Gathering accurate pallet dimensioning in high demand, cross-dock warehouse environments without slowing down movement of thousands of pallets daily is pretty tough using static dimensioning equipment. But now the “DIM” weights are calculated right on the forklift with the pallet dimensions transmitted wirelessly to warehouse computers to speed along the process, report officials from FreightScan, the technology’s developers.

A trash collection firm in San Diego was losing a million dollars a year because customers complained that their trash wasn’t being collected. The solution was to embed sensors in RFID technology on the truck’s back gate lift to record every barrel emptied at specific locations for wireless feed back to the central office, say officials from AT & T Industry Solutions, providers of the wireless network.

For haulers of frozen or refrigerated goods it’s crucial to maintain specified temperatures throughout the “the cold chain”—from manufacturer to onboard the truck, to warehouse to final destination, explain officials from Cadec Global, manufacturers of advanced fleet management solutions. Teaming up with Procuro, which produces temperature-monitoring equipment, they are providing wireless feed of temperature records to retailer or restaurant customers (see sidebar).

These are just a handful of examples of how wireless or mobile technology has infiltrated every nook or cranny of the supply chain. Transmission may be based on cellular, satellite or local area networks such as WiFi with data flowing between onboard computers, warehouses and trucking terminals. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in tandem with sensors provides a huge range of data and information on everything from pallet loads to engine conditions and temperatures.

Based on any combination of wireless transmission dispatchers and truckers can communicate wirelessly through a myriad of devices. Containers, pallets and trucking assets can be tracked and monitored wirelessly while en route and alerts sent when they arrive to or depart from loading docks. Carriers are able to dynamically reschedule pickup and delivery on the fly and plan routes while in transmit. Delivery drivers are handled inventory at retail outlets. And, instructions for warehousing picking are commonly transmitted wirelessly over local area wireless networks.

More and more companies are finding ways to leverage their technology in new ways so that a device traditionally used in a cross-dock warehouse environment can be retrofitted to operate on the road. A hand-held device may be embedded not just with a WiFi modem, but a wide area modem, so the driver can handle piece-level tracking from the back of his cab, explains Norm Ellis, Qualcomm Vice President of Sales and Services for Transportation and Logistics in San Diego, California

For example, Penske Logistics uses a variety of wireless technologies like cell phones, smart phones, and Blackberries to monitor the Penske fleet, says Vasudha Ghosai, manager of DCC Technology. “Data is fed, along with GPS positioning in real-time to the data center, increasing visibility of our fleet,” which allows decision-makers to take “proactive corrective and preventive measures based on predictions from the current fleet status,” she said.

The result of the synthesis of so much wireless technology is near real-time tracking of shipments and assets, more efficient picking and loading of goods, more efficient inventory management, improved customer service and increased visibility into the supply chain process, according to Harold Allen, Industry Solutions Marketing Manager for AT&T’s Transportation Logistics division in Redmond, Washington. “Wireless technology has eliminated, for all intents and purposes, the paperwork involved. It’s automated the process, eliminated labor and greatly reduced the number of errors associated with manual processing,” said Allen.

And John Higgins, Sprint Director of Transportation, points out that the ability to leverage GPS to create status alarms “enables distributors and service providers to build entirely different client relationship models.” Mobility becomes a “strategic enabler.”

One of the key trends in wireless transmission for the transportation/logistics sectors is the “blending and conglomeration of networks into multi-network platforms,” said Brian McLaughlin, chief operating officer for PeopleNet in Minneapolis, a producer of onboard computing and mobile communications for transport companies.

“We’re bringing together 3G (third generation wireless), satellite and WiFi into one framework that allows for a multi-network call process,” said McLaughlin. So, for example, a delivery driver in downtown Minneapolis will be routed to a cellular carrier while making his rounds and then onto WiFi if in a warehouse. A delivery driver in the middle of an oilfield will be routed to satellite service.

Major carriers like Verizon are not only pushing pervasive coverage, but continuous, 24/7 wireless coverage. Brett Conner, Verizon’s manager of Enterprise Data Solutions in Basking Ridge, N.J., says Verizon “wants to be everywhere their (transport and logistics customers) assets are,” whether they are using cell phones, ruggedized PDAs or laptops. By offering the ability to switch from cellular to Wifi they are providing ongoing connectivity from the road to the warehouse.

As the network options and variety of transmission pipes are growing, users are gaining the ability to automate data transmission for increased visibility across the supply chain, explains McLaughlin. One of the most common applications involves establishing automatic alerts to either dispatch or the warehouse when a driver either strays from a pre-established geographic zone or enters another, such as a warehouse dock.

 Furthermore, with the maturing of 3G wireless networks and devices, the range of content that can be transmitted wirelessly for use in the field has taken off, according to Igor Glubochansky, director of Industry Solutions at AT&T in Atlanta, Georgia. This newer generation of wireless allows for far faster data transmission at greater bandwidth, creating the ability to relay richer applications such as detailed data, graphics and video.

Brenda Raney, a Verizon spokesperson, says creating a pervasive 3G network “is the biggest factor in making all of this happen.” With such a network “you can put in place processes to track the truck, the driver, the shipment and what’s in the warehouse, along with instituting measures to increase security, efficiency and management control.”

With earlier generations of wireless deployments, Raney says it was possible to track the tractor. “Now we can track the tractor, the trailer and even the employee. You may have learned that the status report order was picked up. Now you can know the status of the pick up in real-time.”

Although he sees 3G networks expanding “all the time,” Jeff Sibio is a bit more circumspect about 3G’s potential until coverage is ubiquitous. Director for Industry Marketing, Transportation and Logistics with Intermec Technologies in Everett, Washington—manufacturer of a wide range of wireless devices including mobile computers—Sibio says that 3G is primarily for vehicles on the move, rather than inside warehouses covered by local area networks.

Sibio doesn’t think 3G will significantly affect data collection capabilities such as status messaging back and forth between dispatch and the truck or signature capture. He does see the potential to “push” streaming video—meaning person-to-person display rather than broadcast—for functions like field training, virtual repair work, or displaying an accident scene.

Adds Lisa Pierce, vice president of Telecommunications Research at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 3G will allow a driver to complete a standardized form on a 3G computer, share scanned documents or enter a change order into an inventory management system, to name a few examples. In the future, far more detailed information will be relayed to a mobile device onboard—things like the size of the load, fuel usage, location or driver certification if hauling hazardous materials.

If more limited than on-the-road applications, 3G is being applied in the warehouse. For instance, Conner envisions using video transmission to monitor a loading dock, as an example. “If someone approaches the fence from the outside, [the incident] could be recorded and information shipped wirelessly back to the data control center on a 3G network,” he explained.

And, Conner believes that 3G offers a number of security options for logistics customers managing high-value goods, like diamonds, that are hauled in armored vehicles. Instead of a video camera mounted in a cage inside the truck, video cameras can be mounted inconspicuously outside each door to record a break-in or hold-up. The video is relayed wirelessly via a 3G network to a less to a data modem in the operations center for viewing.

As solutions for the networked vehicle advance—what’s called telematics—Sibio is witnessing improvements in how hand-held computers and sensors are able communicate within the truck’s ecosystem and from there to the back office using one communication pipe—a single wide area network connection—rather than multiple conduits.

Already embedded sensors within RFID (radio frequency identification tags) are creating new potential for transmitting information as varied as temperatures of refrigerated vehicles to the location of trash barrels. In the future, Pierce envisions more “environmental applications” for wireless, sensor-based networks that will pick up a limited amount of information—things like load status or temperatures—as a pallet crosses a doorway.

Like Pierce, McLaughlin says the day will come when warehouse workers and drivers won’t need to scan inventory. “Every pallet and every case will have a tag that will be read automatically” by sensors as the stock enters or leaves storage shelves. Inventory counts “will be a click away,” he said.

Ellis argues that the Internet will be “more and more enabled” in the wireless world, extended beyond ruggedized laptops to PDAs and other devices for use outside the enterprise. Moreover, McLaughlin believes the wireless networks, like the Internet, “will always be on.” The increased bandwidth and speed of future wireless generations will allow for visual representations not possible today. So, for example, cameras attached to a truck will relay video back to a dispatcher who will be able to literally see the road from the driver’s perspective.

“We’re interested in taking the wireless applications to their next level—from information and notification tools to data providers for making decisions,” said Ghosai. And in time, says David Alexander, principal analyst for ABI Research in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, we’ll see the merging of warehouse and transport management solutions that will allow the linkage of the driver and delivery piece “into a seamless chain from factory to the consumer.”  wt



Contributing Editor Amy Zuckerman writes about supply chain technology from Amherst, Mass.

Sidebar: Wireless Temperature Monitoring from Farm to Fork

Imagine the financial loss, not to mention potential liability, if temperatures in refrigerated trucks and warehouses storing food products aren’t maintained to correct levels.

Until recently, Procuro, Inc., a San Diego, California-based software company specializing in shipment monitoring, was able to provide ongoing wireless temperature monitoring in warehouses and customer storage rooms. But it was missing the transit piece, said Mark Hogan, Procuro’s Director of Sales, Marketing and National Accounts.

They turned to Cadec Global in Manchester, N.H., a developer of fleet management systems, to provide that missing link. According to Hogan, Cadec  “provides us with data on the tractor and trailer, which is bundled into a bigger cold chain management system. We monitor (the food shipment) from the distribution center to the restaurant or retailer.”

Vincent P. Gordon, Chairman and CEO of Procuro, notes that more than half of all grocery store shrinkage comes from the perishables department. “If transporters don’t maintain consistently cool temperatures during the entire chain—from the warehouse through transport to the store—that food is going to have a shorter shelf life once it reaches its destination,” said Gordon. “This joint Cadec/Procuro solution can have a large impact on the financial success of distributors, transporters and retailers.”

Frank Moreno, vice president or marketing and product management at Cadec, says real-time temperature data is gathered from trailers using wireless sensor technology connected to the onboard computer and a modem that works with any number of wireless networks. That way, they can provide “constant communication between the truck and warehouse to identify any changes in stock, damages, overages or shorts.”