Implementation of RFID in Container Seal Management in an Indian Port

Background
India has a large coastline spanning across 7516.6 kilometres and 70 per cent of the international trade is done through 12 major ports, 200 notified minor and intermediate ports. Till some time ago, every port management was manually checking and approving the consignment for export. As a result, load on these ports continued to increase many folds.

Challenges
High transactional cost – In the previous procedure, exporters had to pay Merchant Overtime Fee (MOT) to the government.
Time consuming – The previous process was time consuming due to which, the exporters used to miss the deadlines for exporting the items.
Lack of visibility & security – There was a lack of visibility and security for cargo during the transportation to Ports & ICDs as well as during holding time.
 
Solution
The Customs Department of India has decided to replace the practice of factory stuffing of containers under the supervision of central excise authorities with RFID-based system. This new system combines RFID seal, handheld RFID reader and software application. Exporters are required to self-seal the export container at their end and furnish the e-seal number, date of sealing, time of sealing, destination customs station for export, container number and trailer track number on the authorized vendor’s software with the help of RFID readers. Once the container reaches to port or ICD, the custom officers use the same software application and handheld RFID devices to read seals at the point of entry or at the place of stacking or when containers are being loaded for further movement, a similar process is preferred. The whole data is tracked and captured by RFID readers which further transfer this data to custom server for real-time monitoring by authorities.
                                                                                        
Since the implementation of this project, Chainway RFID devices are being chosen by most of the registered vendors, for Chainway devices are rugged and capable of withstanding shocks and vibrations. They perform stable and superior under harsh/outdoor/industrial environment. Its advanced scanning capability and large display makes e-seal process faster and easier.
 
Effects

• Current process helps the custom authorities to keep track of the container and detect tampering

• Self-sealing project has helped many firms do stuffing & sealing of goods and contents, in a secure manner at their unit’s premises

• The whole process has become smooth and convenient because no stuffing of containers is required to be under the supervision of central excise authority’s personnel.

 
PDA Configuration
P/N: C3000 UHF, C4000 UHF
Functions: UHF RFID