Digging with Radio Frequency Identification

Sudbury, Ont – Nov 7th , 2007 - Ship2Save, an industry leader in cost effective Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solutions, has successfully deployed a raw material tracking system using RFID technology at CVRD Inco’s Stobie Mine.

The system, designed to track ore movement throughout its excavation process, provides granular and accurate data records that can be used to execute more informed production, maintenance, and process decisions. The technical deployment combines Avery Dennison Corporation Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) RFID tags, Motorola, Inc. mobile and fixed UHF readers, along with Ship2Save Inc.’s RFID Raw Material Tracking software.

“Environmental specifications, customer requirements, and radio frequency regulations demanded a systemic development approach to deliver a cost-effective and comprehensive solution for CVRD Inco’s Stobie Mine. Addressing business pain-points of this complexity requires an efficient partner channel that can bridge the expertise of multiple partners to deliver first-of-its-kind solutions. The CVRD Inco project brought together subject-matter experts from across multiple industries, including tag manufacturing, injection molding, RFID reader manufacturing, software development, and of course mining.” Said Konrad Konarski, Director of Alliances at Ship2Save Inc.

Mark Palkovits, Senior Geological Technologist at CVRD Inco says: “Our sustaining objectives, here at the Stobie Mine facility are to leverage technology systems to improve our operations. The RFID system delivered by Ship2Save provides a unique ability to monitor ore throughout the extraction process. This system will allow us to better understand this process and make more timely decisions in this regard.”

The integration required the careful analysis of the processes involved to blast, survey, excavate, and extract nickel. Ship2Save Inc. field engineers performed onsite field tests to assure both readability and structural integrity of the tags were maintained through various read points along these processes. They also performed various RF fingerprint analysis and tested various RFID antenna configurations to determine the optimal infrastructure setup.

“Ship2Save has been an important RFID partner for us and is continuing to make headway with innovative applications of our UHF RFID inlays and smart labels. The system deployed for CVRD Inco is a quintessential example of how this technology continues to deliver new, exciting, and innovative value to organizations worldwide.” Comments Rick Bauer, Director of RFID Global Program Development at Avery Dennison.

The value behind the system lies in its ability to automatically collect information of ore movement throughout the entire extraction line. This information is recorded and provided to an application system that provides records to other parties and/or additional application systems within an organization. This real-time data can then be used to optimize ore processing. This can include proactively informing surface-level personnel of upcoming ore yield, location, and additional variables, allowing these personnel to make decisions based on current rather than forecasted information.

Sam Falsafi, Director of RFID Strategy & Business Development at Ship2Save, says that “This type of data streamlining is the future of industrial mobility solutions. We have RFID mobile devices working with a distributed application system, tracking mobile RFID tags, and providing real-time production data to anyone in the CVRD Inco organization. It is a scalable, flexible, and proficient architecture that allows for an unprecedented organizational value.”

The system is currently deployed at CVRD Inco facility in Sudbury, Ontario where it monitors nickel extraction at the Stobie Mine, one of the several CVRD Inco mines in the Sudbury region. It collects process data 24/7 as field engineers monitor its day-to-day progress.

About Ship2Save Inc.
Ship2Save is one of the industry leaders in cost effective RFID Solutions and is a founding member of the Canadian Microsoft RFID Council, a member of the Microsoft Global RFID Council, an EPCGlobal Canada Strategic Council Member, a CompTIA RFID+™ Cornerstone Committee Member, and a member of Texas Instruments Tag-It Team. Ship2Save's unique product lines, flexible and proficient software, business development models, and distinctive deployment services, offer customers cost effective and high quality solutions for their RFID needs.

About Avery Dennison
Avery Dennison is a global leader in pressure-sensitive labeling materials, office products and retail tag, ticketing and branding systems. Based in Pasadena, Calif., Avery Dennison is a FORTUNE 500 Company with 2006 sales of $5.6 billion. Combined with Paxar, Avery Dennison now employs more than 30,000 individuals in approximately 50 countries worldwide who develop, manufacture and market a wide range of products for both consumer and industrial markets. Products offered by Avery Dennison include: Fasson brand self-adhesive materials; Avery Dennison, Paxar and Monarch brand products for the retail and apparel industries; Avery brand office products and graphics imaging media; specialty tapes, peel-and-stick postage stamps, and labels for a wide variety of automotive, industrial and durable goods applications.