Kuehne + Nagel claims its pilot project with Siemens Business Systems is the first transatlantic radio frequency identification (RFID) test across a supply chain from Munich to New York under real conditions. Working with Océ and Lufthansa Cargo, UHF RFID tags are attached at the manufacturer (Océ) and read when shipments are dispatched. As a lift truck passes through a reading station at the manufacturer data stored in the tag are read and transmitted to an SAP host.
At the Kuehne + Nagel warehouse at Munich Airport, shipments pass through another RFID reader as they are handed over to Lufthansa Cargo. They are scanned again when they reach the Lufthansa Cargo warehouse in New York and then again at Océ’s distribution hub in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.
The project complies with Electronic Product Code (EPC) guidelines, according to Kuehne + Nagel, and uses tag that operate within the European and U.S. frequency ranges.
