Savi Networks is working with a major maritime shipping operator to extend its auto-ID technology network to 31 marine terminals in the United States.
The initiative is part of a new partnership between Savi Networks — a unit of RFID hardware and software vendor Savi Technology (Sunnyvale, CA) — and Marine Terminals Corp. (Oakland, CA), a major domestic U.S. shipping terminal operator. In 2006 Savi was acquired by Lockheed Martin.
The network, dubbed SaviTrak, will be operated by Savi Networks. The SaviTrak Information Service is the first commercially available, RFID-enabled supply chain asset tracking network.
GE’s CommerceGuard, installed at the Port of Portland, operates in much the same way as other container security devices. The RFID-enabled device attaches magnetically to the interior hinge. When it senses that the container door has been opened, it sends a signal to relevant authorities alerting them, while fixed and handheld readers at critical points along a supply chain report the container’s status to a CommerceGuard data center. This provides both a security and a commercial benefit.
SaviTrak to monitor the movement of goods through shipping terminals. Besides manufacturers, customers are expected to include logistics services providers and shipping companies, said Lani Fritts, chief operating officer at Savi Networks.
A shipper enters the manifest information (ASN) and associates it to a specific container. An active RFID tag is affixed to the container once the container is filled at the port of origin. The container is then electronically secured and the active RFID seal-tag is locked using a mobile handheld device.
When the tagged container moves through a wired entry gate, SaviTrak automatically generates and records an event. In-transit feeds can be optionally integrated with SaviTrak.
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Earl Blumenauer helped unveil the new anti-terrorism technology on Monday at the Port of Portland. Automated XML data feeds track the status and location of shipments, using GE’s CommerceGuard secure protocol for highly reliable wireless messaging. The Port of Portland says the average import container handled in Portland contains $47,000 worth of goods while the average export container handled in Portland contains $18,000 worth of goods.
In other RF-ID news, Homeland Security has stopped an RFID trial from its U.S. Visitor and Immigration Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program “after the technology’s read rates proved inadequate.” DHS has been using RFID tags in I-94 visas, at border crossings with Mexico and Canada. However, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says that over the course of one week, only 14 percent of 166 tags were correctly identified.
Soon, all 245 million U.S. driver’s license and identification card (ID) holders in the United States will be required to make an in-person visit to their DMV in order to obtain a Real-ID compliant license.
But the May 11, 2008 implementation deadline is facing an uncertain future. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has failed to release regulations and Congress has appropriated only $40 million to assist states with the implementation. Without funding and regulations from the feds to implement the Real ID Act, state driver’s license security is at a stand still.
The Real ID Act establishes what amounts to a national identity card. State drivers’ licenses and other such documents would have to meet federal ID standards established by the Department of Homeland Security.
Wal-Mart once hoped to have up to 12 of its roughly 120 distribution centers using RFID by January 2006. But so far it has installed the technology at just five, plus 1,000 stores. Wal-Mart expects to add a further 400 stores this year.
Privacy advocates worry RF-ID could be used to spy on consumers. Washington State Rep. Jeff Morris, D-Mount Vernon, wants to make sure no one can use such technology to track people through the merchandise they buy, or to tap into their personal information. His proposal, House Bill 1031, includes some of the nation’s tightest restrictions on the technology.
.gif)
