FoodLogistics.com |

Several food distributors including Houston-based Sysco Corp. and central California's Sierra Pacific Warehouse Group, have completed a trial using radio frequency identification (RFID) to monitor the temperature and environmental conditions of food transport.

The pilot used the 3PL Solutions Distri'bution Access eXception (DAX) system to verify and document product quality, shipment integrity and security in its frozen foods and produce supply chains.

The integrated system includes applications software built on Alien's Battery Assisted Passive (BAP) RFID technology, multi-point sensors, as well as options for IrDA (Infrared Data Asso'ciation) communications, GPS (global positioning satellite) systems and integrated RFID data capture.

The DAX pilot program field testing was conducted by Alien Technology, Morgan Hill, CA, and 3PL Solutions, Welle'sley, MA, and addressed dedicated, less-than-truckload and intermodal shipments.

The companies say the RFID and sensor-enabled system provides cost-effective "chain of evidence" documentation for food shipments, addressing anticipated regulatory requirements for better documentation of quality and safety control in food shipments, as well as improving methods to avoid shrinkf from waste and spoilage losses.

"The field test demonstrated the viability of many potentially exciting applications for battery-assisted RFID and sensor-enabled systems. In environmentally sensitive supply chains, time-relative and event-driven data capture that monitors factors affecting shelf-life stability and cargo security has tremendous value," says Mark McDonald, director of product marketing at Alien Technology. "Alien's battery-assisted passive RFID technology is a flexible and scaleable platform to ad'dress emerging markets and applications for RFID."

The DAX system was built using Alien's long-range, high-performance 2450 megahertz (microwave) frequency BAP system, including the ALR-2850 Reader and the ALB 2484 tags, which features the ability to record sensor inputs for later wireless retrieval. The tag can be interfaced with any external sensor such as temperature sensors, tamper indicators or shock sensors. Because it uses low power backscatter technology, a small battery provides many years of operation.

A key feature of the DAX system is a lowcost means to develop an electronic bill of lading, the DAX Electronic Mani'fest, which provides essential records for producers, carriers and shippers of environmentally sensitive products. Conventional BOL information is married to electronic environmental data of various sorts.