Pictures of the Future      Fall 2005

Keeping Tabs on the Goods

Interview with Alexander Unruh

For the past few months, logistics services provider Kühne + Nagel has been monitoring printer deliveries from Germany to the U.S. with the help of RFID software from Siemens. Alexander Unruh (38), head of the RFID project at Kühne + Nagel in Hamburg, explains the project’s goals and challenges

Why did you decide on RFID technology?

Unruh: We’ve been interested in RFID for a long time. Several inquiries from customers who expect to receive added value from this new technology gave us the final push to actively pursue our interest in this area. Besides, Kühne + Nagel is a member of the Cargo 2000 initiative, an association of more than 30 international companies whose shared goal is to develop systems for the automatic, uninterrupted monitoring of air freight across national boundaries.

What has to be kept in mind when using RFID in international transport?

Unruh: The main thing to keep in mind is applicable standards. The U.S. and Europe use different frequencies for the ultra-high-frequency tags we need for the transport of printer components produced by our customer Océ from Munich to the company’s U.S. distribution center in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. The U.S. also has different limits for the readers’ radiant intensity. As a result, we have to use tags that can be deployed on both continents. Besides, we code objects according to the relatively new International Electronic Product Code (EPC), which marks items individually according to a uniform international system.

Are there challenges in addition to these?

Unruh: In order to get optimal reader results, we have to begin by training our warehouse employees and packers in the careful handling of the RFID gates and antennas. We’ve also run tests to find out how the tags can best be read—for example, what happens when a carton slides through the gate diagonally, or when two forklifts carrying marked goods meet within a gate.

Ultimately, the effort must be worthwhile. How useful has the application of RFID been in this huge project involving Lufthansa Cargo and Siemens Business Services?

Unruh: Printers and printer accessories are valuable commodities, and any damage to them is therefore an expensive loss. But now the printers are equipped with RFID tags and monitored continuously, automatically and without direct physical contact at every stage of their journey—when they leave the factory, when they are loaded at the Munich airport, when they arrive in the U.S., and when they are delivered in Mount Laurel. That way, we can find out where the goods are at any time and who is responsible if they are lost or damaged. The customer can check the location of the shipment via Internet at any time. Mount Laurel can also plan deliveries better.

Does Kühne + Nagel regard RFID as a technology with future potential?

Unruh: Definitely. We’ve recently expanded our RFID department, and in the future we’d like to extend the use of this technology to other means of transportation, especially shipping and long-distance haulage.

                                                                                            Interview by Tim Schröder