RFID portals added to Defense distribution centers

RFID portals added to Defense distribution centers    The U.S. Defense Department will add more than 300 passive radio frequency identification portals to its global logistics network in the next few months.
   The first of those portals was installed last week at Defense Distribution Depot Susquehanna, Pa.
   ODIN Technologies, the company awarded the installation contract, is running test pallets by each of the newly installed portals to validate equipment’s readiness.
   The tests will simulate the receipt of a shipment from a supplier that uses passive RFID technology.
   “Typically, those pallets will contain passive RFID tags on each case of materiel as well as one tag that covers the entire pallet,” said Larry Loiacono, defense distribution center information operations wireless team leader.
   “As a pioneer in the use of passive RFID technology, the current initiative to augment our existing passive RFID infrastructure demonstrates DDC’s commitment to enabling each of our 26 distribution centers around the world to receive shipments tagged with passive RFID,” said Janet Cravener, chief of the defense distribution center’s logistics policy division.
   Across the organization, less than 7 percent of the material entering DDC distribution centers is tagged with passive RFID, but Loiacono said that number should substantially increase as more suppliers begin tagging shipments.