Tibbett & Britten
RFID Supply Side Installation

I worked as an automation installation engineer to build a "living lab" at Tibbett & Britten distribution warehouse in Edmonton, Alberta.
The project goal was to make the distribution center RFID-ready by configuring a small portion of it with RFID hardware, tags and software.
The customer wanted to be able to track in real-time the movement of stock in their warehouse.

This included equipping and testing several different types of warehouse material handling equipment.

All the RFID readers were tied into the network using wireless access points.
The following equipment types were outfitted with RFID:

Shrink Wrapper
Power Jack
Reach Fork Truck
Dock Door
Order Picker

Cases, pallets, carton and pallet storage locations were tagged.
These tagged items were used to demonstrate RFID enabled put away and replenishment operations.
Everything was tied into a database to keep track of what was moved,
when it was moved, what forklift truck moved it, and where it was finally put.
Pictures of this work can be found below.

Shrink Wrapper

The shrink wrap machine pictured below was RFID enabled.
The arm that swung around the pallet had antennas installed in it.
As the arm circled the pallet the RFID reader would read all the cases.
There is a picture of me working on the install below.
shrinkwrapper 1

Power Jack

The hand operated power jack pictured below was RFID enabled.
When the power jack picked up a pallet all the cases on the pallet were read.
powerjack 1

Reach Truck

The reach truck pictured below was RFID enabled.
These pictures show the RFID antenna placement as well as the reader installation.
As this truck picked up a pallet the cases on the pallet were read.
Also as the pallet was moved the location in the warehouse was recorded
Also shown below is me wiring this device up.
reach fork truck antenna 1

Dock Door Mockup

A read area was built to simulate a dock door.
Pallets that were moved through the dock door had all their cases read.
The pictures below show the dock door mock-up.
Also shown are and pallets of cases tagged.
dock door mockup

Tagged Pallet Storage Racks

Pallet storage racks were tagged with RFID.
As pallets of goods are moved the location is traced.
The pictures below show the tagged pallet storage racks.
Also shown is a test being conducted of moving a pallet and tracking its location.
tagged pallet racks