PSC Inc. Teams with RFID Decisions, RFID Global Solution, and Red Ball International to Provide RFID Technology for Tracking Household Goods Shipments
First Use With Military; Commercial Applications to Follow
EUGENE, Ore., Nov. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- PSC Inc., an international data-collection technology and services provider, today announced a new alliance with RFID Decisions, RFID Global Solution, and Red Ball International to provide technology that will track the movement of household goods for relocated military personnel.
The military moves an estimated 300,000 families overseas each year. When military families are transferred overseas, they soon will be able to track their possessions via the Internet during the shipping process using Global Move Security (GMS). GMS is a revolutionary shipment tracking system developed by RFID Decisions, RFID Global Solution, Red Ball International, and PSC Inc.
Using a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) application developed by RFID Decisions and RFID Global Solution, running on PSC Falcon(R) 5500 hybrid computers, the military will be able to track complete shipments creating increased security, improved process efficiency and greater peace of mind for military families relocating overseas. This is the first time RFID technology has been used for the moving of household goods. The new tracking program has been piloted with moves between Fort Lewis, Washington and Germany.
PSC Falcon 5500 Mobile hybrid computers and strategically located RFID fixed readers are used to extract information on the RFID tags and securely report, in real-time, the location of the assets being relocated to the GMS Global Server. The location information is then made available to families and transporters through the Internet. PSC will also provide maintenance services to Red Ball for its products.
"RFID is a powerful tracking and monitoring technology that is gaining increased acceptance as companies continue to identify new applications for its use," said David Sullivan Sr. Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Services for PSC. "The tags require the use of sophisticated mobile computers to provide the data collection and we are pleased to work with RFID Decisions, RFID Global Solution, and Red Ball to develop this industry leading service to the military. We look forward to working with them as they develop the program for other commercial uses."
"The customer benefits most from tightened security and shipment tracking," said Dave Hope, President of Red Ball International. "Ultimately the customer gains control over real-time shipment information and gains peace of mind knowing the integrity of his or her shipment is protected. It's really about improving service performance to maximize value to the customer."
"Automation of the household goods shipment tracking and security processes are RFID applications that have been long overlooked," said Tom Manzagol, President of RFID Global Solution. "As this pilot demonstrates, the benefits to the DOD, agents, and the customer are significant from both an efficiency and customer control perspective."
RFID Decisions, RFID Global Solution, PSC Inc., and Red Ball International, with support from the Defense Department's Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC), has successfully completed testing the newly developed GMS system to bring the system to fruition.
"The RFID tests thus far are encouraging for household goods movement and particularly with international household goods moves. The use of RFID technology is not new, but it does provide benefits such as shipment security and tracking by providing chain of custody accountability and real time in transit visibility," said Air Force Lt. Col. Steven L. Amato, Director of the Personal Property Division of SDDC.
The companies plan to extend the technology to commercial shipments, once it is implemented in military moves. "The benefits of RFID clearly apply to our private and corporate clients as well as military," Hope said. "RFID elevates shipment security to an all new level. It carries the potential to revolutionize the household goods industry."
Editor's Note: High resolution digital images of the Falcon 5500 RFID Hybrid Computer are available upon request.
About PSC Inc.:
PSC Inc. is a global provider of breakthrough data-capture products and services. Wired or wireless, PSC(R) products serve multiple industries including the retail, manufacturing, distribution, transportation and logistics sectors. PSC offers a broad array of products and services including retail automation, automated data collection and mobile & wireless.
PSC, Falcon, and the PSC logo are registered trademarks of PSC Inc. All other brand and product names may be trademarks of their respective companies. With a presence in more than 100 countries, PSC's headquarters and major manufacturing facility is located in Eugene, Oregon, while sales and service offices are located throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. For more information, visit psc.com, or call 1-800-695-5700 or 541-683-5700.
About RFID Decisions, LLC
RFID Decisions, LLC, is an RFID project consulting and project management firm based in the Seattle, Washington area. The firm's principles, with a combined experience exceeding 60 years, are rooted in the automation of business systems and technology application. The firm specializes in opportunity analysis, resource formation and management and deployment of RFID solutions in government and industry. For more information, visit www.rfiddecisions.com
About RFID Global Solution, Inc.
RFID Global Solution was founded by a team of some of the most experienced RFID engineers in the industry representing more than 160 years of combined experience. RFID Global Solution focuses beyond compliance to design and implement RFID solutions that satisfy compliance mandates and creates value for shareholders. RFID Global Solution Solution's team is capable of deploying RFID solutions with the confidence and certainty that only comes from its combination of "in the trenches" experience and high-level, systems understanding. For more information, visit www.rfidgs.com/.
About American Red Ball International
American Red Ball International, a subsidiary of Evansville, Indiana-based Atlas World Group, dba Red Ball International, is an international household goods forwarder based in Seattle, Washington. Red Ball International provides door to door household goods moving services to government and military personnel, corporate clients, private individuals and families, and to non- profit organizations worldwide. Red Ball International was established in 1968. For more information, visit www.americanredball.com
About The Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC)
SDDC is the arm of the US Department of Defense responsible for global surface deployment and distribution operations. The SDDC manages the household goods transportation programs for military service members.
Website: www.americanredball.com
www.rfidgs.com
www.rfiddecisions.com
psc.com
CONTACT: Jamil Elayan, of PSC Inc., +1-541-683-5700, jamil.elayan@psc.com; or Don Robinson, of RFID Decisions, LLC,
+1-425-427-9554, don@rfiddecisions.com; or Tracey Williams, of RFID
+Global
Solution, +1-703-748-1515, or Pamela Jackson, of American Red Ball International,
1-800-669-6424 ext. 4181, pjackson@americanredball.com
