Motorola RFID Solution Accelerates H&M Bay's Cold Storage Freight Transfer

SCHAUMBURG, Ill., March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced that together with Franwell, Inc., a supply chain solution integrator, it has deployed a radio frequency identification (RFID) solution at H&M Bay's cross-docking distribution center in Federalsburg, Maryland. Together, the companies are improving H&M Bay's frozen food transportation system to ensure its customers' packaged goods are distributed on time and within the industry's proper temperature controls.

"H&M Bay prides itself on its ability to deliver efficient and quality service to customers," said John Walker, software development manager, H&M Bay. "In order to speed up freight transfers, guarantee product freshness and reduce labor costs, we have joined forces with Motorola and Franwell to improve our delivery and inventory processes to help us meet our overall business objectives – to deliver quality and timely delivery service. With a unique integration of technologies, H&M Bay has realized faster truck loads and reloads, and a 25 percent reduction in cross-docking labor, allowing our workers to concentrate more on serving our customers and less on inefficient duties."

Time is of the essence in a temperature controlled environment. Such is the case for H&M Bay, a premier freight mover in the less-than-truckload (LTL) frozen and refrigerated commodities market. In this industry, cold storage freight transfers must be stored and shipped in environments that meet stringent industry guidelines and government mandates. In an effort to improve the company's operational efficiencies and guarantee consistent temperature controls, H&M Bay turned to Motorola and Franwell, Inc. for an RFID hardware and software solution that would locate and record pallet information in real time – giving operators an instantaneous read of inventory as it enters, moves through and leaves the distribution facility.

"H&M Bay approached us with a desire to develop a solution that would allow it to track inventory movement throughout its facility without impeding the flow of its workforce," said Terri-Anne Crawford, vice president and chief operating officer, Franwell. "By deploying an RFID solution that tracks freight at the pallet level and identifies each warehouse storage location, together with the right mix of mobile devices, we were definitely able to deliver to this objective."

The initial H&M Bay deployment consists of RFID tags, which are placed on each warehouse storage location along with each pallet to facilitate product control and automate the tracking of inventory in the distribution center's cooler and freezer storage rooms. As Motorola RD5000 mobile RFID readers detect tagged pallets and tagged storage locations, a message is automatically sent to H&M Bay's automated inventory system to seamlessly record when a pallet has been removed from its location and where it has been placed. For greater employee mobility, H&M Bay leverages Motorola MC9090-G RFID handheld mobile computers to commission location tags and make initial assignments to the location. Each forklift truck in the facility is also outfitted with a Motorola RD5000 mobile RFID reader and a Motorola VC5090 vehicle-mounted mobile computer for greater ease-of-use while on the forklift, on the ground and anywhere throughout the warehouse. Similarly, Motorola RFID industrial-class XR series readers are used on the cooler and freezer doors to detect pallet tags as they enter or exit the cold storage facilities.

"We believe in combining best practices to help our customers achieve their goals and improve business productivity with our cold chain solutions," said Mike Maris, senior director of transportation, distribution and logistics, Motorola Enterprise Mobility Solutions. "Motorola works to ensure each solution is tailored to meet everyday business objectives, helping LTL customers streamline supply chain efficiencies and improve employee effectiveness, productivity and customer service."

About Franwell

Franwell, Inc. is a technology company dedicated to the development of leading-edge products and services with a focus on supply chain solutions and RFID integration. In keeping to this commitment, Franwell has continued to develop unique RFID software applications and products, as well as undertaken custom development and integration for our clients. Our staff provides complete consulting and system integration services to support the effective implementation of these solutions. Our products and services include a complete set of RFID solutions for a variety of industries, such as food, pharmaceuticals and cargo. www.franwell.com  

About Motorola

Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications and is focused on advancing the way the world connects. From broadband communications infrastructure, enterprise mobility and public safety solutions to high-definition video and mobile devices, Motorola is leading the next wave of innovations that enable people, enterprises and governments to be more connected and more mobile. Motorola (NYSE: MOT) had sales of US $30.1 billion in 2008. For more information, please visit www.motorola.com.

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Microsoft, Windows and Windows Mobile are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. © Motorola, Inc. 2010

SOURCE Motorola