RFID rollouts to enhance lean systems at DaimlerChrysler and Nucor

The company’s Wireless Asset Net system controls, tracks and manages industrial vehicles and equipment, and DaimlerChrysler and Nucor expect to increase productivity, improve safety and reduce operating costs throughout their manufacturing and distribution environments. DaimlerChrysler’s system was ordered through ID Systems’ VAR, NACCO Materials Handling Group and its Yale brand industrial truck sales organisation. A Yale dealer in Ohio will install the majority of system hardware and provide warranty services for the facility. That system will also incorporate I ID Systems’ latest OptiKan application – an optimised, wireless, electronic kanban system for parts replenishment. This RFID-based OptiKan application is expected to increase productivity and significantly reduce labour costs by providing automated, wireless, real-time, dynamic allocation of tasks to the material handling workforce. Meanwhile, the system for at Nucor is for an initial pilot program monitoring industrial trucks. Nucor and its affiliates manufacture steel products, with more than 30 facilities in the US. “These new orders reflect several key aspects of our strategy,” said Greg Smith, ID Systems’ vice president of marketing. “We are cultivating new sales channels by leveraging our strategic distribution agreement with NMHG, which holds a significant share of the world market for industrial trucks through its Hyster and Yale dealer networks. “And, with Nucor, we are acquiring a new customer with a strong emphasis on worker safety and lean operations, which presents us with an excellent opportunity to expand our best-practice technology across another corporate enterprise.”