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Freightliner LLC Chooses Identec Solutions and Cactus Commerce for RFID Work-in-Progress Efficiencies

August 21, 2006 — Authored by Curtis Kieres, Regional Sales Manager, IDENTEC SOLUTIONS, Inc.

PART 1

Louis Fleischer is on a mission. As an automation engineer for the Portland Truck Plant, he has the dubious task of helping keep the production line moving for Freightliner LLC, a DaimlerChrysler company. Freightliner LLC is the largest heavyduty truck manufacturer in North America and a leading producer of medium-duty trucks and specialized commercial vehicles.

Starting in April 2005, Louis kick-started an automation initiative for chassis and cab queuing, to improve the synchronization with the production schedule. Launching the initiative involved an exhaustive research analysis, evaluation and procurement process orchestrated by several internal and external parties focused on creating efficiencies for various zones on the production floor. A system to track and locate mission critical cabs and chassis at integration points was conceptualized.

Will Spencer, IT Business Advisor in Portland and key sponsor at the corporate level of Freightliner, ultimately signed off on the project, while Tom Gertz, Operations Manager, gave support at the plant level in Portland.

As many as 12 solutions were initially looked at and four vendors had been short-listed for the initial proof of concept (POC). Both passive and active vendors were considered including Cactus Commerce and IDENTEC SOLUTIONS. “Some of the vendors couldn’t meet the stated read distances and the RF performance did not meet Freightliner’s expectations in the real environment”, states Louis Fleischer. “On the other hand, Cactus Commerce’s RFID framework, which leverages IDENTEC SOLUTIONS’ hardware, is more suitable to our industrial heavy metal environment.”

IDENTEC SOLUTIONS, a leading provider of high-performance radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions that offer real-time visibility of company assets and activities had been on the preferred vendor list for over three years. A strategic alliance was formed with Cactus Commerce, an e-business software and services company and Microsoft Gold Certified Solution Provider Partner with over 10 years of experience integrating Microsoft technology. The Cactus Commerce RFID Solution, built on Microsoft BizTalk RFID, allows organizations to utilize RFID data in critical business processes and back-end systems in order to accelerate business decisions and provide visibility into all levels within the enterprise.

With a background in telecom engineering, Louis Fleischer has specific skill-sets pertaining to RFID dating back to 1974, such as with the “Hawk” military missile systems that incorporated RF and Doppler communication systems.

“This POC is a custom system that cannot be simply provided with an off-the-shelf package. We needed a unique system Freightliner could integrate into our in-house MRP and ERP systems” explains Louis Fleischer. Freightliner operates on JIT and Six Sigma principles and RFID is another enhancement to the lean manufacturing premise.

The POC will serve as a “showcase” project to be witnessed by the many divisions and plants in North America as they may eventually follow suit.

Other critical RFID applications have been slated for the future at Freightliner to assist with the tracking and management of engines, transmissions, hoods and fenders where timing is of essence in the world of discrete manufacturing.

About IDENTEC SOLUTIONS
Headquartered in Lustenau, Austria, with offices in the United States and Canada, IDENTEC SOLUTIONS specializes in Intelligent Asset Management solutions, which help simplify manufacturing and logistics processes and bring more transparency to the supply chain. IDENTEC SOLUTIONS' Intelligent Long Range (ILR) active RFID System can identify, locate and track assets at a distance of up to 100 meters (300 feet) to deliver superior real-time visibility in dynamic, demanding environments. ILR is used to streamline business operations in a variety of areas including Workin- Progress (WIP), manufacturing, vehicle tracking and container management, delivering substantial Return on Investment (ROI). Over the past seven years, IDENTEC SOLUTIONS has provided asset management solutions and support for a variety of organizations including an impressive roster of Fortune 500 clients such as Volkswagen, Deutsche Post and General Electric. http://www.identecsolutions.com