RFID for shipping containers
Technology transformation has significantly changed industries for good. Among all the sectors, inventory management, supply chain and logistics have the most drastic upgrades. Especially, brands are constantly working on improvising their production, supply chain, delivery times, and the customer experience in this competitive era. In this race towards a better supply experience, shipping containers can play a vital role.
Where do current container management systems fail?
Most of the innovations in supply chains are majorly focused on faster and secure delivery. However, managing the containers is a crucial part of the supply chain that is not yet explored enough. Here is a list of grey areas in the current container management system that can affect supply chain efficiency:
- Being unaware of available containers in the supply chain
- Lack of knowledge about containers that go out of service or get damaged
- A Significant amount of containers that are unaccounted
- Unidentified cost for purchase and replacement of shipping containers
- Traceability of shipping containers and the batch contained
Poor management of shipping containers can impact the entire supply chain and can result in delays, higher operational costs, and customer dissatisfaction. All of these grey areas and negative impacts could be avoided with the use of the right technology.
How can RFID help container verification?
Container verification or management is traditionally performed manually or is overlooked in some cases. There are different ways through which technology can remove manual involvement and make container management easy for routine involvement. One of the most popular applications of RFID is to track assets and manage inventory. Similarly, RFID can also be the key to transform container verification.
- Traceability of the containers
Tracing where a particular container is an easy job for RFID as it can offer real-time assistance for quick loading/offloading, maintenance or container management. Such traceability would be as efficient as any RFID tracking application and could nullify operational costs. - Cost of containers
Costs of misplaced, damaged, and lost containers can be an unidentified burden for a business. However, RFID can be used here in order to keep track of such losses that take place. Saving the cost of containers can allow companies to get higher profit margins and offer lower product costs.
- Predicting lack of containers, avoiding delays
RFID-based container management can assure that enough containers are available to sustain the supply chain and logistics at the desired capacity. Avoiding any roadblocks, container’s availability can bridge the gap between supply and demand seamlessly.
Implementation of RFID into containers is as easy as any other application. However, RFID can create a lot more value here with the help of a software application. Having such a middleware application could enable businesses with detailed insights about their supply chain efficiency. This entire system can be used to monitor and analyze how any drop or loss takes place in a container management system. As RFID takes care of entire container management needs, it ensures that manual workers can rather focus on their own duties.
A container verification & tracking solution is simple through its implementation and application. As such leveraging RFID to manage shipping containers in the supply chain can offer consistent and reliable advantages across various industries.
