THE USE OF RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION TECHNOLOGY IN PACKAGING SYSTEMS: EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ON TRACEABILITY

This paper focuses on the analysis of the internal flow traceability of goods (products and/or packages) along the supply chain by Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology. Traditionally, the traceability system is performed through the asynchronous fulfilment of checkpoints (i.e. doorways) by materials. In such cases, the tracking is manual, executed by operators that manually trace the path. Often companies are not aware of the inefficiencies due to these traceability systems such as low precision and accuracy in measurements (i.e. no information between doorways), more time spent by operators and costs (due to the full effort of operators who have to search for the good positions and movements). In order to overcome these limitations, automatic identification procedures have been introduced in many service industries, purchasing and distribution logistics, manufacturing companies and material flow systems. Automatic identification procedures can also be applied to the packaging of products, instead of to each item contained in the package. Sometimes products are very expensive and packages contain important and critical goods (for example dangerous or explosive materials), thus the tracking of goods – and packages in particular – is a critical function. In order to analyse the traceability of the packaging system, the authors have developed an innovative system based on RFID-UWB technology. A prototype of this system has been realised and used for an experimental research that has consisted of several tests (static and dynamic), tracing the position (static) and movements (dynamic) of products and in particular packages in indoor environments, in continuous and in real time.