Savi Technology unveils wireless tracking devices to manage assets
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Savi Technology has unveiled a wireless Real Time Locating System that simplifies the tracking and management of assets, inventory and shipments.
Savi Technology, a division of Lockheed Martin, has unveiled a wireless Real Time Locating System that simplifies the tracking and management of assets, inventory and shipments.
The Savi RTLS uses low-cost battery-operated location markers about the size and shape of hockey pucks that can be placed anywhere in a facility or industrial yards, said David Shannon, Savi’s senior vice president of marketing and strategy at a press briefing today in Washington.
The location markers communicate their positions to assets equipped with Savi’s new ST-632 active radio frequency identification device (RFID) tags. The RFID tag collects and transmits its identity and nearby reference point to Savi SmartChain software, which can calculate the tag’s location and displays it on a site map at the user’s facility.
The ST-632 tags have lights and buzzers on them that can be activated to help staff find an asset’s location.
The SAVI RTLS performs well in harsh and heavy-metal environments and as a result, is ideally suited for defense and government supply depots as well as heavy manufacturing plants or outdoor areas that story heavy equipment, company officials said.
Savi officials also introduced GlobalTag, a wireless tracking device that combines Global Positioning, RFID and Satellite Communications. The ST-694 provides defense, public sector and commercial businesses with continuous monitoring and precise location information of supply chain assets, including areas where there is no terrestrial reader infrastructure, Shannon said.
Savi RTLS supports the DASH7 technology based on the International Standard Organizations 18000-7 standard for active RFID, which will promote interoperability with compatible networks and devices. GlobalTag will support DASH7 later this year.
The company also updated its adaptive software application. SmartChain 6.0 integrates Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) technologies such as bar codes, Item Unique Identification, RFID, GPS and sensors into existing business processes.
Savi SmartChain 6.0 includes a refreshed user interface built using Web 2.0 tools. Upon login, a user sees a dashboard summary of automated alerts and analytics tailored for that user.
“AIDC applications have different characteristics and have to be close to where the real world works,” Shannon said.
As an adaptive application, SmartChain will have the capability to update database structures, modify workflows, adjust business rule, customize nomenclature and add new capabilities to applications, he said. SmartChain includes a service-oriented architecture framework that supports the exchange of business intelligence with legacy systems.
Savi has provided the active RFID products for the Department of Defense’s In-Transit Visibility network, the world’s largest RFID network that tracks about 35,000 conveyances daily across more than 4,000 locations and 40 countries, company officials said.