for franking marks stamped on envelopes, labels or wrapping paper guarantees their traceability and enables exhaustive quality control. This new system improves the processes of the postal services and offers more information to customers about their items, and for the postal operator, it provides an agile response to new needs and demands.
As well as being easily recharged, the new digital franking machines offer other benefits: they automatically update the rates and new postal products, they can be used 24 hours a day (when needed, the providers’ loading centre can be contacted by Internet), they personalise advertising messages and gather more information about the whole process. All of this means savings in time and money for users.

Read More

Sirit RFID Reader Chosen for Postal Application in Finland

Posted by | May 22, 2008 | |

Sirit Inc. a provider of radio frequency identification (“RFID”) technology,
announced that the INfinity 510 (“IN510”) UHF reader was selected for
Finland’s postal delivery service RFID implementation. Readers have been
installed across the country as part of a system to monitor and quantify the
speed and accuracy of real-time postal deliveries.

Finn-ID, an auto-identification solutions provider in Finland,
developed and installed the application for the Mail Communications division
of Itella, a contract services company that manages postal deliveries in
Finland and throughout Europe. The implementation uses Sirit’s IN510 to read
Gen 2 RFID tags embedded in envelopes that are tracked throughout the entire
delivery process. Selected envelopes, which are not identifiable by postal
workers, contain an RFID tag with a unique number. As these envelopes travel
through the delivery and sorting process, the data relating to their movement
is collected and transmitted to a back-end system. The system then provides
analyses on mail routing, length of time to deliver an item and other
benchmarks relating to level of service.

Read More

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

P&P Poll

Loading

What's the future of the postal USO?

Thank you for voting
You have already voted on this poll!
Please select an option!



View ResultsHide Results

Post & Parcel Magazine


Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.

Subscribe to the Magazine

 

Pin It on Pinterest