 Rush Tracking Systems uses forklift to demonstrate RFID capabilities. |
Rush Tracking Systems demonstrated its VisiblEdge radio frequency identification (RFID) solution during a trade show in Orlando, Florida.
The demos gave attendees a chance to "see, touch and interact" with real-world solutions, says Toby Rush, president and chief executive officer of Lenexa-based Rush Tracking Systems.
The technology-oriented RFID Network organisation, of Campbell, California, awarded Rush a best-in-class product award for its RFID-enabled forklift operations.
RFID Network labelled the VisiblEdge technology "a complete solution that error proofs industrial material movement operations".
RFID Network research found manufacturers installing VisiblEdge for returnable containers, racks, bulk material movement and work-in-progress management realised significant benefits. They included improvements from 93% accuracy with manual scanning to greater than 99% accuracy with automated scanning, reduced labour for data collection while increasing accuracy and increased driver productivity by eliminating searching for products.
The live demonstrations showing typical manufacturing and warehouse materials-handling applications were on 12-14 April in a 30-sqft (2.7-sqm) booth in an exhibition hall during the annual RFID Journal Live! 2011 event.
RFID Journal LLC, of Hauppauge, New York, publishes a magazine six times a year and holds numerous broad-based and focused conferences and trade shows globally.
For the demonstrations, the Rush team mounted its equipment on a seasoned 2002-model Crown SC 4540 sitdown rider forklift with more than 8,000 hours of service time. Trade show services provider Champion Exposition Services, of Middleboro, Massachusetts, obtained the rented, battery-powered 4,000-lb (1,800-kg) capacity forklift through heavy construction equipment rental and leasing firm Southern Boom & Scissor Inc, in Orlando.
When making its own equipment arrangements for other events, Rush Tracking Systems usually uses materials-handling equipment from Raymond Corp, of Greene, New York.
Rush can mount the VisiblEdge solution on any class 2 or 3 forklift, using clamps or heavy-duty magnets, or structural attachments for more permanent mounting.
In March, Rush Tracking Systems released the Orchestrator software module in its VisiblEdge platform. Orchestrator integrates with existing warehouse management system and enterprise resource planning applications to streamline distributing and executing work instructions for forklift operators.
In the Orlando demonstrations, a forklift operator received a pallet of goods in a warehouse setting, automatically captured a pallet's location within a bulk-storage receiving area, used Orchestrator to find a product-picking location and illustrated asset use and optimisation of labour standards.
In late April, Rush reports having one client actively using Orchestrator and three others examining its use for their supply chains.
Private equity firm Pharos Capital Group LLC, of Nashville, Tennessee, made a major investment in Rush Tracking Systems in November 2009.