AB Foods belongs to the AB Group, chemical and food manufacturing corporation in Turkey. In the AB Foods project, the scope was to find a feasible solution for tracking metal tanks in the factory and to improve the visibility of transported tanks. Besides being utilized at AB Foods’ own production, the tanks are used for transporting liquid egg products for AB Foods’ customers. One of the most challenging part in the RFID system was to find a suitable RFID tag that tolerates the metal tank washing process. Washing is done after each return at AB Foods.

After intensive field testing and pilot, all of the tanks were tagged with Confidex Ironside RFID tag during the implementation. Passive UHF RFID antennas were bracketed on top of each virtual location. Data received from the readers is handled by software, created by Teknopalas, to give reports to production managers about the products’ locations and route. Additionally, tags are being read at the shipment gate to avert possible incorrect shipments.

With the RFID system AB Foods is also able to track exactly which tags customer receives and which ones may not be received. By that way it’s possible to save costs as the lost tank quantity decreases.

WHAT’S BEING TAGGED?

Confidex Ironside RFID tags are placed on the shoulder of each tank. This location provides good reading distances in AB Food’s system as well as it doesn’t interrupt the close placement of tanks for example in truck transportation. The tanks are washed with composition acid after each arrival at AB Foods. Confidex Ironside tag was the only RFID tag that survived the washing tests and provided satisfactory reading results after every washing cycle.