Escort Memory Systems (EMS) RFID Application – Case Study “Second Largest Newspaper in U.S. Uses EMS RFID” End User: Atlanta Journal – Constitution Newspaper Application: Paper Tracking Maintenance Records EMS Products: HS510 Active Read/Write Antenna HS500 Active Read/Write Antenna HS200LR Long-Range, Active Read/Write Tags CM1746 Network Interface Module With an average market penetration of over 1.7 million readers, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) newspaper has the second highest readership in the country. With such large volumes of newspaper being printed daily, AJC’s Newsprint Manager, Harry Green, has a busy job of tracking all the paper being handled in his facility. Using only a manual “pencil and paper” tracking system, targeted rolls of paper, each weighing up to 2000lbs., have to be delivered to their proper printing station. Different qualities of paper, such as glossy, newsprint and front-page need to be delivered to specific machines. Mr. Green is also in charge of tracking the quantity of paper that is on the print floor at any given time. With the printing press operators arbitrarily grabbing paper rolls as necessary, there was no accurate way to track all of this information accurately using their outmoded system. Seeking a solution, AJC enlisted the help of GE Automation Services. Jeff Monforton, a Systems Integrator with GE, was required to come up with a tracking system that could identify the workstations where the paper was required, and exactly how many rolls of paper were on the print floor at any given time. Most importantly, states Jeff, “We were contractually obligated to have 100% accuracy. RFID was the only way to get this. Without it, there was no guarantee”. As a total system solution provider, GE Automation Services has a long history of working with various types of identification systems. With this solid background in place, RFID was considered the only intelligent choice for their application because, as Jeff explained, “There are no if’s, and’s or but’s, there are no line-of-sight, orientation or tag marring issues as with barcode”. After researching several different RFID providers, AJC and GE Automation Services decided to install EMS (Escort Memory Systems) RFID products, particularly their HS500 and HS510 Active RFID Antennas, their HS200LR Long-Range Active Read/Write RFID Tags, and their CM1746 Network Interface Modules. When asked why EMS was chosen over other companies, Jeff replied “EMS integrated so nicely with the Allen-Bradley platform we were installing. It was a ‘plug-and-play’ application”. Jeff added, “EMS is known to have good products. Also, their sales force was very willing to work with the customer and to help out with product information and solutions. It was very tough to get any information out of the other RFID companies that we approached”. Cont.…. “Second Largest Newspaper in U.S. Uses EMS RFID” (cont.) In order to achieve the specific tracking needs for this application, it was decided to mount the HS200LR Active Read/WriteTags underneath and in the center of the 16”W x 30”L steel carts that are used to transport the various paper rolls throughout the printing facility. Written to each tag is a specific cart id# which identifies which type of paper is on that cart, as well as the most recent maintenance date for the cart. As the HS200LR is an Active tag, it contains a battery, which keeps the tag “active” (readable/writeable) throughout it’s use – it has no “down” or “off” time. All of this information is logged into the main database every time a cart passes a specific antenna zone. Also, whenever a cart is taken in for maintenance, the maintenance information is written to the tag, keeping all records current. The HS500 antennas were conveniently mounted inside pre-existing holes in the ground. A phenolic insert was placed in each hole to help protect the antenna from debri