KEEPING TRACK OF BAGGAGE WITH RFID

In November 2005, IATA approved the recommended practice RP1740C for the UHF electronic bag identification , based on three standards: ISO/IEC 18000-6C (EPC Gen2 protocol), ISO/IEC 15961 and ISO/IEC 15962. Capitalizing on our RFID expertise gained over the last 10 years in the retail and industrial sectors, we have developed a global RFID baggage processing solution, which is totally compliant with the IATA recommended practice.

The whole concept is designed, manufactured, tested, installed and supported by IER, thus ensuring an optimized integration into the existing installations. Except for the chip, IER manufactures all the numerous key elements of the baggage tracking RFID chain: inlays, bag tags, printers, RF encoding modules and readers as well as modular tunnels. We also develop the RF processing (read/write) and supervision software to adapt to the existing baggage handling systems.

The trials conducted recently have proven that the technology improves performance in a re-engineered baggage environment. Each of the five major groups concerned (airports, airlines, ground handlers, security staff and baggage system operators) could share the savings resulting from the better performance of a more efficient comprehensive baggage tracking system based on RFID.

AN IER RFID PILOT IN MADRID

During the first half of 2006, in close partnership with SIEMENS and for AENA's benefit, IER deployed a RFID baggage handling pilot at Madrid-Barajas airport. The testing carried out on site for several months is still ongoing, but astounding results have been achieved already. The system we have implemented in Madrid is performing extremely well, with excellent reading rates close to 99.8% (for read rates in tests carried out with 1,000-piece baggage packages).

AIR FRANCE – KLM – RFID BAGGAGE HANDLING TRIAL

Air France – KLM is currently testing RFID for baggage handling between Paris (CDG), Amsterdam (AMS) and Tokyo (NRT), in each location using different hardware and RFID tags providers. The two main objectives of the testing are the business case of the RFID handling system as well as the compatibility of the various providers’ systems in different environments.

For the CDG site, IER provides its global RFID solution including hardware: RFID reader arrays and IER 506 RFID bag tag printers, the RFID bag tags, as well as the software to integrate the RFID application into CDG’s Baggage Handling System.

The trial started in summer 2006. At its end, the company will deliver a report to the IATA. If the technology proves successful, the report could pave the way for wide-scale adoption of RFID by airlines around the world.