Keeping track of transport bins on a global scale
May 2001
System Integration & Control Systems Design
It is vital in an industry as challenging as that of the highly perishable fruit export market to cut costs wherever possible, and one way of reducing capital outlay is to implement the use of collapsible and re-usable bins for transporting fruit to and from various international locations. Streamworks, a South African-based leader in the field of supply chain management and industrial IT, recently completed a R1m project in partnership with PQ Mainstream to provide a global tracking and management system. The project was for an asset base of more than 200 000 bins belonging to SAFBIN, a subsidiary of EL Bateman. SAFBIN, which has its head office in Craighall Johannesburg, with six depots situated countrywide and three additional sites in Europe, plans to establish further depots in Australia and America in the near future. The user-friendly and flexible design of the system implemented by Streamworks will ensure that any new depots or locations can be included in the ambit of the system at any time, in a totally problem-free manner.
The basic modus operandi for tracking SAFBIN bins is via an individual bar-coded serial number, which is imprinted on every bin, forming the basis for the physical scanning and movement of the bins, as well as their management and tracking. Once a load of fruit has been sold, decanted bins are collected and returned to a SAFBIN depot for cleaning, or repair if necessary. Empty bins are transferred to any depot in the world where they are required, while oversupplied bins or those that arrive too late are re-deployed, and bins that are damaged or dirty are rejected and replaced.
All information regarding the physical status and condition of the bins is updated continuously at each depot via the asset tracking system, and reports are issued for bins which have been lost or not returned. In addition, the system generates reports on the early or late return dates of bins.
The planning and management of the SAFBIN bins associated with sales and debtors functionality are implemented into an Internet-based ERP system called Streamline Asset Management System (SAMS). It is a multicurrency European as well as a South African debtors system, set up to handle US dollars, British pounds, the Euro and rands. The SAMS was supplied by PQ Mainstream, with Streamworks accountable for the control and management of the business process system to and from the various depots, as well as the transfer of all data into the SAMS.
SAFBIN is required to monitor the packing and moving of bins at the port of loading until they are delivered to the receiving address. The bins are collected at the receiving address, with all freight charges paid by SAFBIN if the bins are returned to South Africa. Once the bin is receipted at the receiving depot, its file is interfaced to the asset management system via the BinTrak System which uses the standard scanning facilities available at ports, and which in turn updates the asset system with Paltrack barcode information via e-mail files. Once the cleaning or damage status of a bin has been ascertained, the transaction is scanned into the system to further update the status of the bin, or to move it to an appropriate asset location. Full system functionality training has been extended to all end users by Streamworks, which specialises in providing a total turnkey service, including specialist engineering advice, engineering design and implementation, training, and ongoing hardware and software support.
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