Assistor needed to upgrade the operative system because heavily increased volumes demanded more extensive systems with better scalability and improved operational support. Exploiting real-time data created in the processes to the maximum gives Assistor a competitive edge on the market. Digia Enterprise, an RFID compatible ERP system, acts as the core component.

Solution benefits

• Competitive edge through improved use of real-time data
• Scalable system to match the increased operational volumes
• Employees locate and identify vehicles more efficiently
• More vehicles handled with the same number of personnel
• Facilitates work in winter conditions; RFID tags can be read through ice and snow from a distance of over 1 m, saving the trouble of clearing the windshields
• Less mix-ups in vehicle transport due to paperless system
  
  

A complete system upgrade in one go

Assistor had a very pressing need to upgrade its operative system - a self-made solution which was difficult, if not impossible, to develop and update. Managing large vehicle warehouses and locating the correct vehicles efficiently posed a great challenge. Increased volumes demanded more extensive systems with better scalability and improved operational support. Furthermore, Assistor wished to share its system with its networking partners including car manufacturers, importers, shipping companies, authorities and retailers.

In 2006, Digia was selected as the supplier of Assistor’s new operative system. The new system solution is an integrated real-time system with new operative data systems, new mobile systems and equipment, and connections between mobile applications and the implemented ERP system, for example. The new solution covers ERP, shipping services and annual vehicle tax providing a web portal for car retailers, handheld terminals for field and warehouse use, and integrated applications for networking partners. Digia Enterprise, an RFID compatible ERP system, acts as the core component. The complete system solution was implemented in December 2007.

RFID guarantees efficient processes

During the planning stages, RFID emerged as an option for an identification method. Its suitability was thoroughly investigated in field and laboratory tests during the winter of 2007. The current system deploys RFID technology to reliably identify vehicles.

An RFID tag is applied to every unloaded vehicle. Reusable RFID tags are laminated plastic labels designed by Digia which can be hanged on the vehicles’ rear view mirror. Vehicles are forwarded to a defined location in the storage area. Thus, vehicles can be efficiently and easily located using the handheld RFID terminal. Any work on the vehicle during storage and production are reported via the handheld RFID terminal.

Based on the amount of RFID terminals and reusable UHF Gen2 tags, this project is the largest production RFID project in Finland, and also one of the largest handheld RFID terminal solutions in Europe. Within vehicle logistics this is a pioneering solution taking advantage of the inexpensive passive RFID technology. In this solution, integration fully supports the operational processes.

Real-time data gives competitive edge

“We needed to upgrade our operative system because our heavily increased volumes demanded more extensive systems with better scalability and improved operational support. Exploiting real-time data created in our processes to the maximum gives us a competitive edge on the market. Previously, managing large vehicle storages and locating the correct vehicles efficiently posed a great challenge for us. Digia suggested RFID technology as a system component and we decided to investigate the matter thoroughly. We discovered that the technology was adequate. Making the final decision to give up our old system based on bar codes and Dolphi equipment was easy”, explains Tom Suvanto, Assistor’s Deputy Managing Director, with satisfaction.

The solution has been able to fulfil all of the major expectations. “We are very pleased with this solution”, Suvanto exclaims. After the initial breaking in, this new model has proved effective and rational. When the system was new, some of our employees had trouble reading the correct tags as they carried several tags with them all the time. “At first, we couldn’t understand how easy it is to read an RFID tag - so much easier than reading the old bar codes! But by now, we all know how the identification system works”, Suvanto says.

“The solution applying RFID technology was developed through conceptualisation and technical suitability analysis. RFID functions as the technology enabling the complete system and operational processes - RFID plays a central role in Assistor’s everyday operations”, Digia Director Petri Anttila comments.

Applied technology

• Digia Enterprise ERP System
• Digia ProSped Shipping System
• Digia Autotax
• Digia iSuite
• Digia eEngine Web Portal
• Digia @Hand Handheld Terminal Solution
• Nordic ID PL3000 Handheld Terminals
• UPM Raflatac UHF EPC Gen2 DogBone RFID Tags