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E.J. Brooks Joins Smart and Secure Tradelanes Smart and Secure Tradelanes, the global initiative deploying an end-to-end supply chain security network to enhance the security and efficiency of ocean container shipments, announced today that E.J.
Brooks, the world's largest and oldest (founded in 1873) designer and manufacturer of mechanical and electronic security seals and locking devices, has joined the rapidly growing international consortium.
Since launched last summer, Smart and Secure Tradelanes has attracted more than 40 partners, encompassing the world's leading port operators, major shippers, and best-of-breed ocean cargo services and solution providers.
Today's announcement was made on the opening day of the 6th Security Seal Symposium conference in Santa Barbara by the Strategic Council on Security Technology, a global resource and catalyst for supply chain security that was instrumental in the launch of Smart and Secure Tradelanes last summer. SST leverages the software and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and infrastructure built for the U.S. Department of Defense's Total Asset Visibility network, which is compliant with international RFID technology standards and is the world's largest active RFID cargo tracking system.
"E.J. Brooks Company is world-renowned for its leadership in designing and manufacturing the most advanced locking devices for all manner of applications, including for the security of containers used in the supply chain," said Ken Wykle, president of the National Defense Transportation Association and a director of the Strategic Council on Security Technology. "The special knowledge that E.J. Brooks has developed for over 130 years for transportation will be invaluable to the progress of SST implementations worldwide. E.J.
Brooks' expertise will help to ensure that the electronic seals used by SST maintain the highest international standards and the most practical and cost-effective solution for ensuring the integrity of ocean cargo containers, which today are highly vulnerable to terrorist attack.
"We have been watching the SST initiative build momentum at the same time that our global customer base seeks new solutions that combine mechanical security devices with automated information about the status of their shipments," said Scott Kirk, executive vice president, of E.J. Brooks. "We're eagerly looking forward to working with the SST partners and the global SST infrastructure to implement a broad array of intelligent sealing and security solutions."
The SST partnership emphasized that the initiative will benefit from the expertise E.J. Brooks has gained through its extensive experience with shippers and carriers in all modes of transportation, including ocean. At the same time, E.J. Brooks will gain expertise on the integration of automatic identification technologies, which have been deployed as part of SST operations. SST's global infrastructure provides real-time data on the physical location, status and integrity of shipments, which is enabled through the unique integration of a wide variety of automatic identification technologies and devices such Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)-based electronic seals, GPS systems, sensors and biometric access controls with a global security network. "SST is designed as an open-technology platform from which multiple layers of security and container management can be built with advanced systems, best practices and international standards,"
Trebesch said. "The seamless linkage of web-based software with automatic identification technologies now enables anyone responsible for shipments to know the full status of their shipments at all critical times in real-time."
To date, SST has implemented its global information network infrastructure at major seaports worldwide, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Seattle-Tacoma, Los Angeles-Long Beach, New York-New Jersey, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Felixstowe. Hundreds of "smart and secure" containers equipped with electronic seals automatically transmit information on their location and security status to the global security network that links these ports. Partners in this industry-driven initiative include port operators Hutchison Port Holdings, P&O Ports, and PSA Corporation -- which together manage 70 per cent of world container trade - shippers such as Target Corporation, and solution providers such as Savi Technology, SAIC, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Sandler, Travis Trade Advisory Services. The hardware and software infrastructure of SST leverages existing, battle-tested technologies developed for the world's largest wireless cargo tracking system - the U.S. Department of Defense's Total Asset Visibility network.
