Akıllı etiket denemesi, lojistik alanda ileriye atılmış ümit verici bir adımdır.

Perakende satış alanında en ileri seviyeli ürün izleme ve takip etme denemeleri, Sainsbury’nin Allington, Kent’teki bölgesel dağıtım merkezinde son aşamadadır. Bar kodlar yerine ‘akıllı etiketler’ kullanarak, Omron Europe BV lojistik otomasyon uzmanları yakın gelecekte dağıtım zincirindeki her öğeyi tamamen otomatik bir şekilde izleyebilecekler.

Exact science This means that stock control becomes an exact science with every item individually recognised and with no possibility of operatives entering inaccurate information. This will pull out massive costs from the distribution process and improve efficiency by an order of magnitude. It also means that if substandard or contaminated product enters the supply chain, every single item can be traced instantly as soon as the problem becomes apparent.

The technology will transfer to other logistics fields rapidly. Indeed, major airlines, parcel handlers and other logistics systems operators are already in advanced discussions with Omron about adapting and adopting the technology for their own industries, as are several manufacturers who want to track components through assembly processes.

At present smart labels are relatively expensive, ranging from as little as £0.70 for the basic tag in high volume, to several pounds for tags with special packaging. However Omron says that once they are manufactured in large numbers, economies of scale will reduce their price to pennies and they will become as disposable as today's bar codes.

Sainsbury's trial is currently based on its range of chilled foods, which have a short shelf life so have to be transferred from manufacturer to consumer rapidly and efficiently. In the trial the individual items do not carry a smart label as yet, it is their distribution crates which are tagged. This will prove out RFID, after which the technology can be extended to item level.

When a store orders chilled food for delivery, the computer automatically tells the warehouse managers which crates to pick, ensuring the correct product rotation.

While Gillott is enthusiastic about product tracking, he also recognizes the potential with product tracing: "The big food scares of recent years, such as BSE infected beef and baby food that has been tampered with, will be easier to manage and control because the location in the supply chain of all affected product will be instantly available. Or if, say, a manufacturer of electrical goods has to have a product recall due to a production problem, we will be able to remove the offending items from wherever they are in the supply chain instantly and so can be confident that consumers will remain safe."

This has now been replaced with 'serialised' equipment, i.e. the perfected design, for the final proving stage of the trial; and 13.5MHz is set to become the industry standard operating frequency for RFID. Gillott says the business case for adopting RFID is justified by the cost savings and efficiency gains within the distribution center alone. "Rolling out RFID smart labels to the whole distribution chain from manufacturer to final purchaser will create a step change in the performance of supermarket supply."

"Airlines are very interested in RFID for baggage handling and as a regular business flyer I am really looking forward to never having my luggage lost ever again!"