- Swiftsure’s Compact, Affordable RFID Reader for Asset Management
Swiftsure Group launched and deployed its Swift-ID RFID reader and connected Android computer in a rapid deployment kit. The system is a powerful combination that lets solution providers create intelligent, integrated RFID systems for inventory management, access control, asset tracking and industrial automation.
The flexible, high-performance system meets the need for affordable solutions that excel in challenging environments, from steel manufacturing to pharma cold chain.
The Swift-ID SID-400E is a UHF EPCglobal Gen 2, USB-connected reader/writer powered by a RAIN-compliant Impinj Indy RS2000 module. The Swift-ID P830, an upgrade of the company’s IOT180, is a full-featured embedded Android computer with enough memory and storage for sophisticated applications. Both the SID-400E and P830 devices have been stress tested in harsh environments, including steel mills.
The Swift-ID system has proven to be reliable, rugged and flexible, providing customers a competitive edge and healthy ROI.
- Product Excursion Tracking for Pharma Manufacturing
Swiftsure Group developed an RFID- and sensor-based system that automates documentation of pharmaceutical products when they are out of specified temperature ranges during manufacturing and packaging. Its customer is a leading US-based contract pharma manufacturer with a growing biologics business that requires tracking excursions and documenting time out of environment (TOE) for regulatory compliance and product certification.
The solution integrates the customer’s existing barcode identification process with an auto-form population system designed by Swiftsure and affiliate rfidCollect to support product certification. The pharma company historically used a manual process to track TOE and calculate single event and accumulated excursion times.
The manual procedure was costly and error prone. With automated documentation generation and production certification, Swiftsure’s customer can generate substantial savings in labor, improve accuracy of production certifications, reduce product wastage and satisfy customer demands for improved documentation.
- Electrode Tracking for Steel Manufacturing
Swiftsure Group designed, built and implemented a fully integrated RFID-based system that tracks electrodes from manufacturing through final use in steel production. The system enables its client to identify every electrode placed into a furnace so that its country of origin, batch manufacture, graphite composition and heat can be tracked for performance analysis, regardless of duration or location of storage.
Swiftsure Group’s fully configured plug-and-play system incorporates the Swift-ID SID-400E UHF RFID reader, onboard processor and surge protector in a NEMA enclosure ready to connect to external RFID antennas and the customer’s Modbus system.
Swiftsure’s customer is a leading international manufacturer of electrodes.
- Asset Management for Qatar University
Swiftsure Group designed and project managed implementation of an RFID-based asset management system to track more than 30,000 items in 40 buildings for Qatar University. The deployment included 948 xPortals from Impinj, representing the company’s largest deployment of the year.
Portals were installed at building entrances and exits, as well as doorways to each floor and dwelling area to track everything from computers to furniture. The system was also deployed at lab egress points to ensure accountability and location of personnel in the event of an emergency or evacuation.
The solution not only ensured that the university could maintain an accurate record of asset location but reduced the amount of time to carry out an audit from several months to about one week, while also enhancing campus security.
- Predictive Maintenance for Utah Transit Authority
The Swiftsure Group got the Utah Transit Authority rolling with a cost-saving predictive maintenance program using an RFID automated asset management solution. It allows UTA to establish a predictive maintenance schedule based on actual use instead of preset times that unnecessarily remove equipment from revenue service.
The system also helps UTA meet federal mandates to monitor the condition of and make timely repairs to railcars and equipment components, reducing breakdowns and ensuring efficient, safe operations.
Swiftsure Group’s UTA solution uses a system of all-weather enclosures with mounted readers and antennas deployed at rail yard leads, and RFID-based asset management software. Data collected at each read zone is transmitted to a dedicated UTA server hosting the resource management software, which records and links information to event notification modules.
Swiftsure Group’s solution boosted accuracy of auditing, with an error rate of less than .05% compared to 29% when conducted manually. The automated process reduced man hours, lowering labor costs and freeing staff for other tasks. In addition, the system lets UTA optimize spare parts stocking by eliminating the need to overstock for unexpected repair and maintenance, and allowing parts to be ordered as needed.
