Knowing the exact location and contents of thousands of containers and air pallets of cargo in transit per day for military personnel across 1,500 nodes in 25 countries.
Done.
The United States Army partnered with Unisys to develop a radio frequency identification (RFID) solution that provides instant access to information about equipment and supplies, ensuring warfighter readiness and safety.
Secure Business Operation
National defense
Breakthrough: In-Transit Visibility - instant access to critical information
The Army has increased productivity, stability and safety for warfighters across the globe by enabling visibility into the location and contents of military cargo.
Innovation Metrics
By providing personnel across four continents instant access to critical information on military cargo, the Army can anticipate warfighter needs while maintaining its focus on national defense.
Ensuring warfighter safety and readiness
Food. Water. Ammunition. Gasoline. Uniforms. Vehicle parts. Keeping track of the resources vital to today’s warfighter is a major challenge. With thousands of containers and air pallets in transit on any given day, knowing what is in each one and where they are headed is essential to ensuring military readiness and safety. Since Desert Storm, the Army has made great strides in achieving that goal.
Working with Unisys for the past decade, the Army has developed and is continually enhancing an RFID system known as In-Transit Visibility (ITV). With Internet access to information on the status of shipments – including where they are, where they are going and what they contain – the Army can quickly respond to battle plan changes so the warfighter has the supplies critical to his or her mission.
Improving visibility and flexibility
As the United States continues its deployment of troops in Iraq, the need for RFID technology is increasingly evident. Kevin Carroll, the Army’s Program Executive Officer (PEO) for Enterprise Information Systems (EIS), remarks, “We’ve made significant progress since Desert Storm in terms of asset visibility and the need for a policy regarding technology. We now realize that we must have an end-to-end business process on how to use information technology, and working with industry partners has really helped get the system working.”
The ITV system has an impressive and expansive reach, with components that include:
- Servers located across four continents in the United States, Korea, Kuwait and Germany.
- Devices that include active RFID tags for containers and pallets, bar codes for individual items, and optical memory cards for multi-packs and containers.
- Satellite links for tracking the movement of convoys, trains and barges.
The RFID tags contain information such as the location, identity of consignor and consignee Department of Defense Activity Address Code (DoDAAC), and complete manifest associated with a tag. Fixed and hand-held electronic readers send or receive radio wave signals to/from the RFID tags. The data written to the tags is replicated among the four servers, enabling users anywhere in the world to access the same information on the last known location, last write date, and consignee DoDAAC and consignor DoDAAC. Thus, decision makers at all levels of command and throughout the logistics pipeline can collaboratively plan, prioritize and redirect logistics operations. They can even redirect in-transit units, equipment and supplies as necessary – improving warfighter readiness.
Anticipating and responding to warfighter needs
The advantages of ITV are numerous and varied, affecting everything from inventory management to warfighter safety. As Carroll says, “There are so many benefits from using this technology. Not only does it speed the movement of supplies, it saves money on inventory because people aren’t placing duplicate or triplicate orders.”
“Without this technology, no one would know where to find boots, ammunition, parts to fix tanks – whatever is needed. Soldiers might spend hours, even days and nights looking for supplies and rummaging through containers. With the visibility provided by ITV, they are doing something mission-focused rather than searching for supplies. Obviously, this offers not just productivity savings, but life savings as well.”
Further, because the nature of a conflict requires quick-moving troops, ensuring that supplies move with them is critical. “As battle plans change,” says Carroll, “the ITV solution goes beyond a supply tracking system — it also encompasses distribution, enabling us to get critical supplies to the warfighter where and when they’re needed.”
“Another advantage,” he continues, “is that we can repair in-theater. Before, if a tank needed repairing, we would have to ship it to the depot and wait for it to be fixed and shipped back; now, we know where the parts are and when they will arrive. This reduces time to repair, which helps the warfighter stay focused on the mission at hand.”
Putting the RFID tags on vehicles enhances diagnostic and preventive maintenance as well, providing information such as how long an engine has been running — avoiding breakdowns and further contributing to warfighter safety.
“All these examples demonstrate how important technology is to the warfighter — it’s absolutely critical.”
The Department of Defense agrees, and now has all military departments and agencies using RFID technology.
At a Glance:
U.S. Army Program Executive Office (PEO) Enterprise Information Systems (EIS)
- Reports to: U.S. Army
- Mission: Provide the Department of Defense and the Army with the very best hardware, software and infrastructure products and solutions available.
- Objective: Improve logistician and management decision-making by using technology to provide visibility into the location and contents of supplies.
- Results: Increased productivity. Improved warfighter safety. Reduced costs.
- Population served: More than 60,000 logistics warfighters.
