KWV International has begun using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to track over a 100 000 vats of wine and brandy as part of a new system to manage vats during the maturation process.
Handheld terminals can be used to record information about the vat and its contents from lower cost passive RFID tags fitted to each vat.
"RFID is such a versatile technology that could add value in fields ranging from agriculture and wine-making through to automated manufacturing. RFID suits just about any application in most fields or industries," says Des Oliver, sales and marketing director for SACO Systems, which implemented the system at KWV.
"In addition to preventing mistakes from being made, KWV now has a traceable system that also provides a valuable database that can be used to make further improvements if required," adds Oliver.
SACO's RFID implementation at KWV was built on experience gained from similar projects for distilleries and breweries in Scotland. "We were able to overcome challenges to RFID technology such as the presence of metal containers, where overseas competitors had failed," says Oliver.
Although wooden vats present less of a challenge, SACO had to opt for a low frequency system to avoid the interference caused by the presence of liquids for higher frequencies.
"Using lower frequency tags was not a problem because the KWV application does not require large read distances or speeds," explains Oliver.
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