The solution was the luggage trolley tracking system with RFID technology. With the tracking system, real-time information is received about the number of luggage trolleys at the Departures and Arrivals lobbies. It helps ensuring luggage trolley availability to customers at the right time and place, especially on rush hours. The tracking system also provides important behavioural data of the passengers.
“With the RFID-system, knowledge that exists within our personnel is digitalized to easily followable and reportable format. Through better knowledge, the usage of time, planning and operations at the airport, can be significantly enhanced”, says Niko Ropa, Operations Supervisor at Finavia.
CHALLENGE: TRACKING AND ENSURING THE LUGGAGE TROLLEY AVAILABILITY
Finavia’s challenge at Helsinki-Vantaa airport is to keep up good customer experience and develop the air service business. It is necessary to respond to competition, especially resulted by increasing number of Asian transit passengers. The aim is to make transiting as smooth as possible compared to European competing airports. Significant part of customer service at the airport is the luggage trolley operations.
To improve the customer service, Finavia needed a tool to track the luggage trolleys better compared to earlier time-consuming manual work. The luggage trolleys will drift along passengers to large terminal area, surroundings and the parking areas. They need to be returned back to Arrivals lobby, to ensure availability to new passengers coming at the airport. At the boarding area, the challenge is reversed, as the luggage trolleys are clustered to gates and they limit free moving and boarding to planes. Finavia also wanted behavioral data of the passengers.
SOLUTION: IMPROVED LUGGAGE TROLLEY AVAILABILITY THROUGH RFID TRACKING
The luggage trolley tracking system with RFID technology was tailored to Finavia. Each luggage trolley is tagged with individual RFID tag. For the case, Confidex Steelwave Classic™ tag was chosen due it’s good readability, durability and size. The RFID tags are red automatically with RFID readers located at Arrivals and Departures lobbies, when passengers pass by with luggage trolleys. From the RFID readers, information is forwarded to cloud-based application, where monitoring, managing information and reporting is easy.
With the RFID solution, Finavia is able to improve the usage of existing luggage trolleys and allocate the availability to rush hours. By monitoring, it is also possible to gain important data about user behavior.
Flight information can be added to application later. With flight profile information, e.g. if vacation flight or route flight in question, it is possible to predict the number of luggage trolleys needed to match the arriving passengers. With better knowledge, it is possible to allocate and plan the operations better.
The RFID tracking system also adds value and helps in selling advertisements for the luggage trolleys. The distances they move in one year or which of them are used for advertising, are proved.
Developing the tracking system further provides opportunity to carry out additional features, such as reading the luggage trolleys with hand readers or evaluating their value or need for service. The system can be extended to track shopping trolleys or other objects at the area.
RESULTS: BETTER MANAGEMENT AND IMPROVED OPERATIONS THROUGH KNOWLEDGE
RFID luggage trolley tracking system delivers Finavia just what they wanted. ToP Tunniste created a tool, which is used in different levels of Finavia’s organisation. The system provides information for management’s planning and serves as a hands-on tool in operational work.
RFID tracking system provided following results:
- Gives real-time information about the number of luggage trolleys at the Arrivals lobby, which enables reacting quickly to availability problems.
- The luggage trolley availability has improved significantly, as the delivery is more efficient.
- Based on the ASQ (Airport Service Quality) enquiry, the luggage trolley service rating has improved from the earlier. This has not happened in years.
- Information is digitalized in measurable format, which makes it possible to monitor and develop operations.
- Working methods and processes have been re-organized based on data received through the system.
- Transiting at Helsinki-Vantaa has been developed as smooth as possible to clients.
- Finavia’s customer service has improved with help of the system.
ToP Tunniste understood Finavia’s endeavour well and the tracking system was personalized just according to their needs. Finavia is very satisfied with the cooperation with ToP Tunniste and the know-how on how the solution is best realized.
“The best about the cooperation has been managing things quickly and the customer-oriented approach. ToP Tunniste and the RFID solution help us in creating world-class services to our clients”, crystallizes Niko Ropa.
Article was first released by ToP Tunniste: source
Photo: Finavia
About Finavia
Finavia is an efficient service company, who’s core businesses are Helsinki airport and airport network of 21 airports across Finland. Finavia’s responsibilities include building, servicing and maintaining infrastructure at airports. These tasks include e.g. communication, lighting and heating at airports, traffic arrangements, security control, signs and information desks at terminals. www.finavia.com
About ToP Tunniste
ToP Tunniste helps clients make better decisions and get results through intelligent RFID solutions to identify and capture critical information in production processes. ToP Tunniste is among leading technology companies in Finland providing automatic identification systems, which enhance competitiveness and productivity. Their innovative solutions and expertise serve over 100 industrial companies and service providers in Finland and Europe. toptunniste.com
About Confidex
Confidex designs and manufactures wireless identification solutions built on the pioneering smart tickets, Confidex RFID & NFC tags and labels, Bluetooth beacons and supporting software services – the key enablers linking assets and people in business-critical processes. The company has enabled wireless IoT solutions since 2005, making supply chains, transactions and authentication of goods or people more efficient. With its global network of resellers and distributors, Confidex serves its customers representing a broad range of industries in Europe, Americas, Middle-East and Asia.
