Lockheed Martin‘s [LMT] Savi Technology business unit yesterday launched several new products aimed at expanding its solutions in supply chain management for the military, trade and homeland security markets, company officials said at a media briefing.
The new solutions include a low-cost wireless Real Time Locating System (RLTS) for tracking and locating assets inside facilities and industrial yards as well as a wireless tracking device that can be affixed to shipping containers and transport vehicles to enable tracking of shipments where there isn’t any reader infrastructure.
Savi, which was acquired by Lockheed Martin in 2006, traditionally has provided Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)-based asset tracking capabilities that enable customers such as the U.S. Army to track logistics shipments as they pass through certain chokepoints like a supply depot or container terminal. Now with its RTLS and GlobalTag systems, the company can offer customers the ability to manage and monitor inventory in warehouses or industrial yards, where it can easily be lost and also track large shipments anywhere in transit.
The RTLS takes advantage of Savi’s existing asset tags and adds new battery-operated location markers that can be installed at strategic points throughout a facility to provide the network monitoring for the tags, which can be affixed to large pieces of equipment such as generators or water purification devices to locate assets.
The GlobalTag includes active RFID, GPS and satellite communications to continue to provide tracking where there are traditional fixed and handheld readers at chokepoints and supply operations and also at anytime during a transit, such as in flight, at sea or on the roads. GlobalTag can provide automatic updates of shipping status as well as alerts when a shipment diverges from its planned route, enhancing security for customers. Tying Savi’s solution sets together is SmartChain 6.0, a sixth-generation software application that allows managing of assets, inventory and shipments.
Savi has been providing the Defense Department and other customers with RFID tracking services and solutions since the mid-1990s. In January, the Army awarded Savi and three other companies the RFID III contract, which allows each to compete for task orders. The other companies include Northrop Grumman [NOC], Unisys [UIS] and Systems & Process Engineering Corp.