Country's military taps Savi to provide real-time visibility of inventory in-facility, in-maintenance and in-transit between locations
SUNNYVALE, Calif. — September 1, 2005 — Savi Technology, a provider of radio frequency identification (RFID) supply chain solutions, has completed a series of RFID-based projects with the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) to evaluate their effectiveness in tracking military supplies for maintenance, warehousing and in-transit visibility between locations.
The projects, which are being assessed for possible further roll-outs, involved tracking and managing pallets, delivery trucks, tank power units and containers of weapons.
In conjunction with ETCOM RFID Ltd., an Israeli-based partner, Savi implemented three solutions based on Savi's EchoPoint active RFID hardware (tags, readers and signposts), and supported Savi's SmartChain Site Manager, SmartChain Enterprise Platform and SmartChain Consignment Management Solution (CMS) to manage consignments and supply chain assets.
The Israeli Defense Force is evaluating the effectiveness, efficiencies and accuracy of managing military assets, materiel and supplies both within facilities and between facilities using Savi's RFID-based solutions.
"In order to constantly improve the effectiveness of our logistics operations and support, the IDF is looking seriously to adopt RFID-based supply chain solutions as already proven and in use or being implemented by the U.S. Department of Defense, United Kingdom Ministry of Defence, NATO, Denmark Ministry of Defense and Australia Defence Force," said the Army IDF officer and head of Technology branch, responsible for new Logistics technologies. "We want to improve the end-to-end visibility and security of critical supplies to support our defense logistics efforts and take advantage of the proven cost reductions, operational effectiveness and efficiencies already demonstrated by RFID in the defense sector." (IDF policy prohibits identification of military officers by name in public announcements.)
Mark McGlade, Savi's regional vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, commented, "Savi is eager to further show the Israeli Defense Force how our RFID solutions can enhance supply chain efficiency, visibility and security while reducing their logistics footprint and costs."
The implementations for the Israeli Defense Force focus on three different supply chain scenarios. First, RFID solutions were deployed at key checkpoints to monitor in-transit assets from a major Logistics Center to a local Distribution Center and then to a Field Logistics Unit. Cages, pallets and delivery trucks were affixed with active, battery-powered RFID tags to identify and monitor assets.
Second, the IDF utilized RFID solutions to track the movements of Tank Power Units (engines, gearboxes and transmission boxes) between warehouse and in-field locations, as well as to record their maintenance history between workshop stations.
Third, containers of weapons stored in Armory Warehouses were inventoried, tracked in and out of the facilities and secured with active RFID devices to guard against unauthorized openings and removal of the items.
Savi and ETCOM RFID deployed Savi's Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) hardware and software in the projects. These include the Savi SmartChain Site Manager, which provides an integrated, node-level management system for data collection and system management, as well as the Savi SmartChain Enterprise Platform, which complements Savi Site Manager by providing a centralized business process management system to track and manage the movement of assets and shipments as they pass through the supply chain.
Further, the Savi SmartChain Consignment Management Solution (CMS) enables IDF to become interoperable with In-Transit Visibility (ITV) networks already deployed by other defense organizations worldwide. These RFID-based networks, which can function independently or interoperate with each other during collaborative operations, are based on the ISO's 18000-7 standards.
In addition, Savi's CMS already complies with the recently agreed NATO Standardization and Agreement 2233, which provides a framework for RFID-based interoperability among NATO countries in tracking consignments and assets.
