Lowe Rental is an international supplier of refrigeration and catering equipment to the exhibitions, events and retail markets. Based in Northern Ireland, it rents out over 20,000 items from its offices worldwide and supplies many high-profile events from Royal Ascot to the Singapore Grand Prix.
Lowe Rental has been using RFID to track its rental equipment since 2016. The initial system, which was developed by CoreRFID and installed in its operations in Europe, saved weeks of staff time and achieved an almost 100% accuracy rate. It has since been extended to its locations in the Gulf, Asia Pacific and the US and achieved equal success.
![Lowe RFID[1]](https://corerfid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Lowe-RFID1.jpg)
“CoreRFID’s system has transformed our operation. By automating the whole tracking process, it has allowed us to save time and achieve near perfect accuracy levels.
“The solution works well in tandem with our existing systems. Given the massive positive impact it had on our operations in Europe, it was a natural progression to roll it out to other locations worldwide.”– Ian Lowry, European Operations Director, Lowe Rental
Rental equipment checked out automatically
RFID tags let Lowe’s rental equipment be identified faster and more accurately than was possible with paper-based systems.
Previously, each item entering or leaving the warehouse was identified by a six-digit code, manually recorded by staff on paper. Now, RFID tags have replaced the codes, detected automatically by readers at the exits, with the information downloaded straight to the database.
Catering equipment rental tracking has made instantaneous reporting possible and has virtually eliminated human error. Audits that took a week under the old manual system can now be completed in under half a day, using a mobile phone reader app that can monitor tags from up to 2m away.
The system uses ultra-high frequency (UHF) RFID tags, robust, readable from a distance and without needing a line of sight to the tag. Data can be collected from multiple tags at once, either using handheld devices or fixed readers, for example on a doorway.
Catering equipment rental tracking links directly into the company’s CRM system and, since a later integration, its Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP too, automating the process and removing the opportunity for errors along the way.
Secret of success with RFID
Success with RFID systems comes from making sure that the demands of the system and the capabilities of the equipment match each other. Lowe Rental uses fixed point readers from Impinj and Android tablets with Bluetooth RFID readers.
Munzi Ali, Technical Director of CoreRFID comments: “With over 20,000 items which are constantly on the move, Lowe’s operations rely on a fast and accurate tracking system. RFID technology fits the bill perfectly and offers huge potential to improve efficiency. The technology is also quick and easy to install and offers rapid return on investment.”
Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) tags
UHF RFID tags can be read automatically at greater ranges than low frequency and high frequency tags. Standardised coding systems on the tags let a wide range of items be uniquely identified in a way agreed globally. Tags can be small enough to identify almost any item and robust enough for extreme temperatures and chemically hazardous areas. UHF systems can detect multiple tags at once, for example as a pallet carrying several items passes through an RFID-monitored doorway or portal. Portals can detect which direction tags are moving, or triangulate a tag’s position in a warehouse to identify its location within a metre or so.
The benefits
- Automatic identification of outbound and inbound rental equipment
- Fewer errors booking stock out and in
- Easy integration with existing CRM and ERP systems, including Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
- Rapid, accurate auditing of warehouse stocks
- Fast and accurate catering equipment rental tracking across every location