Named the RFID Mobile Workforce Solution, Wirote Ngamsukkasamsri, general manger of Identify, said the system consisted of three main subsystems that include Sense Ware for Maintenance, Sense Ware for Sale at Site, and Sense Ware for Point of Delivery.

Sense Ware for Maintenance is designed to facilitate a factory or company which has several machines that require maintenance and they could deploy RFID to improve efficiency in the maintenance plan. This would allow each machine to report the status - including an ID number, job description, maintenance record, as well as manufacturer information - to the factory manager.

He said that with this system, instead of using a large number of people in the maintenance division, the company could use fewer people on maintenance and save time and costs.

"We are now working with a client who has more than 40,000 machines stored in different outlets nationwide to use this system in their maintenance process," said Wirote.

Previously, Wirote said, this client spent a lot of money on staff to manually maintain the machines nationwide. The routine was to have staff check the status of individual machine shops manually, collect data on paper, and key it into computers when they came to the office the next day.

After implementation, he said the staff went to the shop with handheld RFID readers to collect information and they could synchronise all information immediately with the central office through the GPRS (general packet radio service) network.

The system, he said, was suitable for businesses that had machinery in several areas that required maintenance.

The company has also developed two other RFID-based systems, Sense Ware for Sale at Site and Sense Ware for Point of Delivery, which are similar to Sense Ware for Maintenance, but they are applied for point-of-sale and point-of-delivery applications.

"Our business approach is to help customers analyse their existing system and design RFID systems to integrate with or add to their existing ones. We saw that these three types of application could help businesses improve their efficiency," said Wirote.

"By the end of this year, we aim to have around four to five enterprises using our RFID systems and expect the number will increase next year,"  he said. He added that the company was now exploring new areas for RFID application development for businesses.

Asina Pornwasin

The Nation