RFID Supply Chain Management System for Naval Logistics

The U.S. Navy is charged with the responsibility of providing a strategic Maritime Pre-positioned Force (MPF). To accomplish this objective the supply chain management system must be designed to allow for real-time accountability, Total Asset Visibility (TAV), rapid deployment and In-Transit Visibility (ITV). The proposed solution consists of a functioning Dynamic Smart ManifestT (DSM) embodied in the structure of a Dynamic Smart BoxT (DSB). A middle-ware called InteliwareT interfaces with the RFID components and computers in the DSB and inputs the requisite data into the Dynamic Smart ManifestT. The DSB will be housed in a twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) which is the Navy's standard shipping container. The TEU will be outfitted with a system of agnostic/open sourced RFID readers and antennae designed to read the tagged pallets and items that enter or exit the container. A nested architecture of passive/active tags will create an aggregate inventory of the TEU's content. The ability to track and update inventory as pallets/containers are reconfigured will be demonstrated. The automation of the process of preparing the pallet/container data will result in the DSM, that will in real time provide the ability to count, record, identify, track and locate, cartons, pallets and containers.