David Savastano, Editor06.10.09
As airline passengers will attest, lost luggage is one of the most irritating experiences in air travel. It is also costly: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that 38 million pieces of luggage are lost annually, and up to $4 billion is spent tracking, returning and replacing lost or mishandled luggage.
Baggage tags. (Photo courtesy of Avery Dennison) |
With that in mind, two major international airports have set up RFID-based luggage tracking systems. McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, NV, and Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) have implemented internal RFID systems allowing them to track and trace baggage much more efficiently.
“Four years ago, McCarran and HKIA were visionaries, and they saw promise for RFID,” Shukla said.
Motorola was brought in to coordinate the project five years ago, and has partnered with Avery Dennison RFID Division and Print-O-Tape, Inc. Motorola provides aviation RFID domain expertise as well as fixed and mobile RFID reader products. Avery Dennison is providing its new AD-833 RFID inlays, while Print-O-Tape, a leading North American luggage tag converter, will manufacture the high-performance RFID baggage tags.
“In early 2004, we started working with HKIA to establish the basic business case and the applications,” Shukla said. “Performance factors were absolutely critical, and we proved the concept and initiated system implementation.
“Avery Dennison has been our inlay partner for a long time,” Shukla said. “They offer excellent technologies, a high quality state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and an excellent design team that has successfully worked on a number of initiatives for us. Print-O-Tape is the industry leader, and can provide consistent high-quality tags and short lead times.”
There are plenty of key advantages to using RFID enabled tags. Bar code-only tags require the scanner to be in the line of sight to read the tag, while an RFID tag can be read at long distances without line-of-sight, and a dual-dipole tag such as AD-833 can also be read in any orientation. As a result, RFID tag read rates range from 97 to 99.5 percent, while bar codes are read at 80 to 90 percent. RFID allows for more accurate tracking of baggage, and with fewer bags misplaced, airlines are able to improve their on-time departure rates and cut down on lost and delayed luggage. That makes passengers much, much happier.
“RFID offers visibility to airports,” said Maggie Bidlingmaier, director, global sales and marketing, for the Avery Dennison RFID Division. “Bar codes presently have an 80 percent read rate, and RFID is achieving 97 percent, which is a pretty substantial difference. Currently we are manufacturing 96-bit tags for HKIA, and if we can increase the memory of the RFID tag, there will be even more uses for RFID. Airlines get satisfied customers and improved service, and passengers are happier. These airports are forward thinking, and as RFID gets rolled out at more airports, we’ll see more benefits.”
AD-833 RFIDtag from Avery Dennison. |
“Now say that bar codes, at their best, read 90 percent of the bag tags,” he continued. “That means that 5,000 bags are mishandled, and that requires manpower, resources and know-how to locate and reroute. RFID is being read at 99.5 percent, which means that only 250 to 300 bags are mishandled. That’s a tremendous advantage for airports and airlines. It reduces the cost of processing bags.”
There is also the added benefit of eliminating extra processing stations.
“McCarran created an in-line baggage system, which lends itself better to centralized screening, and that reduces the processing structure,” Shukla said. “It opened up 37 percent more floor space, allowing more room for restaurants, shops and, since it is Las Vegas, slot machines.”
Bidlingmaier noted that the aviation industry is an ideal fit for RFID. Indeed, the AD-833 RFID tag was designed specifically for the aviation industry’s needs.
“We decided that the aviation space is very attractive, and we have great products and technologies for the aviation space,” Bidlingmaier said.
Producing these RFID tags effectively is critical, and that is where Print-O-Tape comes in. Based in Mundelein, IL, Print-O-Tape is the leader in manufacturing baggage tags in North America, with a nearly 75 percent market share, and also has a significant international presence.
Jon Barrere, vice president of sales and marketing for Print-O-Tape, noted that his company already had partnerships with Motorola and Avery Dennison in place, and saw that RFID tagging costs were being addressed.
“Costs will come down to some extent, but you can justify the costs due to the return on investment and increased throughput,” Barrere said. “For example, the hardware is so much less expensive than the optical scanner readers for bar codes.”
Meanwhile, Barrere said that producing RFID baggage tags is not particularly challenging, although the process is understandably slower.
“Our yield was exceptionally higher than our expectations,” Barrere added. “There has to be a read rate of 99.5 percent, and our first shipments were well above that.”
Of course, the price of RFID tags remains a sensitive issue.
Barrere believes that the new charges airlines are implementing for luggage should have enough room to cover the RFID tag prices.
“With airlines charging passengers $15 for their first bag and $50 for each additional piece of luggage, tags that are 15 cents to 20 cents are not a killer anymore,” Barrere said.
While cost remains a concern, of more interest is the relationship between airlines and airports. McCarran and HKIA own their entire operations. By contrast, in some airports, the airlines own their own baggage sorting equipment: for example, United Airlines in O’Hare and American Airlines in Dallas have their own equipment, while other airlines lease the airports’ sorting systems.
It is only a matter of time before the clear advantages of losing or mishandling less luggage becomes clear to all parties, especially as RFID can be used to track luggage from drop-off at one airport to delivery at the second airport.
“In the US, airports typically don’t own or control all of its infrastructure,” Shukla said. “Right now, airlines and airports are debating who will pay, but eventually both parties will realize that they will gain in the end. As a result, we are seeing more interest in RFID, and are working with 20 potential customers for RFID baggage systems.”
“We believe it will be a fairly nice growth market,” Bidlingmaier added. “It is a win-win-win scenario for the airlines, airports and passengers.”