NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) has contracted with Savi Technology to pilot a project using RFID technology linked with the Savi SmartChain platform to manage and track multi-national consignments between Europe and Afghanistan.
The project, to be evaluated for possible future expansion, will help determine whether NATO and its 19 member countries can leverage Savi's real-time platform and RFID technology to enhance pan-NATO logistics collaboration.
The contract calls for the installation of the network along the International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan supply chain, which stretches from the Netherlands and Germany through Uzbekistan to Kabul in Afghanistan. Consignments will be tracked by via SaviTag ST-654, an active, data-rich RFID tag that communicates wirelessly with the network at distances over 100 metres. In addition, Savi's fixed readers and Savi SmartChain Site Managers will be installed to capture and convert the RFID-generated data into actionable information that can be managed by users on the network in highly secured information environments.
Savi will immediately begin to conduct site surveys, perform installation work, train users and integrate the Savi SmartChain software into NATO's LOGFAS information system.
The NATO-Savi agreement follows an offer to NATO last October by the US Department of Defence to share its existing global RFID-enabled In-Transit Visibility (ITV) network for joint logistics operations if NATO added compatible infrastructure to plug into the system. The US offer was made to help improve supply chain visibility and communications during joint operations. Following a four-month evaluation, NATO chose to use the same standard-setting solutions used by both the DoD and the UK Ministry of Defence that are designed, developed and deployed by Savi Technology.
"Multi-nationally, this common network can help 19 nations bring their goods in and track their own consignments in near real-time from anywhere, and it will help build more confidence in shared information not only for the NATO commanders but also the member countries where supplies are for their own forces," said Commander Bill Sympson from NATO's Supreme HQ Allied Powers Europe.
"This project provides the opportunity now for NATO to adopt a similar solution for consignment tracking that the United Kingdom and the United States have adopted, and thus overcome the enduring problem that we have had within NATO of finding one solution that meets individual national needs while at the same time is interoperable and serves allied needs on a global basis," said Col. David Martin, Director of the UK MoD's Defence Logistics Operations Centre responsible for overseeing logistic operations using the UK's RFID-enabled network. "What it has meant for us is that we've been able to send all the supplies to the Operations Commanders on the ground as required in the correct order, at the correct time in the correct quantities to those ports of disembarkation in theatre."
"Savi's contract with NATO is a major first step in bridging supply chain information gaps to ensure that the right vital supplies get to the right place at the right time," said Bruce Jacquemard, Savi's executive vice president and general manager for Global Field Operations. "This is a proven, battle-tested solution during times of conflict and peace that will bring new levels of consignment visibility and collaboration to NATO allies, whether for internal tracking purposes or joint force operations."
