Abstract
In this paper, we propose an RFID-based location-positioning platform for managing cart operations at vast and fast-moving distribution facilities. Our work was motivated by a real-world problem in a large airmail center. Our system requires that each cart is affixed with an active RFID tag, and RFID readers are installed at multiple locations of the facility. The locations of the tagged carts are determined by the estimated angles of arrival communication signals between the readers and the tags and the signal strengths, and the information about their positions are stored in the platform continuously. This platform enables the users to locate tagged objects in real time, thereby saving staff members a significant amount of time from searching for the right carts in the highly dynamic environment. Consequently, the mail facility can benefit from the increased efficiency. Furthermore, the system is also able to reduce the chance of having a delay in delivering mail bags to unit load device (ULD) area and misplacements of mail bags to ULDs. We further analyze the the huge amount of historical data collected from the RFID infrastructure of the airmail center for the cart movements within the facility and observed previously unrecognized operational issues. We also discuss some of the challenges and problems faced in this project. We believe that this application can bring huge benefits to businesses and organizations along supply chains by effectively anticipating the increasing demand for logistics services in the age of electronic retailing.
Highlights
Big data has been an emerging driver in recent years for the further creation of values for companies and organizations spanning different industries by generating higher revenues, facilitating operations, improving system efficiency and deriving hidden insights
We focus on one aspect of the use of big data: an application of radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies for managing cart operations in vast and highly dynamic distribution facilities
While there are already numerous uses of RFID in supply chains, e.g., inventory control and reporting the current locations of the products, we propose an RFID-enabled locating system for managing cart operations for circulating mail bags in mail facilities
Summary
Big data has been an emerging driver in recent years for the further creation of values for companies and organizations spanning different industries by generating higher revenues, facilitating operations, improving system efficiency and deriving hidden insights. We present a real case study of an actual implementation of our proposed system in a large and high-traffic airmail center (AMC) This application can bring significant impact to supply chain management because the efficiency of distribution facilities has become remarkably crucial in the recent years of the age of electronic retailing. Our proposed system of locating carts at mail facilities is different from the traditional RFID applications and was motivated by a real-world problem; we developed an RFID infrastructure to enable tracking and tracing capabilities of carts at a large and hightraffic AMC One of their major operational problems was that the carts loaded with mail bags were densely staged at the AMC and the staff members were spending a very long time searching for the carts of the departing flights in this highly dynamic environment.
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