i-RAM - Intelligent Returnable Asset Management

英国各地的许多行业使用可回收资产将产品从制造地点转移到最终用户或分销商。这些资产包括煤气瓶、零售滚筒、手提箱、啤酒桶和托盘。行业面临着管理这些资产以确保向生产和分销线路持续供应的日常挑战。在零售分销等行业，这一过程得到了相当好的简化，但许多其他行业的情况就没那么好了。该项目专注于通过可回收资产基础设施提高物流效率，主要是在英国独立酿酒行业，但也适用于面临类似问题的其他行业。英国的小型独立酿酒商约有700家，负责生产数百万桶不锈钢桶，这些桶是啤酒厂成功的关键，但往往管理不善。项目财团开发和构建了一个集成解决方案，使用了最新的电子和软件技术以及悠久的酿造实践。通过利用RFID、移动通信、GPS、条形码和IT等技术，该项目成功地向酿酒商提供了有关分散的桶库存的信息，从而实现了高效的物流管理。此外，利用移动通信开发了销售点信息系统，为希望负责任地享用产品的消费者提供产品信息，并通过减少食品里程来提高人们对购买当地农产品对于促进当地社区、经济和环境的重要性的认识。

Many industries across the UK use returnable assets to move product from point of manufacture to the end user or distributor. These assets include items such as, gas bottles, retail roll cages, tote bins, beer barrels and pallets. Industry faces the daily challenge of managing these assets to ensure continuous supply to production and distribution lines. In sectors such as retail distribution this process is fairly well streamlined but many other sectors are less so. This project focused on driving logistical efficiencies through the returnable assets infrastructure primarily in the UK independent brewing industry but was also applied to other industries that face similar issues. The small independent brewers number some 700 in the UK and are responsible for millions of stainless steel barrels which is key to the success of the brewery, but tends to be inefficiently managed.The project consortium developed and built an integrated solution, using the latest electronic and software technology with the age-old practice of brewing. By harnessing technologies such as RFID, Mobile Communications, GPS, Barcode and IT, the project succeeded in making information available to the brewer about dispersed barrel stocks enabling efficient logistical management.In addition a Point of Sale information system was developed utilising Mobile Communications giving product information for the consumer who wants to enjoy responsibly, and to raise awareness that buying local produce is important to promote the local community, economy, and environment by reducing food miles.