i-RAM - Intelligent Returnable Asset Management

英国的许多行业都使用可回收资产将产品从制造点转移到最终用户或分销商。这些资产包括气瓶、零售滚笼、手提袋箱、啤酒桶和托盘等项目。行业每天都面临着管理这些资产的挑战，以确保生产和分销线的持续供应。在零售分销等行业，这一流程相当流畅，但许多其他行业则不那么流畅。该项目侧重于通过可回收资产基础设施提高物流效率，主要用于英国独立酿造业，但也适用于面临类似问题的其他行业。英国大约有700家小型独立酿酒商，他们负责数百万个不锈钢桶，这是啤酒厂成功的关键，但往往管理效率低下。项目联合体开发并建立了一个综合解决方案，使用最新的电子和软件技术与古老的酿造实践。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，为想要负责任地享受产品的消费者提供产品信息，并提高人们的意识，即通过减少食物里程，购买当地农产品对促进当地社区、经济和环境的重要性。

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.