2007-03-06 The first Australian fully integrated RFID forklift

Peacock Bros. in conjunction with Intermec, Alpha Warehouse Solutions and Cascade have completed construction of Australia's first fully integrated RFID forklift now available for sale as a complete unit.

Using only products that can be readily purchased, Peacock Bros. have constructed the RFID forklift which is now fully operational and pre-configured with intelligent data management programming to meet the needs of the Australian business.

Through the joint efforts from Intermec, Cascade and Alpha Warehouse Solutions, the Australian market can purchase the very latest in groundbreaking, vehicle mounted RFID technology.

The backrest mounted readers provide reliable capture of RFID Gen two tagged boxes, pallets and products as they are handled by the forklift, eliminating the need for the driver to get off the forklift to scan the barcodes manually or unpack pallets to read each carton.

Preliminary tests show that this system can process RFID tagged items three times faster than the conventional barcoded system – leaving promise of a massive increase in productivity, accuracy and efficiency.

The RFID readers and antennas are pre-mounted within the forklift backrest, hard-wired to a CV30 computer terminal within the forklift cabin.

The computer terminal is also wirelessly connected to the central inventory/warehouse management system, providing real-time data between the warehouse floor and the main office computer.

Three Intermec antennae are mounted into the backrest to provide wide beam coverage for any pallet or boxes stacked onto a pallet, producing an instant read when the pallet is picked up by the forklift.

The antennae are connected to the latest small form factor IV7 Gen2 RFID reader that communicates directly to the CV30 mounted in the forklift cabin.

The complete set-up will be on show at this years Wireless World exhibition in Sydney and the Matex exhibition in Melbourne. Demonstrations of this fully operational solution can also be arranged by appointment.