The label (CC TAG5) for the CC Container is of a brand new design. It was developed specifically to be used in the CC Pool and to suit the needs of the horticultural industry. The label can be read faster, more easily and accurately with various types of scanners. With a new label Container Centralen wants to reset the CC Pool for a fair system and support optimisation in work processes.
“When we started with an RFID label in 2011, we hoped to really close the CC pool by scanning at each transaction,” says CEO Roel de Jong. “This has proven to be too ambitious but we do see that RFID has brought additional value to the CC pool in three ways. Firstly, companies that do scan containers, create valuable and reliable checkpoints in the pool system.
“Secondly, the fact that we now can identify individual containers has given us the possibility to allow new containers into the pool more easily. Companies that want to join the pool, receive labels from CC that are administratively connected to them. If the container lands at a repair shop because of poor quality, pool transparency ensures fair allocation of repair cost. New labels that we send out now, will also be connected to the receiving companies.
“And thirdly, the RFID makes it possible to optimise work processes. You can, for example, connect your products with the CC Container and make it the foundation of your internal logistics. For some companies, this has proven to be valuable. So scanning is of added value to the CC Pool; I do want to stress however, that scanning is not mandatory.”
Practical functionalities
Just like the red label, the new label is fitted with an RFID chip and a data matrix. The RFID chip has deliberately not been fitted with new features like Bluetooth or NFC. “There are a lot of technical possibilities out there: you can for example have chips that send out an active signal or report on the temperature of their environment,” de Jong adds. “However, this also drives costs and in consultations with customers, we found that the horticultural industry is best helped with a simple, durable, cost efficient and practical functionality of the chip. Hence we invested in a sturdy design, with top-class reading performance.”
Quicker reading performance
The new RFID chip has been changed, to provide for a fast, convenient and safe authenticity check. explains: “With the old red label the individual number of the chip read by the scanner was checked by a central database,” explains Gert Aagaard, Technical and ICT Director. “Now the scanner is fitted with an encryption key that immediately returns the check result – providing much quicker and safer scans. We invite companies that are interested to find out how scanning can help their business processes, to contact us. Information for companies that currently use scanners, is available on our website.”