Seeking to eliminate one of the many barriers hindering widespread Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology deployment, Savi Networks LLC has agreed to work with a major maritime shipping operator to extend its auto-ID technology network to 31 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 Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) -- and Marine Terminals Corp. (Oakland, CA), a major domestic U.S. shipping terminal operator.
The network, dubbed SaviTrak, will be operated by Savi Networks. It will function in a fashion similar to a telecommunications network, with manufacturers and other customers paying on a per-transaction basis to use 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.
"We will deploy readers at gates, crane operations, and other points in port terminals and connect those readers via our network so that customers can get visibility into and updates on the physical location of their goods," Fritts said. "This is especially important at hand-off points where goods are passing from one transportation provider to another."
In addition to giving manufacturers and shippers visibility into the location of goods, the network also will be able to convey some information about the condition of goods such as their temperature and whether containers have been opened, Fritts said.
SaviTrak will accommodate a range of auto-identification technologies including barcodes, passive RFID, and global positioning systems in addition to active RFID based on the ISO 18000-7 standards.
SaviTrak is now being deployed selectively in the 26 terminals which MTC operates on the West coast of the United States and at the five ports it operates on the East coast. MTC is one of the largest terminal operators on the West coast, with terminals at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach (CA); Seattle (WA); Tacoma (WA); and Oakland (CA). Savi Networks and MTC will deploy SaviTrak first at ports with the highest shipping volume and highest demand, Fritts said. The company expects to have SaviTrak deployed throughout MTC's terminals within two years.
The Savi Networks/MTC deal echoes a similar relationship, announced last April, between Savi Technology Inc. -- Savi Networks' parent company -- and shipping operator Hutchison Port Holdings (Hong Kong). Under that deal, Savi Technology and Hutchison formed Savi Networks as a joint venture and announced that SaviTrak would be deployed in Hutchison terminals in 39 ports around the world. The two companies said Savi Networks would receive funding of $50 million from the partners.
Savi Technologies' competitors have also been active recently in building out RFID technology and networks at maritime shipping facilities. WhereNet Corp. (Santa Clara, CA), for example, this month said it had reached an agreement with PierPASS Inc., a not-for-profit company created by terminal operators, to equip 10,000 drayage trucks in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with active RFID tags as part of a security initiative.
WhereNet last September also announced it had agreed with the Broekman Group to deploy the company's RFID real-time locating system at Broekman's 750,000-square-foot automotive logistics terminal at the Port of Rotterdam.
Despite these initiatives, however, maritime ports still have not made much progress toward creating ubiquitous RFID networks that can be used to track the flow of goods across the globe, experts said.
"It's still pretty spotty," said Greg Aimi, director of supply chain research at AMR Research (Boston). "Companies like Savi and WhereNet have been rolling out some infrastructure applications for things like asset tracking, but at this point these are still mostly pilot deployments. There's nothing like a pervasive reader networking linking shipping networks yet." (Click here for details on WhereNet's marine terminal rollout last year.)
While some ports such as the Port of Singapore have been aggressive about deploying RFID for checking container security, others have done little or nothing, Aimi said. It's unclear, he added, when or if a pervasive maritime RFID network will evolve.
Savi Networks is in negotiations to deploy its auto-ID network in other maritime terminals, Fritts said.
"In the long term, we expect things like regulation to drive increased use of RFID in shipping terminals," Fritts said. "But today a very small percentage of containers are tagged for RFID."