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"RFID technology has become an integral part of how [Canadian National Railway Company] manages its intermodal operations," said Anthony Bartolo, Vice President and General Manager of Symbol's Wireless Infrastructure and RFID Divisions.
Symbol, recently acquired by Motorola, is the provider of an asset-tracking system for Bell Canada, which will use the product for its Brampton, Ontario intermodal terminal.
Bell Canada recently announced that it has designed and delivered an integrated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) asset tracking system for CN at its Brampton, Ontario intermodal terminal. The Bell RFID-enabled asset management solution allows CN to accurately manage incoming and outgoing truck chassis wirelessly, resulting in an increase in supply chain efficiency, productivity and cost savings. Bell Canada partnered with Symbol Technologies, Inc., The Enterprise Mobility Company which provided the RFID technology — rugged readers, rugged mobile computers and cargo tags, and Shipcom Wireless, an RFID middleware provider — to deliver the solution.
Remy Benmiloud, CN Manager, IMX (intermodal excellence), said: "Since the implementation of this RFID solution, we have experienced near-perfect read rates with readers and tags, which has resulted in increased efficiency of our chassis fleet, improved productivity and cost savings. This is good news for CN's fast-growing intermodal business involving rail transportation and local road delivery of domestic and international containers."
The Brampton intermodal terminal is the largest of its kind in Canada, with containers moving in and out of the facility daily on truck chassis, including CN's fleet. With the Bell Canada solution, CN is able to record identification numbers accurately and automatically as the tagged chassis pass through the Brampton entry/exit gates. Previously, identification numbers were recorded manually, sometimes resulting in incorrect information. The manual system also made it difficult to pinpoint chassis status and location.
CN is reviewing the Brampton project with an eye toward possibly extending the RFID solution to its other intermodal terminals in Canada.
"The collaboration between CN and Bell Canada has resulted in a high-performance RFID solution that meets CN's asset and productivity management objectives," said William Bangert, Senior Vice President, Bell ICT Solutions and Enterprise Business Development, Bell Canada. "This implementation demonstrates Bell's leadership as a world class ICT provider. Integrating our wireless expertise with Symbol's RFID technology resulted in a winning solution for CN."
Bell Canada acted as system integrator for CN and deployed Symbol's new Cargo Tag in conjunction with Symbol's multi-protocol XR400 fixed RFID readers, which were upgraded to withstand the Canadian climate. In addition to the tags and readers and MC9060-G RFID rugged mobile computers, Bell deployed RFID middleware from Shipcom Wireless to complete the solution.
"RFID technology has become an integral part of how CN manages its intermodal operations," said Anthony Bartolo, Vice President and General Manager of Symbol's Wireless Infrastructure and RFID Divisions. "CN has realized the value of Bell’s RFID solution that enables accurate tracking and management of assets." For more information on Symbol's RFID product offerings visit: www.symbol.com/rfid.
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