An Industry Problem

Click Here to View the Spring Newsletter

An Industry Problem…

For years, one of the most challenging aspects of the retail grower’s supply chain has been the management of returnable containers.

How many carts do we have?
Where are those carts now?
What percentage of carts are we willing to lose each season?
How many extra carts do we need to compensate for lost carts?
How many carts will be coming back today so we can fill our orders?
Etc...

During the busy spring season not knowing where your carts are can cause missed shipments and loss of business. Many attempts have been made, but no one has solved the problem until now.

The Solution…

KartKeeper™ is a system designed by leaders in the retail growers industry to make it easy to manage your cart investment. Using radio frequency technology, KartKeeper™ employs a hands free mentality to tracking carts to and from your customers. Employing intuitive software screens to allow for easy access to your company shipping information, the KartKeeper™ system tracks your carts from the greenhouse to the customer and back again.

What makes up KartKeeper™…

· Cart Tags – The unique identifier for each cart. Consists of an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag encapsulated in a durable plastic holder for easy mounting to the cart.

· Antennas – Custom antennas are embedded into the concrete in front of any dock or setup as a gateway to service multiple docks.

· Workstation – The heart of the tracking system. The workstation consists of a PC, RFID reader/readers, and software. The workstation scans carts and reports them to the system software. To see pictures of the WORKSTATION - CLICK HERE.

· Administration – The system administrator provides detailed reports and administrative functions to facilitate the management of carts.

· Server – The central database and system core. Stores all the transactions and cart information for use in both Administrator and Workstation packages.

*For more information and videos of carts being loaded and unloaded, CLICK HERE.

ROI

Assume your company is losing 5% of its carts per year. The ROI for your purchase comes multiple sources.

Reduce the number of carts you lose every season. Reducing losses means less replacements
Knowing the location of your carts means less need to purchase excess carts for your busy season.
Tracking carts leads to productivity and accuracy improvements in shipping and receiving operations.

*See ROI calculator in pricing spreadsheet. For pricing information please call us...614-431-3300

**Returnable container tracking systems are a potential tax write-off under the new Homeland Security bill.

Barcode vs RFID

Barcodes have been tried in the past but….

Barcodes

· Optical Technology – Requires a clean environment to be seen by scanner.

· Durability – Barcodes can be printed on almost any material, but even the most durable materials can be damaged and cause non-readability.

· User involvement – Barcodes require someone to scan them, adding time and cost to the loading process. Also scanning becomes tedious during busy times.

· Data – Usually a batch process, which creates potential for data loss

RFID

· Electromagnetic Technology - Requires that the tag only get close to the antenna to work.

· Durability - Encased in a plastic holder, RFID tags withstand considerable abuse.

· User Involvement - Requires no user involvement to be scanned. Loads occur normally.

Data – Real time, reduces any potential data loss.

Future

Customizable – KartKeeper™ is designed to handle a wide variety of needs in today’s greenhouse cart requirements. However, should you require a special feature or design, AIS offers customization services to help meet your specific needs.
KartKeeper™ Website – Carts often end up in the strangest of places. Many times your carts can end up at another grower’s facility. As our network of greenhouses grows, the KartKeeper website will be there to help. KartKeeper™ users will know when another greenhouse in our network receives your carts. To see an example of this service, CLICK HERE.
RFID – Major retailers are beginning to take RFID seriously as a solution to supply chain issues. KartKeeper™ utilizes the ISO 15693 Standard.

Pricing

For pricing information please call us...614-431-3300

Download:

Manual Click Here (Preliminary)