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November 2010 Membership Tour/Demonstration
Integrating Technology into Logistics: RFID Usage in Warehousing/Inventory Control/Processing
On November 17, Lieutenant Colonel Rich Fillman gave his fellow San Antonio Chapter members a guided tour of the Air Force Clothing Issue facility and a demonstration of the innovative procedures for determining clothing sizes for individual basic trainees as well as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for tracking storage location and issuance.
Before starting the tour, Fillman provided a brief overview of the 802d Logistics Readiness Squadron (LRS). The 802, he explained, along with the 502d at Ft. Sam Houston and the 902d at Randolph Air Force Base, are under the command of Brigadier General Leonard Patrick. In a sense, he said, the mission support group commanders are Patrick's vice commanders. The 802d mission is to provide logistics services to seven wings. Fillman commented that one of the biggest challenges faced by the 802d is to de-conflict the schedules when seven wings want distinguished visitor serviced at the same time. photo link
As the tour began, Fillman informed the group of 30 that the Lackland Clothing Issue was the test bed for the Department of Defense and funded by the Defense Logistics Agency. photo link By contract, manufacturers are required to attach RFID barcode tags to each article, identifying it by name and size. This tag is used to inventory articles when received from the delivery truck, track the items when transferred to the issue facility, track issuance and to transmit requisitions when inventories are low. Inventory of receipt and transfer is accomplished by scanners located at the warehouse doorway while issuance is tracked by three walk-through scanners. photo link
Fillman pointed out the body scanner, demonstrating its operation of predicting the size uniforms and other articles to fit each troop--much more accurate than asking the individuals, he said jokingly. photo link Clothing articles to be issued are already on the shelves, in bins, identified by size. photo link
After the troops receive their clothing issue and begin their departure of the facility, he said, they simply hold up their duffle bag and the scanner provides an accurate inventory of the contents. The operation, which previously took three-hours per troop, now takes less than one hour--saving 20,000 man-hours per year.
The next demonstration was of one of the walk-through scanners which scans each barcode tag in a duffle bag being carried by the trainee, transmitting the data to a computer which creates an inventory of each article of clothing by size and count issued to each trainee. Additionally, Fillman said, the computer program will identify sizing mismatches as well as shortages and/or overages, making a permanent record which can be accessed at a later date, if needed. photo link
After the tour of the facilities, Fillman provided a slide presentation while his audience ate lunch. Currently, he said, uniforms and other items issued in a duffle bag have RFID tags but items issued in mobility bags do not. RFID tags for mobility bag items are my next goal, he said with a huge grin. He wants all mobility items on the shelves to have RFID tags. Originally, he said, it took four hours to hand count items on the shelves. Now, with 2-dimensional barcode tags, it takes 30 to 40 minutes. With RFID, he said, the time would be reduced to seconds. photo link
What
a great presentation! It was easy to tell that Lieutenant Colonel Fillman was very
proud of his accomplishments and of his goals for improving technology--his
science projects, as he calls it. Judging from the comments received, everyone
thoroughly enjoyed his tour and presentation.
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